LOGAN, Utah - A 76-year-old woman has been barred from the bus station after giving unwanted birth-control advice to mothers with large families. "I think it's wrong. It's a violation of my First Amendment rights," Laura Stevens said.
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She was arrested Tuesday for trespassing, a misdemeanor, according to police records.
"She's been making comments to some of the Hispanic passengers that they should be on the pill, that they're taking over our society," said Todd Beutler, general manager of the Cache Valley Transit District.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070629/ap_on_fe_st/odd_mouthy_rider;_ylt=Aq4cwekEM6g7itZO_mEjgYAuQE4F
She is right.
I hate censorship in any form.
Especially when it censors the truth.
2007-06-29 08:45:56 · 30 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Immigration
Miss: says" You should be able to say what you want. But not to someone who doesn't want to hear it.
Kinda the way all the senators and pro illegals keep telling us things we know are not true. Trust America does not want to hear it.
Enforce our laws and deport.
2007-06-29 08:56:24 · update #1
Jen: These people did walk into OUR office and started demanding rights, and demanding laws to be changed.
I swear I think it would be easier to DRAW some of the pro illegals a picture because they just can't comprehend written or spoken words.
The truth is not THAT hard to accept.
2007-06-29 09:01:08 · update #2
belle: We are talking about illegal Hispanic women, they do not have nor do they deserve the same rights as Americans.
2007-06-29 09:02:37 · update #3
She has the right of free speech.
Those who do not want to hear her should just exercise their right to walk away.
I guess I could be arrested next time I wear my t-shirt that says Pro-Immigration, Anti-Illegal Alien. If so, it will go to the Supreme Court before I give up challenging it.
2007-06-29 09:11:00 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 2⤋
Well, to begin with, the First Amendment does not state that anyone can say whatever they want whenever they want. The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech ... ."
So I don't think that Logan, Utah has passed a law regarding what you can say at the bus station. Therefore this is not a First Amendment issue.
I think that the bus station probably has some rights to control what happens at the bus station, and the general manager has decided that controlling this woman's behavior was within their rights.
2007-06-29 16:27:56 · answer #2 · answered by Tricia R 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
She has a right to say what she wants. But she doesn't have a right to violate someone else's property in order to do so. She was not arrested for speaking. She was arrested for trespassing. Same way I can't go walk onto my ex-boss's property and call him all the names that I really want to call him. I would get arrested. It is the bus' right to ban her, whether she/we/they/whoever like it or not. I don't like censorship anymore than the next person, but at the same time, I'll be damned if I'm gonna be forced to listen to someone telling me what "I need" to do. IMO, the bus did the right thing, even if I agree that what she was saying is true. You should really try to look at things more objectively - sitting too far on one side of the fence is what causes these kinds of problems in society in the first place.
EDIT: Okay seriously. You've turned a news story about a woman being arrested for trespassing because she violated a company's property after they asked her to either leave or stop telling the women they needed birth control into an illegal immigrant issue about demands. If you want people to take your questions seriously, or for that matter take you seriously, you should really learn to start sticking to the topic at hand. Don't get defensive in debates, you will lose first. Your arguments aren't bad, but your approach is terrible. Speak objectively and without so much emotion and you will come across as someone that people want to listen to and follow.
You tell Belle - "we're talking about illegal Hispanic women". That is the farthest thing from the truth. Nowhere in this article did it say she was targeting anyone "illegal".
Also - to everyone that is saying "they could have walked away" - seriously. Read the article first. She was on private property and those women were at a bus station. Why would they be the ones forced to walk away? If you are at a restaurant and someone from PETA walks up to you and starts talking about the way chickens are abused before they are killed, are you going to get up and walk out or ask the manager to make this person leave you alone? Come on now.
2007-06-29 15:56:10 · answer #3 · answered by Jen 2 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Well if its a free society she has the right to spew whatever she likes, whether I agree with it or not, just as the people who encounter her can tell her what they think of her views, just the same. It's odd this happened in Mormon country where there are often large families, her singling out Hispanics is wrong, that could be constituted as hate speech which is excluded in civil rights.
2007-06-29 15:59:17 · answer #4 · answered by Limestoner62 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well, it's not like she was arrested, she was barred from the bus station which is perfectly within reason. The buses are allowed to refuse anyone they deem as making trouble on the bus. Censorship IS annoying to a point. Also, "truth" is relative. I want to have a large family someday and I don't want people preeching to me that I'm doing the wrong thing by wanting that. I would want to slap that woman!
2007-06-29 16:36:10 · answer #5 · answered by Zarango 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
These girls had feet, they could have walked away if they didn't want to hear it. And I bet they could've walked a lot faster than a 76 year old. If they were illegal they don't have rights here! Whether it was rude or out of line isn't the question. She has a right not only to freedom of speech, but also freedom of expression. She expressed herself. There are plenty of tv shows that say things I don't want to hear. I change the channel. I hear conversations in public buildings that I don't want to hear, I walk away. If you don't want to hear it, it is your responsibility to walk away.
2007-06-29 16:12:23 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
She did not get arrested for what she said, she got arrested for trespassing.
Also, if she was not getting on a bus, the bus station probably got her arrested. She did not need to be there soliciting. The property owner or business can have anyone arrested for soliciting.
2007-06-29 16:45:47 · answer #7 · answered by AveGirl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Barred from the bus station?? People are that damn sensitive that they get a little old lady barred from the bus station for doing what old people are stereotypically known for?? That generation is known for it's outdated untactful way of telling you the way things should be, and how they were so much better back in the day. That's why we love them so much! I think it's ridiculous!
2007-06-29 15:53:13 · answer #8 · answered by smellyfoot ™ 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
We all have the right not to listen. If you don't like what someone is saying don't sit close to them. I don't agree with what she was saying but that is my personal belief.
To those who say we don't have the right to offend others - we might as well all keep our mouths shut and not say anything because we are bound to offend someone. I get offended all the time but I like that I have freedom of speech, it goes both ways so does the person who offended me.
2007-06-29 16:14:59 · answer #9 · answered by Hockeyfan 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is nothing in the Bill of Rights that gives me a guarantee not to be offended.
It is her right to say it. And, it is also the right of the passengers to say whatever they want back to her.
2007-06-29 16:02:49 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 0⤋