It guarantees the right of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition; yes I am talking about the first amendment of the U.S. This amendment, unlike any other, has a tendency to be discussed in many cases in the justice system and most recently in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a recent LA Times article, a Santa Cruz man was arrested for doing a Nazi salute at a City Council meeting in March of 2002. The court ruled the city’s actions as “viewpoint discrimination” which in my opinion I also completely agree.
As I read this story, I really couldn’t help but to chuckle. The fact that a salute equals jail was just unfathomable to me especially when you take into consideration the circumstances in which this scenario took place. The man was a homeless advocate- not a Nazi and the place was a city council meeting- not some fascist parade. The holocaust was a horrible and honestly a unspeakable crime that took place and I understand there are a lot of emotions that are harbored with a Nazi salute, but this case remains to be ridiculous.Watch the video and make your own judgement.
