Professor Peter Spiro (Temple University) vs. The First Amendment

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(By Andrew MacKie-Mason)

Professor Spiro has joined Professor Butler in an assault on the First Amendment in the case of Sam Bastile (the "filmmaker" whose "movie" allegedly prompted the protests in Libya and elsewhere that resulted in the death of the US ambassador to Libya).

His post, titled "US Envoy Killing Bolsters Case for Hate Speech Ban," doesn't really make any novel points. (Eugene Volokh has a rundown on more in depth scholarship by Spiro on this issue.) His argument, such as it is, boils down to "some thugs killed people because of this speech. Therefore, we should ban it."

The problem is that Spiro's mode of reasoning punishes civilized religions and groups, while rewarding thugs who are willing to resort to violence in response to insults. If you let the thugs win, you reward thuggery. It might be a comfortable position in the short-term, where it looks like we're saving lives. But if America negotiates with terrorists, there will only be more terrorism.