Is this free speach?

[Pangloss]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-127boundsanta,0,6076874.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

 

 

Neighbors leery after Miami Beach resident hangs a bound and blindfolded Santa

 

News partner NBC 6

Posted December 7 2005, 10:30 AM EST

 

MIAMI BEACH -- In one South Florida community, a man's holiday decorations are causing holiday fear for local children instead of creating holiday cheer, news partner NBC 6 reported Wednesday.

 

Residents called police and complained to the city that a house near West 50th Street and Fifth Avenue had a life-sized, blindfolded Santa Claus doll hanging on a tree with its hands tied and its mouth gagged.

 

Some residents were furious and said their naughty neighbor put jolly old St. Nick in a position that is not too merry. But even police officers couldn't save a Santa who was bound, gagged and hanging for the holidays.

 

The owner of the house says it's freedom of speech. But his neighbors think it's the start of a creepy Christmas.

 

"It's not healthy. I mean, if somebody has something against Santa Claus or something, maybe express it in some other way," resident Lori Vega said.

 

Parents are afraid the decoration will cause a nightmare before Christmas for their children.

 

"I'm not sure what his reasoning is, but a lot of little kids are upset by it," one parent said.

 

The owner was not at the house, but NBC 6's Tom Llamas found him at his primary residence off Lincoln Road. The man said the Santa Claus was an artistic expression.

 

Some residents say the damage is already done.

 

"He might be the Grinch. He might be friendly with the Grinch," resident Joanie Stein said. Stein, who has lived on the block for years, said the dangling Santa sickens him. "It's a beautiful neighborhood and I think it's just weird. I've never seen anything like this here."

 

The homeowner told NBC 6 the hanged Santa Claus would be down sometime Wednesday.

[ecoli]

It's certainly free speech (or expression, rather) but does he have the right to scare the wee ones?

 

It's the old battle in a new form, freedom of speech versus the protection of America's youth.

[Skye]

I just think "He might be the Grinch. He might be friendly with the Grinch" is hilarious.

[Phi for All]

It's definitely free speech. I'm equally free to use it as a way to explain freedom of speech to my kids.

 

And I'm equally free to speak to every department store Santa I could find and get them to file charges against this neighbor for aggravated assault (the threat of violence involving a weapon). He seems to be using a hangman's noose to threaten the lives of department store Santas everywhere. I believe the police would have to investigate each charge.

[ecoli]

It's definitely free speech. I'm equally free to use it as a way to explain freedom of speech to my kids.

 

And I'm equally free to speak to every department store Santa I could find and get them to file charges against this neighbor for aggravated assault (the threat of violence involving a weapon). He seems to be using a hangman's noose to threaten the lives of department store Santas everywhere. I believe the police would have to investigate each charge.

 

I expect the real Santa Clause to file a law suit any day now, for libel against the fake Santa's for falsley representing him and against this guy for aggravated assault... we all knew it was coming.

[AL]

The apathist in me wonders why anyone would even care if a hanging Santa Claus is displayed. Is it such a big deal?

 

On the other hand, the cynic in me also wonders why anyone would even want to make such a display in the first place, and would go so far as to speculate the only reason this man is doing it is to deliberately antagonize people he's never even met.

 

 

Well, until I know the man's motivations with a larger degree of certainty, I'm going with the apathist in me.

[Pangloss]

One thing that occurs to me is that if we're going to enact curtails on freedom of speach in order to protect minors, wouldn't this sort of thing qualify?

 

Personally I don't see much harm in THIS example, but what if Santa were painted black? Or replaced with a lifelike nude female caricature? Would it then be subject to censorship under the auspices of protecting children?

[AL]

Personally I don't see much harm in THIS example, but what if Santa were painted black? Or replaced with a lifelike nude female caricature? Would it then be subject to censorship under the auspices of protecting children?

I'm not too sure about the protecting children bit, but likely the nude female caricature would fall under obscenity laws, though it may depend on how "tasteful" the nude depiction is, as the SCOTUS's Miller test for obscenity seems to allow room for those sorts of vague interpretations.

[Dak]

As far as I'm concerned, you lose your freedom of speach when what your saying is desighned soley to offend -- if he's doing it to offend people, then I'd argue he shouldnt be allowed; any other reason, and its ok by me.

 

And before we go too far down the 'santa hanging by his kneck disturbing image' road, maybe we should apply the same argument to the christmas-tree faeries