Freud's take on sexuality

Over the last several weeks, The Daily Texan has published a number of arguments by students, staff and professors that malign the University and the state of Texas for the "injustice" of the University's failure to provide same-sex couples with the same employment benefits married couples have.

Morality has been central to the issue in most arguments, and more than one made an audacious comparison to the civil rights movement. Justification for treating the issue as a moral question has been lost in the fervor.

The University's so-called "discrimination" targets lifestyles, not individuals. The law applies equally to everyone. People who identify themselves as homosexual may enter a heterosexual marriage, as has presumably been done in the past and present. One may argue that the law threatens equal opportunities for pursuing happiness. However, the matter is not simply one of happiness, as there exist many lifestyles that no reasonable and decent society could allow but that make certain individuals happier. The question is where to draw the line.

This question is addressed in Sigmund Freud's "Civilization and its Discontents." The issue for Freud is not homosexuality in particular, but rather the appropriate role for sexual activity in a society.

Freud's strongest insight is the hostile relationship between society and sexual activity, and that it is justified, if not necessary, for a society to restrict sexual activity when not serving the valuable function of procreating and binding parents to one another and to a child as a result of the activity. Put simply, sexual activity alienates a person from society. It is the worst kind of narcissism. It often binds two people together against the rest of society, its institutions and even their own families, like in "Romeo and Juliet." Society demands much of one's time and energy, and sexual activity can drive one to indifference about meeting worldly obligations. Freud thinks that repression of sexual instincts enables the work of civilization, and that the demise of repression is a return to the infantilism of barbarians.

On resolving the tension between society and sexual desires of the individual, Freud remained expressly silent. In the 1950s, German émigré Herbert Marcuse took up Freud's question and laid part of the intellectual foundation for the "sexual revolution" by arguing that the civilization itself is the problem. Proffering tired Marxist themes, Marcuse found 20th-century civilization to be a source of aggression, domination and destruction.

If society were only to lift its repressive laws and taboos, people would lose tensions that cause such unhappiness in their ordinary relations and experience the joys of polymorphous affection. Sexuality would lose its genital association, and people would experience sexuality through body of the whole human organism so that everyday activities, even certain kinds of work, are made erotic. Repression would be unnecessary, yet sublimation would remain. Anxiety and earnestness cast aside, Marcuse unapologetically states that his happiness is an ever-present feeling of the infantile.

Marcuse seems to have won the day. Sexuality surges through society. Feelings of polymorphous affection and childlike indignation are now accepted as an adult mentality. For proof of the matter, consider the naive moralizing so often at play in matters such as same-sex couple employment benefits.

Staha is a law student and former chairman of the Senate of College Councils.





Freud's take on sexuality - Opinion

Judge drops sex case as 'outrageous'

Lehigh court: Police let informant go too far in spa prostitution inquiry.
By Debbie Garlicki | Of The Morning Call
February 5, 2008


A Lehigh County judge has dismissed the case against a woman who was charged with promoting prostitution at a North Whitehall Township spa, ruling that state police engaged in ''outrageous'' conduct when they paid an informant to have sex four times with employees.

State police investigating the Shiatsu Spa on Route 309 paid the informant $180 for his ''time'' and gave him money to pay for sexual acts in the spa in June and July 2006.

''We conclude that the decision to send the citizen into Shiatsu Spa on four occasions for a smorgasbord of sexual activity violates the principles of fundamental fairness,'' Judge Robert L. Steinberg said in a Jan. 24 written opinion. ''Neither the prostitution activity inside the Shiatsu Spa nor the police decision-making is to be condoned.''




Maureen Coggins, the lawyer for Sun Cha Chon, 53, of Cross Kill, N.J., applauded the ruling Monday. She said she hopes the decision will discourage police from engaging in similar investigative tactics.

''The facts were just so shocking that it really pushed this case into a whole different realm,'' Coggins said.

''Does the public want their tax dollars to be used to pay some guy money to get sexual intercourse four times? It is disgusting.''

District Attorney James B. Martin said he will appeal the decision to the state Superior Court.

''I think it's absurd to say that the conduct that police engaged in in this set of circumstances, with someone who was known to run brothels, is outrageous,'' Martin said. ''With all due respect to Judge Steinberg, I think he used his own moral compass to decide this case and not the law and the facts.''

The investigation started after a man told state police he went to the spa and was appalled that someone offered to perform sexual acts. After the man volunteered his services, police attached a body wire to his pants and sent him into the spa.

While the man and Chon and another woman allegedly performed sexual acts, state troopers sat outside in a vehicle and listened to recordings of what was happening. After the encounters, the informant met with troopers, who had been chuckling on the tape, and said, ''Laugh it up, boys.''

Troopers cautioned the informant to be careful, and he brought condoms.

A search warrant was executed, and Chon was charged with prostitution and promoting prostitution, a felony. In early 2007, she pleaded guilty when she had a different lawyer. Coggins, who was to represent Chon at the sentencing, said that after she became familiar with the facts, she said, ''Whoa, this is something we have to fight.''

Steinberg granted Coggins' request to withdraw Chon's plea. Coggins then asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing that police engaged in outrageous conduct that violated Chon's due process rights.

It's rare to use the defense of outrageous government conduct, said Coggins, whose research turned up cases similar to Chon's in Philadelphia and Florida.

State troopers defended their investigation and testified at a hearing that they were trying to determine if prostitution was going on in Shiatsu Spa and who was running the operation.

Multiple contacts by an informant strengthen the case, said one trooper, who testified that, although sex is not preferred, it is not prohibited.

Senior Deputy District Attorney Joseph Stauffer attempted to show that police did a legitimate investigation and that Chon has a lengthy history of prostitution and promoting it.

The judge devoted much of his nine-page opinion and footnotes to cases in federal appeals courts, state appellate courts and the U.S. Supreme Court and those courts' reasons for finding that law enforcement officers did or didn't act outrageously in investigations.

Although courts have been reluctant to dismiss prosecutions based on claims of outrageous conduct, they have determined that there are limits to allowing governmental involvement in crime, Steinberg noted.

In previous hearings in the Chon case, Steinberg appeared to struggle with what those limits are.

Quoting a federal appeals court, the judge said the defense of outrageous conduct hasn't been defined ''with any degree of precision.''

The judge said he recognized that police and their informants must sometimes participate in unsavory conduct to get evidence of certain crimes. ''Wide latitude is accorded the government to determine how best to fight crime,'' Steinberg said, quoting another court.

Other courts have addressed alleged outrageous conduct in cases where an informant lured recovering alcoholics and drug addicts to commit illegal acts, agents gave samples of drugs to suspects and agents had sexual intercourse with targets of investigations.

Coggins contended police didn't have to allow sex acts to take place even once, let alone four times, and that they had enough evidence for an arrest when sex was offered by a Shiatsu Spa employee.

Steinberg agreed. He ruled the state police acts met the criteria for outrageous conduct established in a federal case. Police used sex as a weapon to fight crime, and they permitted the sex to continue even after having enough evidence for an arrest and search warrant, the judge found. The mere agreement of sexual acts for money was enough, he added.

''We expect more from the police,'' Steinberg said, ''and demand that they conduct their investigations and utilize their resources without resorting to such embarrassing investigative techniques.''

debbie.garlicki@mcall.com

610-820-6764



http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_5prostitution-r.6259062feb05,0,2754885.story

The end of 2257?

The End of 2257?

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, one of the second highest courts in the land, has struck down the law known to the industry as the 2257 regulations.

Citizen lawsuit against Johns Creek

Citizen lawsuit against Johns Creek
They are wasting HUGE $$$$
January 11, 2008 | 03:26 PM

I would like to see a citizen lawsuit against the council members and mayor of Johns Creek for wasting city money and time trying to shut down the Love Shack store. This is a stupid example of prudish government officials trying to violate the constitution and local laws to carry out their weird personal agenda. These people obviously have strange psychological hangups about sex, and they are spending huge amounts of taxpayer money trying to enforce their weird sexual problems on everyone else in the community. This should be stopped, and these unfortunate people should seek professional help for their sexual problems.

Rick Bristol

Navigating the legal changes

Navigating the Legal Challenges

From Northern Virginia to Southern California, federal and state prosecutors and grand juries across America continued to bring criminal obscenity charges against adult operators during 2007.

City urging two adult businesses to close

BY JILLIAN COHAN
The Wichita Eagle


The city of Wichita is negotiating with two adult entertainment businesses to close in response to a new zoning law that takes effect today.

When the law was passed in 2005, there were nine adult entertainment stores that would be affected by the new regulations, which restrict adult entertainment businesses to industrially or commercially zoned areas.

Four of the businesses have since closed, the city's legal department said. Three may be forced to close, relocate or challenge the city in court.

City officials didn't identify which two businesses they were negotiating with.

The city won't be able to enforce the law against new businesses until its constitutionality has been established in court.

The city probably would not sue the businesses directly but would respond if the businesses challenged the law's validity, said Dale Goter, a city spokesman.

"There's no unique legal perspective here," he said.

"It's a done deal. Now it's just following the prescribed path."

Charlie O'Hara, a local lawyer who represents several of the stores, called the zoning law "a ridiculous bunch of politics."

"The owners do not intend to voluntarily move," he said. "A court is probably going to have to order them out."

Jan Beemer of Operation Southwind, the group that led the charge against the stores, said their closure would make the neighborhoods around them safer.

"We would expect the city to proceed forward legally," she said.

The store owners who have not moved are now violating the law, she added.

"They should be charged like you or I would be charged if we were violating an ordinance," Beemer said.

The law, approved by the City Council in 2005, restricts adult entertainment businesses to industrially or commercially zoned areas, such as those along far East and far West Kellogg, sections of 21st Street and a few other small pockets of the city.

The shops also must be more than 500 feet from churches, schools, licensed day care centers, public parks, residential districts, the Old Town entertainment district and other sex-oriented businesses. But that doesn't mean a church or day care can move into an area and force out the adult video stores.




http://www.kansas.com/news/local/story/268761.html

John Cornetta makes the top AVN's Stories Of 2007

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Will Adult Entertainment Ordinance Hold Up?

Posted: 9:50 PM Dec 30, 2007
Email Address: chris.sadeghi@kake.com


A zoning ordinance in Wichita forcing adult entertainment stores to leave town will take effect on January 1st. However, that is not expected to have an impact on some businesses right away. A constitutional challenge will determine if the ordinance will hold up in court.

Back in 2005, the Wichita City Council approved the ordinance, giving adult entertainment shops over two years to move or shutdown. While some have closed, at least three are still open and will not be cited until a ruling is made on the law's constitutionality.

The lawsuit challenging the ordinance will be filed shortly after the turn of the new year.

Below is a statement by the city, released on Monday, Dec 31.

SEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESS ORDINANCE STATUS

As of Jan. 1, the moratorium on new licenses for sexually oriented businesses within the City of Wichita will expire. The moratorium was approved Feb. 8, 2005, by the Wichita City Council.

The Council also enacted a new zoning ordinance on that date that restricts those businesses to areas that are further than 500 feet from a church, school, public park, licensed in day care center, residential zoning district boundary, Old Town district boundary, or other adult entertainment establishment.

The 2005 ordinance defines a sexually oriented business within the City of Wichita as a holder of a valid adult entertainment establishment license. By adding the definition, the City’s regulatory code became consistent with the existing City-County unified zoning code.

As of Feb. 8, 2005, there were nine sexually oriented businesses validly operating in the City of Wichita in areas prohibited by the new limitations. The moratorium provided a two-year grace period for those businesses to voluntarily comply with the new ordinance.

Since the enactment of the 2005 ordinance, four of these businesses have closed their doors and ceased to operate. The City is in the process of negotiating the eminent closure of two such additional businesses.

The ordinance requires the City to test the constitutional validity of the ordinance in court before it seeks to enforce it against any of the remaining, pre-existing businesses. It is likely there will be three such businesses. These businesses will not be sued directly. There are available court procedures that will allow the City to seek a court determination without placing the burden of defense on those businesses. However, those remaining businesses will have an opportunity to appear in court if they so choose to address the validity of the ordinance.

There are seven sexually oriented businesses in the City currently operating in areas allowed by the resolution.

The specific ordinance that addresses the lawsuit requirement is found at VII-J.2.c of the Wichita/ Sedgwick County Unified Zoning Code.

Dale Goter
Government Relations Manager
City of Wichita



http://www.kake.com/news/headlines/12930162.html

Adult ‘fantasy’ store planning expansion

BY CHARLES SCHILLINGER


DICKSON CITY — A Dickson City shop trading in adult sex products is looking to quadruple in size, adding a 6,000-square-foot addition.

The new owners of Adult Outlet at 2109 Business Route 6, Clindum LLC, received permission to expand the store from the borough’s Zoning Hearing Board this month, though not without conditions. And building plans must still be approved by the borough as well.

Clindum bought the business in January with the intention of renovating the 2,000-square-foot building and “making it more upscale,” said the company’s director of marketing, Robyn Anderson.

“It’s going to be very tasteful. It’s a fantasy store for couples,” she said, adding the addition would be filled with retail products such as lingerie, shoes and lotions.

Ms. Anderson declined to say how many stores the company operates.

Competition and the continuing growth of Business Route 6 attracted Clindum to the area with the idea of expanding.

When the company submitted its intentions to expand, Dickson City zoning officer Jim Damski initially rejected it. Adult stores are permitted as special exceptions only and need Zoning Hearing Board approval, he said.

However, in the company’s appeal to the Zoning Hearing Board, Mr. Damski said it was found the company was more interested in expanding the retail part of the business, including the sale of lingerie. The board was more agreeable to that, he said.

The company also asked to expand the number of “viewing booths” it had in its existing shop from 18 to 24; however, at the borough’s request, the company put aside those plans.

Clindum is “perfectly content” with the conditions set for its expansion, said Ms. Anderson.

Mr. Damski indicated those conditions included the addition being limited to retail products and the company not expanding the viewing booths. The exact details were not available as the formal written report from the hearing had not been finalized as of last week.

Contact the writer: cschillinger@timesshamrock.com



http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19155944&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=416046&rfi=6

2257 Software Packages

2257 Software Packages

Software for those who prefer not to start their digital record-keeping systems from scratch.

Cornetta Makes good with the Charity Fundraser

Cornetta Makes Good With Charity Fundraiser

Love Shack owner John Cornetta sponsored a fundraiser on Sunday to benefit the town of Johns Creek and help fund fire and rescue services for the small town.

FBI Halts 2257 Inspections of Secondaries

FBI Halts 2257 Inspections of Secondaries

Special Agent Chuck Joyner, head of the FBI's 2257 inspection effort, clarifies the FBI's inspection policies.

Love Shack stays open

2007-12-20
JOHNS CREEK HERALD
Love Shack stays open

by Caron Cooper




December 27, 2007
Same headline, different year.

About this time last year, John Cornetta, owner of Love Shack, was busy removing items from his shelves to comply with a court order to close down his controversial business, but only if it is selling "a significant quantity of sexually explicit materials."

Love Shack had opened without a business license from Fulton County Nov. 29, 2006, citing a county ordinance that gives a business 30 days to obtain one, in an attempt to be grandfathered in before the city of Johns Creek was to take over licensing and zoning services in January 2007.

Rumors had been swirling that Love Shack was to be padlocked at 3 p.m. Dec. 21, 2006, if Cornetta didn't follow the court order.

Courts had previously ruled "significant" to mean more than 25 percent. So Cornetta went beyond that, reducing his sexually-related inventory to about 5 percent and replacing it with purses and other non-sexual novelties.

But Cornetta predicted the opposite.

"At 3 p.m., they are going to show up and cite me," he said to the crowd that had started to gather in front of his store that day.

Shortly after 3 p.m., a handful of Fulton County code enforcement officers, along with a U.S. federal marshal, arrived on scene. Cornetta was right – the officers measured his store and counted the amount of merchandise that was sexual in nature to determine a ratio of square footage versus sexually explicit merchandise.

He was cited again that day for not possessing a sign banner and for inappropriate zoning.

"Victory," Cornetta announced to the crowd. "We're still open."

Cornetta has maintained from the beginning that Love Shack is not an adult bookstore as defined by the county's ordinance. He says the county's determination was presumptuous and prevents Love Shack's right to free speech.

The case was in federal court last month to hear oral arguments. Cornetta is appealing the preliminary injunction ordered by the U.S. District Court, which calls for Love Shack cease operation or comply with the county's ordinances.

A ruling could take months. Cornetta's attorney, Cary Wiggins, said it could go three ways: one, court finds Cornetta's appeal moot; two, court sides with Love Shack that injunction was improper; or three, the court upholds the county's injunction.

Either way, the parties will return to district court and Judge Thomas Thrash for a decision on the remaining motions filed.

Love Shack has remained open since November 2006. In the meantime, Cornetta has taken on another opponent – Johns Creek.

The city filed a motion this summer asking Fulton County Superior Court to order Love Shack to cease operation, citing the U.S. District Court's findings that the business is operating unlawfully at its current location. The city has maintained this case is not about free speech – it is about zoning. And under the city's ordinances, Love Shack fits the definition of a sexually oriented business in a location not zoned for such. That's why the city also denied Love Shack a business license.

But Wiggins has maintained that the city sat on the Love Shack's business license application without explanation for a solid month while City Council adopted a new ordinance, and two weeks later, the city finally denied the application.

Wiggins said at the time that all of this is moot because the city's updated super-ordinance was not in place when the business application was submitted to the city. He also said that the part of the definition specific to language used in advertising is likely in violation of the First Amendment.

Love Shack then sued the city, naming specific city staff and members of the city's Zoning Board of Appeals, for denying the adult business's applications for sign and banner permits.

The Love Shack's petition to Fulton County Superior Court says the city staff's denial is based on "arbitrary criteria" and asks the court to declare that decision as beyond the scope of power. Neither the city's sign ordinance nor its zoning ordinance states a business license as prerequisite for a sign or banner permit.

The city disagrees.

"What's the logic of issuing a sign to a business that does not have a license and is in essence operating illegally," said Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker.

The city must answer the petition within 30 calendar days from Nov. 19, the date the city was served, but is not uncommon for parties to request more time.

And so Johns Creek residents will continue to wait into 2008 to see if the New Year will bring any results.





http://www.northfulton.com/Articles-i-2007-12-20-168927.112113_Love_Shack_stays_open.html

Regs Putting the Squeeze on Industry

Regs Putting the Squeeze on Industry

In June 2005, the adult entertainment industry seemed thrown into a near-panic when the U.S. updated 18 U.S.C. §2257

Cornetta Charitable Foundation Raises $1,400 With Dunk Tank Event

Cornetta Charitable Foundation Raises $1,400 With Dunk Tank Event
Mike South plays Johns Creek Mayor in public spectacle

By Peter Warren, AVN Media Network

Posted: 11:30 AM PST Dec 20, 2007


JOHNS CREEK, Ga. — Love Shack owner John Cornetta raised $1,400 at a public event on Sunday designed to benefit civil services in Johns Creek - but the city has not yet agreed to accept the money.
Cornetta and porn director Mike South served as the targets in a booth where participants paid $20 for the chance to douse them in flour. South stood in for Johns Creek mayor Mike Bodker, who refused the Love Shack owner's public challenge to participate in the event.
Cornetta has been locked in a legal battle with Johns Creek since he opened his Love Shack store in the city over a year ago. The adult retailer has lambasted the city for spending over $150,000 to shut down his store when that money could have been used to fund fire and other rescue services.

After a Memorial Day fire killed Fulton County firefighter Felix Roberts and Johns Creek resident John Callahan, Cornetta established a charitable foundation for the victims' families and the city's fire department. He dedicated a percentage of the Love Shack's summer profits to the cause, setting out a collection bucket in the store for customers to contribute.
Cornetta presented a check for $2,913 to the city Sept. 28, but the city sent it back on the grounds that it could be perceived as an attempt to influence the outcome of the Love Shack litigation.
Fulton County Fire Chief Larry Few angrily chastised Cornetta in an e-mail for attempting to make the donation as a publicity grab to push his own agenda.

"You have sought to use the death of a hero and other firefighters in order [to] move forward with or push an agenda," Few wrote in the e-mail, "and I personally find that unpleasant."

Ironically, as Cornetta and South were holding the event Saturday, a massive fire destroyed the home of a local single mother and her two daughters. All three survived, but the family lost everything.

Said South, "Playing the mayor was very tough for me to do — I had never been that big of a putz my whole life."

Should Mayor Bodker reject the money raised Saturday, Pastor Michael Cole — chairman of the Cornetta Charitable Foundation Board of Advisers and clergyman at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit at Chapel Hill — will decide how it is disbursed.

For more information and/or donation inquiries, contact Kate Cook at kate@cornetta.com or (770) 458-4386 ext. 105.




http://www.avn.com/index.cfm?objectID=F4001585-EBC9-D813-F3DE4FCA68160909&slid=324399

Xbiz Reports Ga. Town Restricts Adult Businesses

By Tod Hunter
Thursday, Dec 20, 2007
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — The Flowery Branch City Council has repealed its adult business ordinance and passed a new adult business ordinance restricting them. Flowery Branch Mayor Diane Hirling said no adult businesses have made new requests to move into the city limits, but the ordinance was passed in preparation for future requests.
The new adult business ordinance brought the city's adult entertainment rules in line with a 2006 zoning ordinance passed that detailed where specific businesses are allowed to operate within the city, according to Hirling.
The new ordinance establishes operating hours for adult businesses of 8 a.m.-midnight and prohibits the serving of alcoholic beverages. Adult businesses cannot operate within 1,000 feet of any place of worship, school building, college campus, religious institution or any governmental building including public parks, hospitals, libraries, children’s day care centers or another adult entertainment venue.
"It’s not that we’re trying to keep them out," Hirling said. "We’re just keeping them away from schools and churches."
The new adult business ordinance continues the restriction that adult business establishments can only operate in areas zoned manufacture industrial.

Xbiz Reports Wisc. Town With No Adult Businesses Restricts Them

By Tod Hunter
Wednesday, Dec 19, 2007
MENASHA, Wis. — The Menasha Town Board adopted a revised liquor license ordinance by a 5-0 vote, a license that provides restrictions to license holders who might want to offer adult entertainment or sexually oriented business.Town officials may continue to look for additional restrictions as well. The town currently does not have any business offering adult entertainment.
"I think we all agree we don't want that type of business in our town," said Town Chairman Arden Tews, who recommended the city continue to look at requiring licenses for any such business seeking to locate in the town.
Fears that a nude "juice bar" that doesn't offer alcohol might still locate in the town worries former town supervisor Jay Schroeder, who has said that when the county reduced the legal setback distance from churches, schools and parks from 2,000 feet to 600 feet it went too far, opening up more areas in the town where an adult business can legally operate.
The county's adult entertainment zoning ordinance, passed earlier this year, restricted strip clubs to operating only in certain areas and prohibited the sale or consumption of alcohol at adult entertainment facilities, unless permitted by towns through issuance of a liquor license.
Town Attorney Chuck Koehler, consulting with Virginia attorney Pat Trueman, incorporated Trueman's advice into Menasha's new liquor license ordinance. Trueman offers free legal advice to nonprofit groups or communities seeking protection against sexually oriented businesses.
Koehler called the revised ordinance a "backstop" for whatever enforcement or legal deficiencies that might exist in the county's ordinance, suggesting that the town adopt the revised ordinance and then continue examining various issues before making amendments, if needed.
"It's a matter of time before one comes here," former supervisor Schroeder said. "I don't believe [the revised ordinance] is complete enough."

Dear Chief Few and Fulton County representatives

"I understand Chief Few has denied donations from Mr. and Mrs. Cornetta recently fora fallen Fulton County firefighter, Felix Roberts and John Callahan who lost theirlives in a recent fire.

I am truely saddend by these losses, but I cannot condone your response to his generosity. Shame on you Cheif for not acceptng monetary donations from Mr. and Mrs. Cornetta on behalf of these families. Mr. Cornetta has every right to his offerings and tocontradict John's Creek in the manner in which they have ear marked so much money to fight his business and to build a City Hall without their own emergency service providers for the newly established community.

I am afraid this effort by John'sCreek against Cornetta's Love Shack business has many negative overtones, but the facts are: without ample emergency services in John's Creek more citizens may benegatively and unecessarily affected. I don't live or vote in Fulton County so you probably don't care what I think, butit appears to me, you don't care what the people who pay taxes in your communitythink as well.

Now, should you try to run in Cobb County, I will be ready to alerteveryone here about this historic mistake.

For those who have read this, thank you for your time. "

T.C.

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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. First Amendment to the United States Constitution.

"Monsieur l'abbé, I detest what you write, but I would give my life to make it possible for you to continue to write." Voltaire, letter to M. le Riche, February 6, 1770.