A few years ago, the United States government passed a law that made it illegal to sell pictures or videos of animal cruelty. The law was in response to some videos on the internet showing small animals being crushed to death with the spiked heel of high heel shoes (some pretty sick stuff to be sure).
The first time the law was ever used was to arrest and convict a Virginia man for selling videos of dog fights. He appealed his conviction all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, and last Tuesday the court struck down the law and overturned the verdict in an 8 to 1 verdict. They determined the law violated the free speech rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Chief Justice Roberts said that free speech rights do not stop just because the speech may be undesirable or have no social value. He said, "The 1st Amendment itself reflects a judgement by the American people that the benefits of its restrictions on government outweigh the costs."
I have to agree with the court's decision on this case. Free speech is far too important to the maintenance of our democracy to allow law after law to keep chipping away at the right. Is this kind of speech offensive? Absolutely! I find it very offensive. But all kinds of offensive speech must be allowed to keep our country free. In fact, if you've never been offended, then you don't live in a free country.
We cannot bar speech just because we find it offensive. Personally, I'm offended by Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michele Bachmann and many other right-wing loons, but I would never dare to suggest their words be outlawed (even if though I would love for them to tone down the rhetoric). If speech can be barred just because someone finds it offensive, then most of us would have to remain mute, and our democracy would disappear.
Some in the animal rights movement have suggested that the animal cruelty pictures and videos are analogous to the pictures and videos of child sexual abuse, and therefore should be outlawed. I don't buy that argument. Every time a picture or video of child sexual abuse is sold or viewed, that child is abused again and must live with the consequences of that continuing abuse. The same cannot be said of the animal cruelty photos and videos.
Don't get me wrong. I consider animal cruelty to be abhorrent, and I think those who engage in it should be severely punished. But this court decision did not do away with any real animal cruelty laws. They are still on the books and I hope they are vigorously enforced. Just come down hard on the person or persons doing the abuse -- not the fool selling a video of the abuse (however offensive it may be).
If the government really wanted to stop dog fighting, they should have gone after the people in the video who planned and engaged in the dog fights. Arresting and punishing these people will have an effect. Arresting someone who sells a video of the fights will do nothing to stop the fights. They need to punish the crime -- not the offensive stupidity.
