'The Most Spectacular Example of Incitement': First Amendment Icons Back Swalwell in Lawsuit

[Nevilledog]

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Adam Klasfeld
@KlasfeldReports
"'The Most Spectacular Example of Incitement': First Amendment Icons Back @EricSwalwell in Lawsuit Against Donald Trump for Jan. 6th Siege"

On the amicus brief, Floyd Abrams and others rip Trump's "spurious" political speech defense to KKK Act claims.

'The Most Spectacular Example of Incitement': First Amendment Icons Back Eric Swalwell in Lawsuit...
Several leading First Amendment scholars rejected Donald Trump's "political speech" defense against lawsuits by Rep. Eric Swalwell and others accusing the ex-president of violating the KKK Act.
lawandcrime.com
9:35 AM · Jul 9, 2021

https://lawandcrime.com/u-s-capitol-siege/the-most-spectacular-example-of-incitement-first-amendment-icons-back-eric-swalwell-in-lawsuit-against-donald-trump-for-jan-6th-siege/

Former President Donald Trump, his political allies, and his supporters have tried to fend off any allegations that they incited a so-called “insurrection” on Jan. 6th by arguing that they merely engaged in “political speech.” A coalition of the nation’s leading First Amendment scholars rejected that “spurious” defense on Thursday, backing former impeachment manager Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and others in their lawsuits against Trump.

Led by Pentagon Papers lawyer Floyd Abrams, the four scholars threw their support behind two Democratic lawmakers accusing Trump and others of violating the Ku Klux Klan Act and other statutes by provoking the siege of the U.S. Capitol. The coalition also backed two U.S. Capitol Police officers accusing Trump of “directing” their assault.

“Although the January 6 insurrection may be the most spectacular example of incitement and ‘true threat’ in American history, modern political intimidation often takes subtler forms that these statutes can address effectively—if they do not become neutered by a mistaken application of First Amendment principles,” the scholars noted in a 23-page friend-of-the-court brief. “Today, for example, ‘voters are rarely overtly threatened with physical or economic harm as they were during the civil rights era; instead, voters are deterred from voting through subtler tactics, such as aggressive poll-watching, anonymous threats of harm, frivolous and excessive voter registration challenges, and coercion by employers.'”

The other First Amendment luminaries signing on to the brief are Berkeley School of Law Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, Harvard University Professor Martha Minow, and Carl M. Loeb Harvard University Professor Emeritus Laurence Tribe. Floyd Abrams, a senior counsel at Cahill Gordon & Reindel and visiting lecturer at Yale Law School, is the father of Dan Abrams, the founder of Law&Crime.

*snip*

[Under The Radar]

1. Just get his testimony under oath.

[Faux pas]

2. Kicketty Kickin'

[Evolve Dammit]

3. On to the investigation into 1/6. Full subpoena power, sworn testimony, LOTS of security

[Hekate]

4. Kick

[crickets]

5. K&R for visibility.

[calimary]

6. Damn right!

Kicking this!