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Crying ‘Wolf’ in a Theater? Confused Pelosi Bungles First Amendment

 

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi gave a confused interview with a local television station this week, mixing up metaphors when asked if white supremacists and other hate groups were protected under the First Amendment.

Speaking with San Francisco’s KRON, the House Minority Leader was pressed over whether hate groups, such as the KKK, had a right to protest in public places. The issue made headlines in California earlier this week, when a right-wing group requested a permit to protest from the National Park Service.

“How could the Park Service justify denying that organization their free speech rights?” asked the reporter.

“Because the constitution does not say that a person can shout, can yell ‘wolf’ in a crowded theater. If you are endangering people then you don’t have a constitutional right to do that,” a confused Pelosi responded.

The former Speaker was seemingly referencing a 1919 Supreme Court Decision that limited a person’s right to free speech when their words could incite a panic.

“The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic,” said Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

(First reported by Hannity)   http://www.hannity.com/content/2017-08-25-crying-wolf-in-a-theater-confused-pelosi-bungles-first-amendment/   (August 25, 2017)


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