November 3, 2009
Nov. 15 Panel Discussion Explores Disruptive Speech
Charlottesville Va. - Several times during the July 4, 2008, naturalization ceremony at Monticello protestors disrupted President George W. Bush's address. During President Barack Obama's Sept. 9, 2009, address to a joint session of Congress, U.S. Representative Joe Wilson yelled "You lie" in response to one of the President' comments. Most recently, town hall meetings across the country organized by elected representatives to discuss health care reform reportedly became shouting matches between those holding different views.
Questions raised by these incidents will be addressed in a panel discussion on "Free Speech or Disruption: Balancing the Rights to Speak and to Hear" from 3-5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, in the V. Earl Dickinson Building at Piedmont Virginia Community College. Sponsored by PVCC and The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, the event is free and open to the public.
Panelists include Bob Gibson, director, Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership; Elaine Jones, retired director-counsel, NAACP Legal Defense Fund; Dahlia Lithwick, senior editor for Slate.com and contributing editor for Newsweek magazine; Robert M. O'Neil, director, The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression; and John Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute.
Coy Barefoot, host of the Charlottesville Right Now program on WINA-AM, will moderate the discussion.
Questions from the audience will be encouraged, and a free copy of the book "The Bill of Rights, the Courts, and the Law" will be given to each attendee courtesy of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities.
The V. Earl Dickinson Building is located at the south end of the PVCC campus at 501 College Drive in Charlottesville. Ample, free well-lit parking is located in front of the building. For additional information, contact Josh Wheeler at 434.295.4784 or jjw@tjcenter.org.
