FC: More on Dr. Laura, the 1st Amendment, and the Internet

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

> From: "Jeff Schult" <jeff () tftb com>
> To: <declan () well com>
> Subject: Re: Dr. Laura on the 1st Amendment and the Internet (she doesn't 
> like them)
> Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 10:03:59 -0500
> X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6600
>
> Hi Declan,
>
> I was a judge in that contest.
>
> For my comments; a transcript of Dr. Laura's statements; AG Richard
> Blumenthal's comments; the original winning essay by Sara Miller; and reader
> comments, see:
>
> http://www.snet.net/features/network/articles/1999/11260101.shtml
> http://www.snet.net/features/network/articles/1999/11170101.shtml
> http://www.snet.net/features/network/articles/1999/11170105.shtml
> http://www.snet.net/features/network/articles/1999/11170106.shtml
> http://www.snet.net/features/network/articles/1999/11170104.shtml
>
>
> Jeff Schult
> Senior Developer, Web Editor, SNET Internet
> jschult () snet net



> Reply-To: "Leo Smith" <barter () ntplx net>
> From: "Leo Smith" <barter () ntplx net>
> To: <declan () well com>
> Subject: Re: Dr. Laura on the 1st Amendment and the Internet (she doesn't 
> like them)
> Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 09:29:47 -0800
> X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2919.6700
>
> Here's a twist...isn't StopDrLaura.com arguing against Dr. Laura's
> FA Free Speech right to criticize the 14 year old for exercising her FA
> rights?
>
> Leo Smith


Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 10:53:57 -0500
> To: declan () well com
> From: John Aravosis <john () wiredstrategies com>
> Subject: BETTER VERSION - More on Dr. Laura's attack on Internet Free
>   Speech/young girl
>
> These are the original sources for the brewing controversy over Dr. Laura 
> Schlessinger's having "savaged" (per this week's Newsweek) an 8th grader 
> for writing an essay defending free speech on the Internet.  Below you'll 
> find the little girl's original essay (that won first place in the contest 
> sponsored by the CT attorney general last fall), Dr. Laura's comments 
> attacking the girl on the air by name, the CT attorney general's 
> blistering letter to Ms. Schlessinger, and some news stories on the incident.
>
>
> 1. The Award-Winning Essay
>
> http://www.snet.net/features/network/articles/1999/11170104.shtml
> Should There Be Laws Restricting What Is On The Internet?
> First place: Sara Miller, Henry James School, Simsbury
>         Ever since the Internet became a part of everyday life for 
> thousands of people across America, there has been huge controversy 
> surrounding it. Whether or not there should be laws restricting the 
> Internet is one of the main disputes. When the Communications Decency 
> Act, a bill restricting the Internet, was passed in Congress it was taken 
> to the Supreme Court to be tested by the law. The Supreme Court deemed 
> the CDA unconstitutional and declared it null and void. I agree fully 
> with the Supreme Court's decision. Restricting the Internet directly 
> violates the First Amendment of the American citizens of the United 
> States. The Internet is another form of freedom of speech and press and 
> should be treated no differently then any other written material. Every 
> adult holds his own set of moral values and should have the freedom to 
> restrict himself and not have other's values forced upon them.....
>
> [click the hyperlink above to see the entire essay]
>
>
>
> 2. Dr. Laura's Attack on the 8th grader and her essay (partial transcript)
>
> http://www.snet.net/features/network/articles/1999/11170105.shtml
> Partial Transcript, Dr. Laura, Oct. 25, 1999
>         Transcribed from the October 25, 1999 Dr. Laura Schlessinger 
> show. The accuracy of this transcription is not guaranteed, please refer 
> to the original for authoritative quotes.
>         "I'm Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and I have one question. One serious 
> question. What in the hell is going on in Connecticut?"
>         "This was sent to me by Lynn in Branford, Connecticut. I'm just 
> going to read you the highlights of this news story." ....
>         ....If this were my daughter, I'd probably put her up for adoption."
>         ...."The curtailing of individual desires for the sake of others 
> and community is what separates us from animals and evil. And poor Sara 
> doesn't get it. So if she make her marriage vows and it's her husband's 
> value to stay there but to have sex with everything that walks by, let's 
> see if she thinks this philosophy works"
>         ....HELLO, SARA! All laws are moral judgments. Like the one that 
> says I shouldn't kidnap you.
>
> [click the hyperlink above to see the entire transcript]
>
>
>
> 3. CT Attorney General's letter chastizing Dr. Laura's attack on the girl
>
> http://www.snet.net/features/network/articles/1999/11170106.shtml
> Attorney General Richard Blumenthal's Letter to Dr. Laura
> November 3, 1999
> Dr. Laura Schlessinger
> c/o Premere Radio Networks
> 15260 Ventura Boulevard
> Suite 500
> Sherman Oaks, CA 91403
> Dear Dr. Schlessinger:
> I heard your recent radio broadcast excoriating Sara Miller, a 14-year old 
> girl from Henry James Middle School in Simsbury; for her first-place essay 
> in the Law Day Essay Contest sponsored by my office last spring. Your 
> attack on Miss Miller and the essay contest was extraordinarily 
> misinformed, unfair and harmful..... Quite simply, your attack on Sara 
> Miller was appalling. Her first sentence reflected more care and insight 
> than your entire diatribe.....
>
> [click the hyperlink above to see the entire letter]
>
>
> 4. News stories on the incident.
>
> http://www.deja.com/=dnc/[ST_rn=ps]/getdoc.xp?AN=546687951
> Dr. Laura Could Use A Few Facts By AMY PAGNOZZI (This column ran in The 
> Hartford Courant on November 9, 1999)
>         Sometimes the trailer's so good you know there's no way a movie 
> could live up to it. Dr. Laura Schlessinger runs the biggest talk radio 
> show in the history of the medium. She knows how to spot gold and she 
> knows when the best doesn't get better. This time it was in the press 
> release from the Connecticut attorney general's office naming the state's 
> annual Law Day essay contest winners. It was all she could ask for, 
> contained in a single paragraph from 14-year-old Sara Miller's first- 
> prize-winning essay against censorship of the Internet. ...
>
> [click the hyperlink above to see the entire article]



> Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 21:02:46 -0600
> To: declan () well com
> From: David McElroy <David () McElroy net>
> Subject: Re: FC: Dr. Laura on the 1st Amendment and the Internet (she
>  doesn't   like them)
>
> Did I get this right? People who are trying their hardest to silence Laura
> Schlessinger are taking her to task for insufficient support of a person's
> right to say what he or she pleases? Are we in Orwellian territory here?
>
> I can't stand Schlessinger. She's an arrogant, rude bigot. But the idiots
> who want to shut her up -- because they don't agree with her -- are no
> better. Why don't they devote their efforts to making the case for their
> ideas and beliefs in the marketplace, just as the rude "doctor" is? If
> right-wing groups were trying to get a company to take someone off the air
> because of his political or moral agenda, these same people would be
> yelling, "censorship." Why's it different when the shoe is on the other
> foot?
>
> I find both sides in this goofy debate equally reprehensible.
>
> David McElroy


Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 23:10 +0000 (GMT)
> From: avedon () cix compulink co uk (Avedon Carol)
> Subject: Re: FC: Dr. Laura on the 1st Amendment and the Internet (she doesn't
> To: declan () well com
> Cc: avedon () cix compulink co uk
>
> In-Reply-To: <4.3.0.20000313083902.0228c3a0 () mail well com>
>
>
> Oh, c'mon!
>
>  I think it's _wonderful_ to have a fruitcake like this on the air.
> Instead of demanding she be removed, people should be demanding that a
> sane person be given the air-time immediately following her show, to
> review her comments.
>
> Sounds like Dr. Loonie's ploy worked:  "So how do you like your free
> speech now?"  Answer:  "Oh, no, free speech doesn't extend to _that_!"
> Feh.
>
> Let her babble.  Then talk back.
>
> Avedon
> Feminists Against Censorship
> http://www.fiawol.demon.co.uk/FAC/


Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 17:01:17 -0500
> To: declan () well com
> From: Jonathan Gewirtz <nqn () ix netcom com>
> Subject: Re: FC: Dr. Laura on the 1st Amendment and the Internet (she
>   doesn't  like them)
>
> Schlessinger is ignorant about some things, knowledgeable about others, has
> strong opinions with which many people disagree. So what? She does not hide
> her biases or force anyone to listen. She is successful because a lot of
> people agree with her. It is certainly appropriate for those who disagree to
> use the many forums they dominate to persuade her followers of the errors of
> their views. It is not appropriate, but is certainly ironic, that some of
> those same critics use demagogic attacks and out-of-context quotes in an
> attempt to deny her a forum, while ranting piously about tolerance and the
> evils of censorship.



> To: declan () well com
> Subject: RE: Dr. Laura on the 1st Amendment and the Internet (she doesn't
>         like them)
> Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 10:43:19 -0500
>
> Declan--
>
> Is your reposting of this statement meant to indicate that you agree with
> efforts to bully Paramount?  It seems like "tolerance" has been redefined to
> mean that people are not allowed to criticize anyone who engages in any kind
> of behavior that deviates from traditional norms, but people ARE allowed to
> criticize anyone who holds to those norms, or advocates others holding to
> those norms.
>
> For myself, I can't listen to Dr. Laura for more than a few minutes at a
> time, any more than I can listen to Howard Stern--they make me cringe.  But
> I'm happy to have Dr. Laura out guarding that frontier.  If there's going to
> be someone on TV telling children they shouldn't be having sex before
> marriage, telling adults they shouldn't get divorced, and telling people in
> general that the heterosexual lifestyle is more likely to lead to happiness
> and fulfillment than the homosexual lifestyle, I don't have a problem with
> that.  I suspect the real reason the gay rights groups are going after Dr.
> Laura is because they don't want anyone with a public podium to talk about
> "heterosexualizing" therapies available to gays.
>
> Somehow we in this country have extended a monopoly on self-definition to
> minority interest groups.  And if someone challenges the spin, i.e. the
> origin of homosexual tendencies in individuals, that person is demonized.
> The challenger is even demonized if he or she presents scientific data
> contesting the spin, as occurred several years ago when a post-mortem survey
> of male brains showed differences in heterosexuals vs. homosexuals.
>
> Please withhold my name if you use this--I'm not interested in getting
> flamed over this crap.  I don't honestly know why you posted it in the first
> place, as it seems outside the scope of your normal coverage.




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