kamino

It is soooo good to see that the supreme court is doing its job.




American Civil Liberties Union : Federal Court Blocks State from Enforcing Law Criminalizing Sale of Anti-War Shirts

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Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.
-Benjamin Franklin

Reverend_Hellh0und

I find those shirts in poor taste.


but freedom is a bitch....

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كافر
Never forget those who died.
Never forget those who killed them.

Hatuey

Don't they need some sort of release form from the families to put the person's name on a shirt?

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Is Intolerant Because He Won't Let The Intolerant Run Other People's Lives.

Simon W. Moon

These are public records, not celebrity likenesses

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"That is the problem... [we] fell in love with the idea that politicians-- even the slickest and brightest presidential candidates-- were real heroes and truly exciting people. That is wrong on its face. They are mainly dull people with corrupt instincts and criminal children. -H.S.T"

dclxvinoise

I can certainly understand the purely tribute aspect of it, and I see no problem with that. However, it kind of cheapens it to put it on a t-shirt. People put stupid **** on t-shirts, quippy one-liners, lame jokes, etc. To put a bunch of deceased soldiers on one for the purpose of making an anti-war statement not only devalues the idea behind the tribute because it's on something as stupid as a t-shirt, but it also is using their names to promote an agenda. Regardless of what the agenda is, I don't agree with using tragedy in that way.

Tucker Case

I think having the names on a shirt would be fine if they didn;'t have it coupled with the disrespectful messages like "Bush lied... they died" and "Support our Remaining Troops ... Bring the Rest Home Alive."

These slogans are disturbing and disgusting.


That being said, cheers on the decision.



P.S. At least the asshole donates a portion of the procedes to fallen soldier charities.

But if he had a ball in his sack he'd donate all of the procedes to these charities. The ****ing dickhead wants to make a profit more than he wants to make his point.

Bodhisattva

I am all for all forms of Freedom of Speech.
Burning the flag etc. Who cares what some yokels or agitators want to do.

It is like watching a three year old call another three year old stupid, sitting back and smiling and then seeing the victim freak out over it and cry and blubber instead of ignoring it and just shaking their head at the firsts pathetic attempt to get to him.

Dude, people are waaaaaay too sensitive.

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1069

You don't have to "agree" with it.
Do you think it should be illegal, though?
Consider the implications.

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Lightdemon: "Is 10 going to outer space or something?"
Jerry: "...yes, 10 is going to outerspace."

walrus

My only disagreement is that they did not receive permission from the dead soldier's families to use their names. I realize that it may not be legally required, but it would certainly be ethical. This would be difficult for someone who never served to understand, but not every dead soldier disagreed with the war. Not every dead soldier's family thinks they died in vain. It is disrespectful to use their names to seemingly endorse a position they may not have held.

That said, I believe it is freedom of speech. Assuming no law is broken by using the names without permission.

Would anyone object to a t-shirt which listed the names of executed criminals with the caption "They will never commit another crime"?

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"If a man isn't a liberal by the time he is twenty he has no heart. If a man isn't a conservative by the time he is thirty he has no brain." - Sir Winston Churchill

"Illegitimi Non Carborundum" - Unknown

roguenuke

Btw, this wasn't a Supreme Court decision, it was just a decision by a federal judge for the state of Arizona's law. This is going further, due to other lawsuits filed in other states for such laws that were written a long time ago to protect people, and that means anyone, from having their identity used to make someone else money. The problem with the Arizona law seems to be that it was specifically directed at the T-shirts, however, they may be able to write it so that it is closer to other states' laws and/or more general.

Right of publicity is the main thing being argued here. Where should one person's right to own their own identity begin and end? Should they be allowed to have exclusive say on what their identity can and cannot be used to sell? Should this right be allowed to pass on to relatives?

I agree completely with right of publicity. If someone wants to use someone else's name to sell something, they should have to get their permission or the permission of their loved ones if they are deceased to do so. This is not the same as a news story or death announcement. Those things are using the name in a purely informative manner, the story or event is what is selling the news paper, not the person's actual identity.