Free Speech and the New York City Council

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/opinion/letters/free-speech-new-york-city-council.html

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To the Editor:

“Politicians’ Incendiary Remarks Provoke Debate on Free Speech” (news article, April 24) is a sign of the times, in which free-speech rights are increasingly being eroded. That is very troubling.

The First Amendment’s free-speech provision protects a person’s right to express his or her beliefs without punishment by the government regardless of the content of the view, even if wrong-minded, disrespectful or offensive to others.

It is disappointing that the New York City Council speaker, Corey Johnson, and many City Council members take the position that the council members Rubén Díaz Sr. and Kalman Yeger’s statements about gays and Palestinians, respectively, created a “loss of confidence” in both men in order to justify punitive actions regarding their committee assignments.

What actual and objective evidence supports the Council’s actions? What evidence exists to demonstrate that Mr. Díaz and Mr. Yeger’s views interfere with their job performance as elected officials?

Absent none, removing them from their committee assignments is punishment because of their views and is antithetical to the principles and values of free speech.

Norman SiegelNew YorkThe writer is a civil rights lawyer.