Mediaboss Marketing

PARSIPPANY Council President Louis Valori continued tointerrupt Bill Brennan during a public session regarding the Township Budget on Thursday, June 8.

Mr. Valori as well as Township Attorney John Inglesino keptinterrupting Mr. Brennan during his comments regarding the budget, and how Inglesino and Mayor James Barberio are a pair of criminals. He contents there is a Criminal Conspiracy going on.

Mr. Brennan said Your are violating my constitutional right tofree speech, you dont like the content of my speech, and you are calling me names, you areallegedly that Iam an embarrassment. Yes, you said I should behave myself. This is the third time youinterrupted me. You know what, I am speaking my mind in an open public forum. Now you are passing notes back and forth and interrupting me. May I have my three minutes? May I have my three minutes? So you are telling me that I dont get my three minutes? You were able to interrupt me the whole time. I didnt get to finish what I had to say. I am not putting the mic down. I insist that if I violated a law, I would be charged. I have three minutes. Iam not goingvoluntarily I am not disrupting the meeting. I wasdisrupted the three minutes which I was given to speak. I was given three minutes to speak. Am I under arrest? Yes, and I want to go on the record before I leave that I did not get my three minutes, I was interruptedrepeatedly. I will take this up in a Civil Suit with this municipality.

Mr. Brennan was escorted from the Council Chambers by two Parsippany Police Officers that were on duty during the Council Meeting.

Requests for comments from Mayor James Barberio, Council President Louis Valori, Council Vice President Robert Peluso and Councilman Carifi and dePierro went unanswered.

Editors Note: The video is only a segment where Brennan speaks. The complete video of the Council Meeting of Thursday, June 7 can be seen by clicking here.

Comments

Original post:
Parsippany welcomes another lawsuit; Council President Valori violates First Amendment Rights of Public Speaker - Parsippany Focus

Now that the courts have ruled that doctors have a First Amendment right to ask their patients if they own guns, I want to remind the patients that they also have the same First Amendment right.

To keep your gun ownership private, do not tell the doctors you own guns as it will become part of your medical records and every agency of our federal government will have a ready-made list of gun owners.

If I am asked I would say:

Doc, it is none of your business but if I owned a gun, and I am not saying that I do, I want you to know that I am aware of how to store and handle guns and I would ensure that they are kept safe from children and other unauthorized people for their safety and mine.

BRUCE MILLS, NORTH PALM BEACH

I was appalled by the letter Words mattertake care with drug use (Wednesday) by professor George Stoupas. Though I agree that addicts deserve our compassion, his comparison to people on the autism spectrum is fundamentally wrong and misleading.

People on the autism spectrum are born that way and cannot be cured. They, however, are taught to make the most of their strong points and live productive lives.

Drug abusers, as well as alcohol abusers, become users as a choice. Yes, addiction is a disease, but they can be cured if they choose to go through the extremely difficult and rigorous detox process. I personally know people who made that choice and live happy and productive lives.

JOSEPH WILLINGER, BOYNTON BEACH

Kudos to my mayor, Jeri Muoio, for joining the Compact of Mayors on Climate and Energy. Within three years, participating cities will endeavor to report their greenhouse gas emissions, set emission reduction targets and develop climate action plans.

By withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, President Donald Trump has done damage to our countrys standing with the rest of the world. The original U.S.-Paris agreement actually expires in 2020. Hopefully, by then, a wiser public will have voted him out of office. In the meantime, much can be done by local governments.

A National Geographic report asserts that Floridas coastline could be radically changed by as much as a 5-foot sea-level rise by 2100, putting Miami and other coastal cities under water. This would impact Floridas major industries as well as $390 billion worth of properties. In the wake of climate change, temperature swings are projected to be more volatile by centurys end.

It is therefore imperative that the mayors do everything within their powers to countervail this imprudent step by the president.

MARCIA DE FREN, WEST PALM BEACH

A recent letter suggested President Donald Trumps decision to leave the global warming agreement was another slap in the face of President Barack Obama and more evidence of hatred. After all, the entire agreement was voluntary.

It allows China to continue its increase of pollution at any rate until 2030. What is clearly not voluntary is the U.S. commitment to provide billions of taxpayer dollars to other countries.

So unless you believe that its all Americas fault, and we should be punished financially, you should support an agreement that commits all the largest polluters to make progress today, not 13 years from now.

Similar to NATO, everyone has to meet commitments, not just wink and expect America to do it all with our money.

JOHN GIGANTI, BOYNTON BEACH

Read the rest here:
Letters First Amendment not just for doctors; patients can opt out - Palm Beach Post

New York Times

Michelle Carter Didn't Kill With a Text New York Times Moreover, speech that is reckless, hateful and ill-willed nevertheless enjoys First Amendment protection. While the Supreme Court has carved out narrowly tailored exceptions for literal threats of violence and incitement to lawless action, telling ... Michelle Carter found guilty in landmark texting suicide caseBoston Herald Michelle Carter: What the texting suicide case tells usBBC News A Sad and Terrible Verdict in MassachusettsNational Review Hot Air -Ars Technica -New York Times -CNN all 401 news articles »

The rest is here:
Michelle Carter Didn't Kill With a Text - New York Times

Katherine Owens

St. Augustine

There are some who are offended by the Confederate monuments in our Plaza and/or in other cities. These monuments serve only as a reminder of that which has come before. If every generation destroyed what it found offensive, there would be nothing left. It is a guarantee that something we believe in today will be looked upon with disgust and horror by future generations.

I have family who fought on both sides of the Civil War. I am proud of the service of all my ancestors because they defended their values. My family has lived in Florida for the last 190 years, so I ask: Why are we discussing the taking down of monuments to men who fought for Florida?

Why are we not, instead, raising up more monuments and memorials to Floridians around the state not just in the Oldest City? Instead of tearing down the Confederate monuments, why not build a monument to Union Soldiers from northeast Florida? The Civil War was a war that divided families including the Northeast Florida branch of my own family.

Both Confederate monuments in the Plaza were erected when Florida was either occupied territory or a state within the Union, and hence are protected by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, specifically the First Amendment freedom of speech. They cannot, nor should they be taken down or removed. The builders of those monuments are no longer alive to defend their First Amendment rights. We, the succeeding generations, must do so. Additionally, the General William Loring Monument is under the protection of the Federal law against grave desecration, because he is buried under the memorial.

If in order to appease a few who are offended by the history of the United States, the State of Florida and the City of St. Augustine, an interpretive plaque must be erected, it will need to be worded very carefully. The wording needs to be such that we are neither putting words into the mouths of the erectors of the monuments, nor apologizing for what they believed.

For example: some people claim William Tecumseh Sherman was a hero and a liberator. However, many Southerners still think of him as a mass-murder of white and black Georgians and South Carolinians. It would be a violation of the Freedom of Speech of the erectors of those statues for me or anyone else to insist on a plaque that would cheapen his service to his country (as those who want an interpretive plaque for any Confederate monument or memorial are doing). We cannot know exactly what is in the minds of the men and women who erect and pay for monuments and memorials unless they write down their reasons.

We have been given a trust by proceeding generations to protect their memories. Are we up to that challenge? Or do we destroy the symbols of what they believed in just because we dont?

More here:
GUEST COLUMN: Confederate monuments protected by First Amendment - St. Augustine Record

Jim Little , jwlittle@pnj.com 6:32 p.m. CT June 16, 2017

Escambia County Area Transit held a "Try Transit Day" event in an effort to boost ridership Thursday June 15, 2017. County Commissioner Doug Underhill has questioned whether it is fiscally responsible to continue funding ECAT because of its low utilization rate. (Photo: Tony Giberson/tgiberson@pnj.com)Buy Photo

The union representingEscambia County Area Transit workers hasfiled a lawsuit in federal court against the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1395 filed a lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court for Northern Florida alleging Commission Chairman Doug Underhill violated its members' free speech rights.

The union's complaint names all five members of the commission as defendants. The lawsuit claims that on June 6, Underhill instructed a manager with First Transit, the private company that runs ECAT, to "discipline or discharge" any workers distributing flyers supporting the transportation system and urging riders to fight against Underhill's proposal to eliminate ECAT.

Commissioners instructed county staff on May 30 to begin the process of negotiating with the union so the county could end its contract with First Transit and operate ECAT directly.

Underhill has urged his fellow commissioners and the public to take a closer look at county expenses to eliminate wasteful spending, and has pointed to ECAT as one of the examples of waste.

During the May 30 meeting, Underhill said he wants to call a referendum on whetherto continue funding a 4-cent gas tax that provides some of ECAT's funding.

Off-duty members of the union responded on June 5 with by distributing flyers at the ECAT transfer station that read in large, bold letters "FDU" and "Fight Doug Underhill." On-duty drivers also distributedbuttons that read "I need the BUS" to riders, but stopped after being told it was against county policy.

The lawsuit claims Mike Crittenden, ECAT general manager, wrote a memo to ECAT workers that said passing out flyers on ECAT property whether on-duty or off-duty was a violation of company policy.

Underhill told the News Journal on Friday he had not seen the lawsuit. But he said nothing in his conversation with the management of First Transit was directive.

"I asked a series of questions to which they provided answers to, and that was all," Underhill said. "Absolutely no order or directive was given at any time."

Mike Lowery, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1395, said he's worried about the First Amendment rights of ECAT workers and riders.

"The employees at ECAT currently feel intimidated by the county commission, and worried that they'll be disciplined, up to termination, for conducting their First Amendment rights,whether they're on-duty or off-duty on ECAT property," Lowery said.

Read or Share this story: http://www.pnj.com/story/news/2017/06/16/ecat-union-sues-escambia-county-over-first-amendment-rights/405205001/

Go here to see the original:
ECAT union sues Escambia County over First Amendment rights - Pensacola News Journal