When can police arrest demonstrators?
UC Law professor discusses legal precedence and hateful speech
Ryan Thoreson, an assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, spoke with CityBeat and Cincinnati Edition on WVXU about recent demonstrators rallying in Lincoln Heights and the response from local police.
Evendale Police responded to an incident on Feb. 7 at the Vision Way overpass over I-75 in which masked demonstrators lined the overpass sidewalk waving large antisemitic flags.
Nearby residents chased the demonstrators off of the overpass, and Evendale Police said they could charge the protestors with a misdemeanor traffic charge, but the response has caused tension.
Thoreson says precedent from U.S. Supreme Court rulings on hateful speech might be instructive.
Ryan Thoreson is an assistant professor at UC Law. Photo provided.
“A lot of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence has been particularly wary of what it calls a heckler's veto, this idea that if an audience strongly disagrees with a message, that they should be able to override the speaker's right to convey that message, and that applies even when the speech is particularly upsetting to the audience who hears it,” says Thoreson.
But Thoreson said there are some free speech exceptions.
Read the full story in CityBeat online.
Thoreson also spoke to WVXU's Cincinnati Edition on this issue.
Learn more about UC Law’s Ryan Thoreson online.
Image of the U.S. Supreme Court courtesy of Istock.
Related Stories
Marcus Sapp says he’s finally free after wrongful murder charges tossed
September 8, 2024
Marcus Sapp, an Ohio Innocence Project exoneree, spoke with The Cincinnati Enquirer about his journey to freedom following a wrongful murder conviction. OIP at UC Law took his case and uncovered exculpatory evidence that should have been presented during his initial trial.
Wrongful conviction: ‘If it can happen to me it can definitely happen to you’
November 8, 2024
Richard Horton and Nancy Smith, two exonerees of the Ohio Innocence Project at UC Law, speak with WYSO about wrongful conviction. OIP was founded in 2003 and is continuing its initial purpose: working to free every person in Ohio who has been convicted of a crime they didn’t commit.
What is exoneration for individuals wrongly convicted of a crime?
October 17, 2024
Tara Rosnell, chair of the Ohio Innocence Project's Board of Advocates, spoke recently with WYSO public radio station about how exoneration works for individuals wrongly convicted for crimes they did not commit. OIP at UC Law helped 42 people secure their freedom. The group of clients collectively spent more than 800 years behind bars for crimes they didn’t do.