When politicians start talking about criminalizing speech I get a bit nervous, but I am willing to listen to the specifics on this:
Rep. Robert Brady (D-Pa.) reportedly plans to introduce legislation that would make it a federal crime to use language or symbols that could be perceived as threatening or inciting violence against a federal official or member of Congress.
Brady told CNN that he wants federal lawmakers and officials to have the same protections against threat currently provided to the president. His call comes one day after Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shot, along with 19 other people, at a public event in Tucson. A suspect is currently in custody.
“The president is a federal official,” Brady told CNN in a telephone interview. “You can’t do it to him; you should not be able to do it to a congressman, senator or federal judge.” …
…Brady singled out the [Palin’s] map as the type of rhetoric he opposed.
“You can’t put bull’s-eyes or crosshairs on a United States congressman or a federal official,” he said.
So, what do you think? Should Palin be in jail? Should what she did be a crime? Should all federal officials have the same low-tolerance speech protections as the president enjoys?
