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free expression

The School Board’s Proposed Decorum Rules Are a Pretext to Silence Critical Information

February 6, 2020 | Pierre Tristam | 20 Comments

The Flagler County School Board has taken to plastering its rules outside meeting rooms. (© FlaglerLive)

The Flagler County School Board is considering speech restrictions at its meetings that include comment cards before a person can speak and prohibiting references to staff, students or anyone in the district.

Stetson Issues Explicit Defense of Free and Controversial Expression on Campus, Whatever the ‘Discomforts’

March 23, 2019 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

stetson free speech

In the culmination of a year-and-a-half process, Stetson University this week issued a statement firmly in defense of academic freedom and free, diverse and controversial expression on campus.

“Interference In the County’s Elections”? Not So Fast: How 2 Illegal Political Signs Seeded a Phony Controversy

October 26, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 15 Comments

The political signs were planted on land leased to Publix and SunTrust Bank in the Hammock. (c FlaglerLive)

A pair of political campaign signs planted and then unearthed from in front of a Publix and a SunTrust bank branch in the Hammock kicked off two police investigations, but the controversy is largely made up by a candidate with a history of such tactics.

Trump’s Bone Saw Problem

October 24, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

trump saudi arabia

Trump can’t be lavishing praise on tyrants and think it’s not another way of saying, as he did of white supremacists last year, that “some of them are fine people.” He can’t be equating journalists with scum and not have blood on his hands.

Without Fear Or Favor. Or Whining.

August 26, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 44 Comments

Juan Gris' 'Le Journal,' 1916. press freedom

Defending the press against Donald Trump’s “enemy of the people” attacks may have its place, but reporters’ best bet is to shut up and do their job well: it’s the most eloquent response.

A Palm Coast Resident Says “School Shooting” In a Facebook Video That Has Nothing To Do with School Shootings. Cops Show Up.

April 18, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 22 Comments

Tony Lagano, 35, of Palm Coast, describes himself as an artist and a musician who won't censor himself. (Facebook)

Tony Lagano, 35, was upset over a family court issue and alluded to a school shooting in a sarcastic Facebook video last week, only to be visited by sheriff’s deputies.

Lawmakers Seek to Ban Campus “Free Speech Zones” and Make Universities Liable

February 6, 2018 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Dennis Baxley, the Ocala Republican sponsoring the controversial bill, claims the visit by white supremacist Richard Spencer to the University of Florida last year has nothing to do with it. Opponents of the bill, including lawmakers at today's committee hearing, ridiculed the claim. (Digital spy)

Florida universities and colleges could be sued for up to $100,000 in damages if students or others “willfully” interfere with campus speakers or protestors.

Legislating Free Speech on Florida’s College Campuses? Not So Fast.

February 27, 2017 | FlaglerLive | 9 Comments

free speech board

A Legislative committee pondered on proposed legislation called the Campus Free Speech Act. Stanley Kurtz, a conservative academic, told lawmakers the measure would defend the right for people to speak their minds at the state’s universities.

I Am An Enemy Combatant

February 25, 2017 | Pierre Tristam | 44 Comments

enemy of the people pierre tristam

The media has been the enemy since the earliest days of the Republic. But to be an enemy in America is what all of us at one point or another have been or will be. It is an American responsibility. It’s proof of our beloved American citizenship.

Protesters, True Patriots

February 17, 2017 | FlaglerLive | 42 Comments

tristam protest

Freedom for the thought we agree with is as cheap as a Facebook click on the like button. Freedom for the thought that we hate is what separate Americans from thuggery.

The National Anthem’s False Notes

September 9, 2016 | Pierre Tristam | 56 Comments

Colin Kaepernick national anthem

Blasphemous as it seems, Colin Kaepernick’s freedom to sit out the Star Spangled Banner is written in the anthem’s very words, though his tormentors are more disturbed by his message, which they would rather not hear.

Masked Man Who Taunted Lamb at Sheriff’s Forum Is Unmasked as Whisenant Supporter

August 9, 2016 | FlaglerLive | 32 Comments

richard rubin

Richard Rubin, a twice-arrested local resident and supporter of Mark Whisenant’s sheriff’s campaign, attempted to rattle candidate John Lamb Monday evening by riding masked and in camouflage and holding up a sign claiming Lamb and his family did not live in the county, a false claim.

The Palm Coast Fraternal Order of Police Furthers a Lie in a Protest at Epic Theaters

January 6, 2016 | FlaglerLive | 43 Comments

tarantino protest washington square park new york

The FOP’s protest was triggered by false claims that filmmaker Quentin Tarantino had called cops “murderers.” The lie didn’t stop FOP organizers from going ahead with their plans or standing by their protest even when shown Tarantino’s actual words.

Artless Censors: The Flagler’s School Board’s Misplaced Allegiance to “Staff”

December 18, 2015 | FlaglerLive | 21 Comments

flagler school board pledge flag

The Flagler school board shirked its responsibility when it chose to be a cheerleader for a principal instead of offering guidance and oversight after a student’s art work was censored at FPC.

The Fundamentalists Next Door

May 24, 2015 | FlaglerLive | 71 Comments

flaglerlive support

It is up to the citizens of Flagler County–no matter your political persuasion or your party affiliation, your social views and religious beliefs–not to allow the voices of ignorance and intolerance decide what information you are permitted to consume.

Lest We Get On Our High Horse: Obama’s Caution to Self-Righteous Christians

February 8, 2015 | FlaglerLive | 21 Comments

President Obama’s speech at the National Prayer Breakfast cautioned Christians against shutting their eyes to their own brutal past, but was rebuked by Evangelicals and the conservative press, often with flurries of historical inaccuracies.

When Bigots Hide Behind Religious Freedom

January 16, 2015 | FlaglerLive | 31 Comments

Kelvin Cochran, the former Atlanta fire chief, and his supporters, are using the veil of religious freedom to justify homophobic and bigoted views that have no place in the workplace.

A Muslim Cartoonist on the Charlie Hebdo Massacre: Shame, Fear, But Mostly Hope

January 13, 2015 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

Cartoonist Khalil Bendib, an American Muslim and native of Algeria who’s known his share of censorship and death threats, writes of grief and human solidarity in the wake of the attack.

Standing With Charlie Hebdo:
The Right and Duty to Offend

January 8, 2015 | FlaglerLive | 27 Comments

We should celebrate differences of opinion. We have no duty to embrace differences of principles, and in many cases—and this is one of them—we must oppose them, angrily and militantly if need be.

Satanic Temple Display Approved for State Capitol, With Festivus Beer Pole and Nativity

December 5, 2014 | FlaglerLive | 37 Comments

The Florida Department of Management Services this week approved the proposed holiday display from the Satanic Temple, which a year ago was rejected because the agency said its proposal was “grossly offensive.”

The Phony War Over Campaign Signs

August 17, 2014 | FlaglerLive | 25 Comments

political campaign signs

The problem isn’t the county’s ban on campaign signs at the public library, it’s the dismal slate of candidates on this year’s primary ballots, but Flagler’s Ronald Reagan Assembly candidates and Supervisor of Elections Weeks have teamed up to play up a bogus controversy.

As State Mulls Review, Christians and Atheists Agree: Keep Florida Capitol a Free Speech Zone

January 7, 2014 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

The threat of a lawsuit is hovering over the state’s rejection of a satanic display, and the rotunda exhibit policy is set to undergo a staff review. But the prevailing view among those who have recently jumped at the chance to use the public floor space to express their beliefs is to simply let everyone have their say.

Before Florida Made an Ass of Christmas, Philadelphia Gave Us a Founding Nativity Scene

December 20, 2013 | Pierre Tristam | 25 Comments

Geertgen Tot Sin Jans, 'Nativity' (1490), at the National Gallery in London.

The Rick Scott administration’s illiterate interpretation of the Bible and the first amendment turned the Florida Capitol rotunda into a comedy of absurd Christmas displays and discrimination, all of which could have been avoided with a reason and respect–for the holidays and the Constitution.

In Defense of Net Neutrality: How To Keep Biggest Internet Providers From Running Amok

December 17, 2013 | FlaglerLive | 4 Comments

Without net neutrality, the Web would look a lot like cable, with the most popular content available only on certain tiers or with certain providers: Imagine AT&T as the exclusive home of Netflix and Comcast as the sole source of YouTube.

Facebook Effect: For Workers On or Off the Job, Individual Rights Are Dead

April 7, 2013 | Pierre Tristam | 20 Comments

Employers’ presumptions on workers’ behavior on and off the job have more in common with the inquisition or police states than with the bill of rights. Transgressors are routinely humiliated, silenced, censured or fired over speech or behavior companies should have no right to police.

Responding to ACLU, Manfre Restores His Own More Permissive Jail Mail Policy

March 15, 2013 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Flagler County Sheriff Jim Manfre has rescinded a policy that for the last two years, under Sheriff Don Fleming, prohibited inmates at the county jail from receiving letters at all, or writing letters longer than two pages.

Rather Than Allow Middle School Gay-Straight Alliance, Lake Board Plans Ban on All Clubs

February 9, 2013 | FlaglerLive | 36 Comments

A group of students at Carver Middle School in Lake County, Fla. have tried to establish a GSA, saying the student-led club is needed to address name-calling, bullying and harassment in school. In response to the students request, the Lake County School Board has begun the process of banning every non-curricular club at every school in the district rather than follow their legal obligation to recognize the GSA at Carver Middle School.

Showing Cops the Middle Finger

January 6, 2013 | Pierre Tristam | 26 Comments

When John Swartz was arrested for flipping off a cop, he sued, and appears headed for a win–as he should: rude expression is not a crime, and the obscenity is far surpassed by that of cops exercising arbitrary authority over bruised egos.

Conklin Is Fired From State-Backed Job After Talk of Suing the State Over Education Funding

April 13, 2011 | FlaglerLive | 53 Comments

Colleen Conklin has been a Flagler County SSchool Board member since 2000, and had been the chief operating officer of the Florida Endowment Foundation since mid-2007. (©

Colleen Conklin has been an outspoken advocate for education as a Flagler County School Board member for 10 years–and as the COO of a largely state-funded education foundation for the last four. One job cost her the other.

More Power to Principals, Less Transparency as Board Kills Policy Inspired by Mockingbird

February 2, 2011 | FlaglerLive | 6 Comments

The rejected policy had called for supporting plays “that challenge, nurture and extend student skills” while respecting community sensibilities. Instead, the board retreated to more general “tweaks” of two existing policies.

Flagler Sheriff Bans Inmates From Writing Or Receiving Personal Mail Other Than Postcards

January 6, 2011 | FlaglerLive | 59 Comments

Citing savings and security, the sheriff is banning non-postcard correspondence beginning Jan. 15. The ban costs inmates money and chills their speech, a federal lawsuit filed over a similar policy in Santa Rosa County charges.

Between Authority and Authoritarianism: Conklin and Pryor Clash Over Principal Power

January 5, 2011 | FlaglerLive | 31 Comments

the buck stops here harry truman

The school board is debating a new policy and procedure controlling the staging of controversial plays. Matanzas Principal Chris Pryor doesn’t want to be “second-guessed.” Board member Conklin doesn’t want unilateral decision-making.

Mockingbird Appeals Committee’s Challenge: Loyalty to “Protocol” vs. Free Expression

November 11, 2010 | FlaglerLive | 8 Comments

Interviews with appeals committee members reveal a divide between instinctive revulsion of censorship and hesitancy over second-guessing a principal’s decision even as the facts of the case continue to be muddled by unspecified generalities.

Conklin Triggers Mockingbird Appeals Committee, Likely Enabling Play’s Revival

November 1, 2010 | FlaglerLive | 14 Comments

Unearthing a district policy on “the appropriateness of books or materials,” School Board member Colleen Conklin appealed the decision to cancel the play. A committee will be appointed to handle the appeal.

Citing Vague Fears, School District Suppresses Stage Production of To Kill a Mockingbird

October 28, 2010 | FlaglerLive | 72 Comments

Students and faculty had no issues with the production’s use of the word “nigger,” as in the book and the movie. A Palm Coast city councilman and other unnamed “community members” did, leading FPC Principal and Superintendent Janet Valentine to censor the play.

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