The Big Myth

So you think you can say anything that you want? You think that what you say is guaranteed by the constitution? I hear people say that you have the right to free speech under the first amendment to the constitution. I learned that in Public School. Yes you do but everyone else has the right to punish you for using it.

I turned on the TV this morning and watched a news story about three ER Nurses who worked at a hospital in the City of Harrisburg, Pa. They logged on to their website that had nothing to do with the management of hospital where they are employed. They said some things that the hospital did not like. They were called in by management and fired. What they said was not bad but it was enough to make some powerful people at the hospital upset enough to call for their dismissal. Yes, they had the freedom to talk about their work or about events in the community but their jobs were not protected by free speech. That is the point. You can say anything you want but if someone that controls your income doesn’t like what you say, you can still lose that income.

You think that you are covered because you work for a government under union protection? You don’t have to think about someone going after you because you have rights under the constitution? About 16 people working for the State of Pennsylvania thought that. A state employee decided to make jokes about President Obama and sent the jokes by email to 16 other state employees. The 16 employees sent them to other employees. One of them sent it to their supervisor. The supervisor thought the joke was funny and sent it to others outside of the state government. Someone sent the joke to a member of the FBI. The FBI came knocking on the door of the state. They wanted to investigate the original 16 state employees for “Threats against the President of the United States.” This is a Federal Crime.

They took the employees computers and suspended three employees without pay pending an investigation by the FBI. The union could not help them. The state could not help them. They had the freedom to tell a joke about the President but the Federal Government has the right to take it out of context and punish the 16 people for telling the joke. Three of the state employees have no income.

My point is that the constitution was written at a time when a person said something -- they were killed for it. In many countries today people are still killed for something that they said. The Constitution of the United States defends your right to stay alive despite something that you said. However, it does not protect your right to say something without retaliation by other people, governments, or corporations. That retaliation is usually directed at your income.

Darnell L Williams