Enjoy this First Amendment History Lesson!
GIBBS LAW FIRM, P.A.
Attorneys and Counselors at Law
Thank you for contacting the Christian Law Association and our law firm regarding an article you wrote about Jesus for your monthly community newsletter. You indicated that when another person in the community complained to the editor, and threatened to contact advertisers or file a lawsuit if your article were printed, the editor decided that he would not print your article. As we discussed on the phone, one of the most important federal constitutional freedoms we have in America is the freedom of the press. The editor of the newsletter has the freedom to print any article he wishes or to decline any article he does not like for any reason. He may not like the topic or he may not like the writing style, but the choice is the editor’s choice to make. No newspaper reader has the right to tell any newspaper editor what he may or may not print. This is basic Level I Constitutional law. Similarly, as the author of the article in question you have no more right to demand that the article be printed than the other reader has to demand that the article not be printed. No newspaper editor in America may be told by any reader or author what editorial decisions he may make with regard to his own newspaper (other than a publisher who could fire the editor for making editorial decisions the publisher disagreed with). Since you mentioned that the Editor is both the editor and the owner of this particular newspaper, there is no one who can tell him what to print or not print.
As we also discussed, a newspaper reader who does not like something that is printed has a few options. The reader may cancel his subscription to the paper, he can write a nasty Letter to the Editor and complain, or he can boycott the advertisers. Of course anyone in America can sue anyone else if he can afford a lawyer, but no court in this country would issue a legal ruling negating the First Amendment Freedom of the Press. So the decision of whether or not to print your article rests entirely with the Editor. I am amazed that any American citizen would want to diminish the freedoms we have in this nation merely because of a bigoted view of another religion. In America, we are free to express our own religious viewpoints, including in newspapers, and we are also free to attempt to convince others that our viewpoint is correct and that others should believe what we believe. The Editor was correct to invite the complaining reader to write his own article about why his religion is best. America is not Saudi Arabia or some other Middle Eastern country where proselytizing or conversion are against the law. Many newspapers used to have regular religion columns, usually on Saturdays, some written by pastors. Some newspapers still continue this custom. There is absolutely nothing illegal about that.
The readers do have some power, however. They can cancel their subscriptions if they do not like what is being printed. This is a numbers game. Would more people cancel their subscriptions if your article were printed or if it were not printed? That is something the editor could take into account if he cares about revenue and income.
In the same way, boycotting advertisers is also a numbers game. Would more people boycott the advertisers if your article were printed or if it were not printed? That is an economic decision for the advertisers to make. But none of these decisions are legal decisions. No one should take a legal threat seriously in this type of circumstance. The editor is protected by Freedom of the Press whatever decision he makes. And the readers will either live with it or not. You have the right to start your own newspaper if you like and compete with and print as many religion articles as you like. The community would decide with their wallets which newspaper they prefer. This would be an economic threat, not a legal threat.
Please feel free to share this email with the editor, the complaining reader and other interested members of your community. If the editor were sued for publishing a Christian article, Christian Law Association would be happy to defend him for free. It would be a quick and easy case to win. We might even request that the judge fine the plaintiff for filing a frivolous lawsuit.
Sincerely,
Barbara J. Weller
Admitted in Florida
Gibbs Law Firm, P.A.
5666 Seminole Blvd., Suite 2
Seminole, FL 33772
(727) 399-8300
Fax (727) 398-3907
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