Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
2007-04-13 05:41:40 · 24 answers · asked by credo quia est absurdum 7 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
It would seem that there is no such thing as 'freedom of speech', at least for Don Imus. SnoopDogg can say 'nappy-headed ho' (plus other equally racist things) and get paid for it. Don Imus cannot make a joke? Does our constitution not protect us if we do not agree with the currently 'correct' manner of thought?
2007-04-13 05:47:28 · update #1
The point of this question was that rappers, Sharpton, Jackson, ACLU, etc can say _anything_ they want, but a caucasian cannot make a joke.
no vote for best here.
2007-04-16 01:58:04 · update #2
He broke the modern version of the First Amendment, which is "You can say any insane, evil, nasty thing you want about white people, conservatives, and Republicans, but not against black people, liberals, and Democrats".
2007-04-13 05:45:59 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 8⤋
Did Congress make any law abridging Don Imus's freedom of speech? Nope. Then his first amendment right has in no way been violated.
CBS, a private entity, took action against what they decided (with certain outside influences) was inappropriate employee action. You could get fired for the same thing, so could I, because a private institution has its own rules and regulations that you agree to abide by if you work there.
2007-04-13 05:53:25 · answer #2 · answered by Robin J. Sky 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
The constitution protects us from Congress making LAWS about banning speech. There was no law that was created or violated here so the constitution has no basis here.
The constitution does not protect your job and it does not protect companies from having their customers taking their business elsewhere if they don't like the way they are doing their job.
Instead of complaining about laws, perhaps people should be protesting to the companies as loudly about his firing as the whiners were complaining when he made his statement.
I'm sure that if you could have gotten a private meeting with the head of CBS just like Mr. Sharpton did, you could have had a big impact on the company's decision.
2007-04-13 05:54:41 · answer #3 · answered by SC 6 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I think that remark would fall under FCC laws and Business laws of ethics. These women are black and Americans, so all jokes about Rednecks, Nigers, hillbilly's, Jewish and anyone else also must be stopped & the FCC should police it, what was said yesterday is no longer acceptable today, by the way Imus is not stupid, he knew what can of worms he was opening.
2007-04-13 05:50:58 · answer #4 · answered by man of ape 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
The Constitution hasn't been translated into Ebonics yet, so Al Sharpton has no idea there is such a thing as the 1st amendment.
I MEAN, WE DA PEEPS, includin' tha Ballers and Nappy Headed Ho's, all up in the Unites Skates, in order to bump and grind so we can form a perfect union, I mean, I gots ta get you before you get me, so I can be juiced up on tranquility, then I can come up wif a defense, and give props to tha General of Welfare, and after that I'll take the liberty to secure my hand on your posterior, do know I've been ordained a Reverend so that's why I can run my mouth and establish my very own Cizonstitution of the United Skates.
And that was just the preamble.
2007-04-13 06:05:42 · answer #5 · answered by Jim B 4 · 0⤊ 5⤋
Imus will probably sue CBS for firing him. However, his firing has nothing to do with congress.
What I find amusing is that he made the comment and didn’t think that there would be repercussions...or did he? He is yet again splashed all over the front pages of every major new paper; he is the topic of the day, finally taking over Anna Nicole's spot...
2007-04-13 05:55:47 · answer #6 · answered by LightBrownSugar 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
If you reread the entry from the first amendment you posted..you will see that Don Imus' constitutional rights are well intact.
No one censored him and he wasn't arrested...the 1st amendment protected Don Imus the way it was intended to.
2007-04-13 07:08:28 · answer #7 · answered by Dr. Luv 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
He exercised them. It is not unconstitutional to fire someone or for sponsors to not want to sponsor someone. When a celebrity causes sponsors to drop out of sponsorship the broadcasting company loses money. When a person causes you to lose sponsors and tons of money you have a right to fire them. Imus was not denied the freedom of speech. He said what he felt or thought was funny. The results of his speaking was not censored but he became a victim of his speech like a person yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre. He was not arrested for his actions so how was his freedom of speech violated? Try doing what he did at your job and see what happens. He was fired for being stupid enough to think anyone would put up with his inflammatory racist statements. Imus made statements that associated his sponsor with his statements and they don't pay for commercials to enable him to offend people. He was so stupid he picked the wrong people to offend. Plus Imus is a coward then sucked up in a hearbeat after realizing it was going to cost him money. He would never have considered an apology or remorse if people hadn't complained. He would increase his insults. This didn't happen overnight. This was a long time coming. You gotta pay to play. It isn't like there was anything he said on his show ever that wasn't to make a buck or insult someone. I am glad to see that mumbling nursing home reject go.
2007-04-13 05:49:00 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 3⤋
its all about money. Advertisers started pulling out and the radio station capitulated. Imus was sacrificed for a profit. In reality, he should have known better than to say something like that in this day and age, but Al Sharpton is an idiot too. If you don't like whats on the radio, turn the channel.
2007-04-13 05:48:45 · answer #9 · answered by ElevenBang 2 · 3⤊ 3⤋
The Constitution only protects you for governmental infringement on your rights. CBS has the same right to fire Imus as Imus has to say stuff that gets him fired.
2007-04-13 07:00:53 · answer #10 · answered by HoyaHorns 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
FIRST OF ALL YOU DONT INSULT BLACKS. FIRST AMENDMENTS RIGHT. THEN WHEN YOU LISTEN TOO THE REVEREND JESSE JACKSON, AND THE REVEREND AL SHARPTONN GOING ON AND ON ABOUT, IMUSSS ON CNN, INSULTING THERE BLACK SIISTERS AS IMMUSS DID, AND WHEN YOU PISS OF MR REVEREND JEESE JACKSON, AND MR SHARPTONN DON IMMUS JUST GOT BURIED BYE THESE TWO POWRFUL PEOPLE WHO WANTED IMMUS OUT OF A JOB JESSE CALED FOR IMMUSS TOO BE FIRED AND WOULD STOP AT NOTHING UNTIL CBS GAVE INN AND GAVE IMMUSS HIS WALKING PAPERS. YOU DONT GO UP AGAINST MR JACKSONS BLACK SISTERS AND THE REVEREND SHARPTON THEY GOT TOO MUCH CLOUT IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.
2007-04-13 14:33:25 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋