My personal belief in this case is that Jeff Schwilk and Ray Carney are being set up by Claudia Smith and her "associates". I've been watching this case pretty closely and listening to interviews with Schwilk and Carney on Rick Robert's show. This is a good idea.....the ACLU should be defending American CITIZEN'S rights to free speech for a change.

TIme for ACLU to defend free speech

By: JIM TRAGESER - Staff Writer

If the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union stands for anything at all anymore, it will provide a pro bono legal defense to Jeff Schwilk and Ray Carney.

Which might seem ironic at first blush, as it's a former contract employee of the local ACLU who is suing the two men, both activists who support stricter enforcement of laws against illegal immigration.

As reported in this paper Wednesday, Joanne Yoon filed suit against the two men last week alleging she was "offended" by comments the two men are alleged to have made calling her an "ACLU slut."

Oh, and she wants $1 million.

In the past, the ACLU has vigorously defended not only the right of individual Americans to freely speak their minds, but the value of a loud, boisterous political exchange.

And if the local chapter's record on defending free speech is more spotty ---- from having endorsed campus "speech codes" to filing a legal brief defending San Diego police who used "pain compliance" on anti-abortion protesters ---- this is a perfect chance to do right by the First Amendment.

For whatever Schwilk and Carney did, they did not defame Yoon ---- and should a jury or judge reject common sense and legal precedent (not exactly unheard of in this day and age) and side with her, it will make legal targets of anyone who makes pointed criticisms of their political adversaries.

But Yoon's case is problematic on several fronts.

To begin with, she's a limited public figure on the issue of illegal immigration. Once you show up at rallies with a video camera and start taping folks (which is where the paths of Yoon, Schwilk and Carney crossed), you're no longer an innocent bystander. Yoon voluntarily inserted herself into a divisive issue in a public, visible manner. Just as a newspaper columnist is open to more vigorous criticism and has a much harder time proving defamation than an ordinary citizen who doesn't speak out, so is any political activist.

Then there's this, which truly ought to concern not only the ACLU but all of us: If calling one's political opponent an "ACLU slut" is found to be slanderous and/or libelous, then all kinds of folks are going to find themselves in the cross hairs of legal beagles.

Whether a dated pejorative like "slut" is even defamatory anymore (to agree that it is, one has to buy into the gender double-standard on sexuality that most feminists and not a few men would utterly reject) is open to debate.

But the invectives hurled at Schwilk and other anti-illegal immigration activists has been far harsher than what Yoon is suing over. If Yoon prevails, how long before Schwilk and his cohorts are suing pro-immigrant activists who have called them vigilantes and racists? Being branded a racist in today's climate is far more damaging than being called a slut.

Look, Yoon's lawsuit has all the hallmarks of violating California's legislation against SLAPP suits ---- or "strategic lawsuits against public participation." Asking $1 million for being called a slut seems no more than an attempt to intimidate Schwilk, Carney and their allies into silence.

I'm no lawyer, nor am I an ACLU member (although I'm often sympathetic to their causes). But this seems to me to be a slam-dunk chance to come to the defense of a First Amendment that could use a few friends right about now.

Contact columnist Jim Trageser at (760) 631-6628 or jtrageser@nctimes.com.
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