In response to a rise in antisemitism and other hate messages targeting various groups, Los Angeles city councilmembers want to look into how the city currently deals with such flyers left in neighborhoods – and ways the city might be able to make it a misdemeanor for engaging in such activities.
A motion requesting more information from the city attorney passed out of a City Council committee this week and is awaiting a vote by the full council. In the meantime, critics of the proposal are demanding clarification on what constitutes “hate speech” and said that critiques of the Israeli government or Zionism should not be mistaken for antisemitism.
The debate comes amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas War that has polarized communities throughout Southern California.
“When you target someone with hate literature, you’re not just targeting them; you’re really trying to intimidate an entire community,” Councilmember Bob Blumenfield, who introduced the motion, said in an interview.
But Ken White, a First Amendment attorney with the L.A.-based firm Brown, White & Osborn LLP, said in an interview that most speech, including speech that’s political or that some would consider hateful, is protected under the First Amendment. Should the city of L.A. move forward with making it a misdemeanor to distribute flyers, the law could not be overly broad, he said.
“It’s totally understandable in an era of increased racism and racial invective that the government would want to protect citizens from racial abuse,” White said. “But the First Amendment protects most speech that’s considered ‘hate speech,’ and the exceptions that permit punishment are very narrow.”
Neighborhoods in Culver City, Brentwood, Beverly Hills and Huntington Beach, as well as other places throughout the country, have seen the “deliberate mass dissemination of flyers, pamphlets and letters as litter to deliver antisemitic messaging,” according to the motion, which …
Read the full article here
