Mediaboss Marketing

April 25, 2017 BERKELEY, Calif.AnnCoulteris now at the center of a civil rights lawsuit filed Monday against the University of California, Berkeley by students who say the school is violating their right to free speech by canceling the conservative pundit's speaking event on campus this week.

The lawsuit marks the latest twist in a high-profile debate over whether Ms. Coulterwill be allowed to speak Thursday at UC Berkeley, which has been known for decades as a bastion of free speech and tolerance and the birthplace of the 1960s Free Speech Movement.

A legal team led by Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney who is also a prominent California Republican, filed the case on behalf of the Berkeley College Republicans, who invitedCoulter, and the Young America's Foundation, which is helping to organize and finance the event.

"Berkeley is well known as a place where ideas used to be welcome. At least on the conservative side. At least until this recent election," Ms. Dhillon told a news conference after filing the lawsuit at the US District Court in San Francisco. "The university is required to give equal access to speakers of different viewpoints."

The lawsuit says that Berkeley is trying "to restrict and stifle the speech of conservative students whose voices fall beyond the campus political orthodoxy."

Dhillon is also a committeewoman to the Republican National Convention for California and former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party.

Campus Republicans invitedCoulterto speak at Berkeley this Thursday, but Berkeley officials informed the group last week that the event was being called off for security concerns.

The university then backtracked and offered an alternate date, butCoulterhas insisted that she plans to still come Thursday. It remains unclear where she would hold the event, and no details have been publicized.

Coulteris not a plaintiff on the lawsuit. But she voiced support for it on Twitter, posting Monday that the lawsuit "demands appropriate & safe venue for my speech THIS THURSDAY."

The university's attempt to call off the event came after a series of violent clashes this year on campus and in downtown Berkeley between far-right and far-left protesters.

The lawsuit demands unstated damages and compensation for attorney fees, a trial by jury and an injunction against Berkeley officials from "restricting the exercise of political expression on the UC Berkeley campus."

It names four university officials as defendants, including University of California President Janet Napolitano and Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas B. Dirks, and three police officials, including university police chief Margo Bennett.

The University of California president's office issued a statement saying it welcomes speakers of all political viewpoints and "is committed to providing a forum to enableAnnCoulterto speak on the Berkeley campus."

"The campus seeks to ensure that all members of the Berkeley and larger community including Ms.Coulterherself remain safe during such an event."

Visit link:
Ann Coulter backers sue UC Berkeley over cancellation (+video) - Christian Science Monitor

BERKELEY The furor over whether conservative pundit Ann Coulter willget a chance to speak at UC Berkeley this week continued to grow on Monday, with a conservative student group suing the university and Coultersuggesting she may show up Thursday even if shes not offered a venue to speak.

With the First Amendment clash drawing national attention, Coulter tweeted on Monday, Nice day for an outdoor speech at Berkeley, accompanied by four days of weather forecasts, Tuesday through Friday.

The university continues to maintain that it never agreed to provide a speaking venue to Coulter for this Thursday, cannot guarantee her security on that day, and has offered an alternative date May 2 for her to speak.

At a news conference Monday at the San Francisco office of Dhillon Law Group Inc., Harmeet Dhillon, attorney for Berkeley College Republicans and Tennessee-based Young Americas Foundation, said UC Berkeley abruptly canceled Coulters scheduled speech for this Thursday after weeks of discussion and a lot of back and forth. But UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said later on Monday thatthe event was never canceled, because it was never scheduled, because we were unable to identify a venue. All suitable venues had previously been booked, he said.

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Monday against UC Berkeley officials and University of California President Janet Napolitano, Dhillon seeks a judicial declaration that the university has violated her clients Constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth amendments by selectively enforcing the High-Profile Speaker Policy against (Berkeley College Republicans) and (Young Americas Foundation), which unreasonably restricts the time, place and manner of political speech. The complaint also seeks an injunction against the applicationof any policies that restrict political expression on the UC Berkeley campus, as well as the awarding of attorneysfees and court costs.

At the news conference, Dhillonreiterated and expounded on many of the allegations in the suit and in letters she wrote to the university on Friday.

She accused the university of having come up with the high-profile speaker policy recently and secretly and using it to silence two of her clients speakers Coulter and, earlier this month, conservative writer David Horowitz while allowing a former Clinton administration official and former Mexican President Vicente Fox, a critic of President Donald Trump, to speak.

She also accused UC Berkeley police of standing down during violent protests against a scheduled Feb. 1 appearance by former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulosthat was canceled shortly before it was supposed to start, after a group of masked protesters smashed windows at the student union building and set fires outside. She cited the Yiannopoulos cancellation as an example of the exercise of the hecklers veto,a legal doctrine in which thegovernment prevents a public speech or event on threats of interruptions, protests or violence.

The university is feeling increasing pressure from both the left and right to respect and defend Coulters free speech rights, with both liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and liberal comedian Bill Maher speaking out in recent days. In an interview on Fox News on Saturday, Coulter said she was still optimistic she would be allowed to speak Thursday.

I dont think it should be that hard to arrange, Ive done it hundreds of times, gone to college campuses she said.

Dianne Klein, the University of Californias associate vice president for strategic communications andmedia relations, said in a statement Monday that the university welcomesspeakers of all political viewpoints and is committed to providing a forum to enable Ann Coulter to speak on the Berkeley campus.

The allegation that Ms. Coulter is being prohibited from speaking because of her conservative views is untrue, Klein said, adding that the university is working to finda mutually agreeable time for Coulter to appear, while ensuring Coulters and the university and larger communitys safety.

At a news conference last week, UC Berkeley police Capt. Alex Yao said very specific and credible threats of violence had been received in connection with the announced Coulter event for Thursday.

Dhillon has said the alternate, two-hour, afternoon time window on May 2 that the university had offered is unacceptable because, among other reasons, students will not be in class that day and will be studying for finals.

Continued here:
Lawsuit filed against UC Berkeley over Ann Coulter event - The Mercury News

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Berkeley College Republicans Sue School Over Ann Coulter Speech Wall Street Journal (subscription) Conservative students at the University of California, Berkeley, who are seeking a venue this week for a speech by conservative commentator Ann Coulter, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday against the school. The suit claims the action is ...

See the original post here:
Berkeley College Republicans Sue School Over Ann Coulter Speech - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

The firebrand leader tore into Brussels during a jaw-dropping speech to the EU parliament in Brussels, in which he accused euro representatives of being prejudiced against his country.

In an attack on EU political correctness he raged: We are really irritated by the verbal strait jacket which stops us from calling a spade a spade and this kind of talk has become very common in European public life recently.

Today the EU Commission decided to open infringement proceedings against Budapest over changes to its higher education laws which critics say are designed to shut down a university owned by financier George Soros.

Eurocrats are also considering following suit on proposed legal changes to policies on migration, funding of NGOs and media plurality which they believe contravene European Union law.

GETTY

GETTY

Hitting back today, Mr Orban ridiculed the EUs spectacular and embarrassing judgements about his country in the past which did "not stand the test of time" and accused MEPs of condemning us on untruths.

He blasted: Fairness is not a question of the size of the country. Honourable members, Ive come here to defend my country. This situation is really absurd.

Its almost like someone being accused of murder and being convicted even whilst the alleged victim is alive and kicking.

Hungary and the Hungarian government is committed to the EU and this is unquestionable.

However, in many aspects we are unhappy with how the EU works. When we criticise your EU its because we want to correct these mistakes and we want to reform the EU.

Its our conviction that this is the only way to regain peoples confidence towards EU institutions.

EbS

EbS

Ive come here to defend my country. This situation is really absurd.

Viktor Orban

He raged: If you manage to overcome your prejudices towards us you will find fresh, critical and innovative thinking behind them. This is exactly what lies behind the successes of Hungary.

Mr Orban said that he believed the EU was overstepping its legal remit by trying to impose migrant quotas on Hungary, saying: We reserve ourselves the right to decide who we share Hungary with who we live together with.

And he added: It is also true, I wont deny this, that our vision of Europe is of a Europe built on strong member states.

If you dont like our position, come forward with reasoned arguments but dont judge us and condemn us because we have our own opinion.

Hungary is a proud country, we have always been committed to European Christian values.

REUTERS

1 of 53

A migrant taunts Hungarian riot police as they fire tear gas and water cannon on the Serbian side of the border, near Roszke

Mr Orban has accused US-based billionaire Mr Soros of using his university and charities which work with asylum seekers in an attempt to undermine his Government.

In his speech today he accused Mr Soros of attacking Hungary and described him as an open enemy of the euro, saying he was actively encouraging illegal migration to Europe.

After his speech the Hungarian PM was roundly condemned by MEPs, who described his migration policies as inhumane and accused him of betraying European values.

Leader of the Socialists and Democrats, the Italian MEP Gianni Pitella, accused him of knowingly lying when he accused the parliament of defending a hidden agenda on behalf of Mr Soros.

He told him: Dont go back to Budapest saying its all our fault, that were the bad guys imposing certain choices on you and trying to stop you with regard to the university, the NGOs, the media and the refugees. I think you should stand by your conscience and tell your people the truth.

Liberals leader Guy Verhofstadt said he saw a sort of modern day version of old Communist Hungary in Mr Orbans authoritarian leadership style, adding: Its like Stalin or Brezhnev are back.

The Brexit negotiator even suggested that the Hungarian leader should think about quitting the EU, accusing him of taking the blocs money but not being prepared to play by its rules.

However, the Hungarian PM found an ally in the form of former Ukip leader Nigel Farage who said Brussels would "go on interfering in the lives of Hungarian people" and urged him to call a Brexit style referendum on membership.

Go here to see the original:
'This is ABSURD!' Stony-faced MEPs look on aghast as Hungary PM gives them both barrels - Express.co.uk

Customers of U.S. banks, credit-card companies and insurance companies will soon have their personal data protected more rigorously, thanks to a sweeping new set of regulations from the European Union.

The General Data Protection Regulation, which takes effect in May 2018, will force companies to be more transparent about the type of data they collect on individuals, how that data is used and when personal information is exposed in a breach.

The regulation will apply to all companies that process data on EU citizens, but observers expect some large multinational companies will adopt the rules throughout their operations, rather than try to enforce multiple sets of rules across locations. That is expected to be the case for financial institutions, which typically handle transactions from customers around the world.

From an architectural perspective, I think companies are going to assume everyone theyre dealing with is a European Union citizen, says Denyette DePierro, vice president and senior counsel of cybersecurity and payments at the American Bankers Association. The architecture of trying to keep that information properly segregated is probably more burdensome than just meeting the standard.

Companies will bear a substantial compliance burden from the new rule, commonly referred to as GDPR. It is a vast regulation that requires organizations toamong other thingsdocument cybersecurity practices, notify affected users within 72 hours of a breach and designate a data-protection officer who will supervise an organizations data-collection methods. Companies that fail to comply could face fines of as much as 4% of their global revenue.

But adopting GDPR could also present an opportunity for financial institutions to demonstrate their cybersecurity credentials and to prepare for what could be stricter cybersecurity regulation in the U.S.

An expanded version of this article appears on WSJ.com .

Popular on WSJ.com:

Trump Wants Tax Plan to Cut Corporate Rate to 15%

French Presidential Runoff Heralds New Political Era

Link:
New European Union financial rules to also give US consumers protection - MarketWatch