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All four writers of letters to the editor published in the Sun Sentinel on Friday, Nov. 3, were highly critical of your recent editorial that defended the speech of the pro-Palestinian student organizations that were recently banned at two public universities in Florida. The writers reactions are understandable, but their commitment to freedom of speech is too weak, I think.

One writer lists some of the judicially recognized exceptions to freedom of speech in America, but makes no attempt to connect any of those specific exceptions to the speech of these student groups and, in fact, none of those exceptions has any application here. The concept of defamation refers to demonstrably false factual statements about individuals. A punishable threat must, explicitly or implicitly, take the form of a statement of intention by the speaker to do harm. Its not enough that the speech may be perceived as threatening in some less direct way. And incitement is unprotected by the First Amendment only when a speaker advocates imminent lawless action that is likely to occur.

Speech does not lose constitutional protection in America merely because it expresses hate, or because it expresses approval of bad behavior by like-minded people. Nor does an association with such criminals change the analysis.

The only complication here is the fact that the speech at issue is speech by a student organization on a college campus. But my understanding is that every student organization must be treated equally, without penalty based on the groups viewpoint. If student organizations pursue this matter in court, I expect them to prevail.

Its a safe bet that some who read this will think, Well, if thats the law, then the law is wrong. I wish to persuade you otherwise. You may believe that speech should be punishable if it is hateful or dangerous, but you might come to regret the use of such elusive and manipulative standards.

The Sun Sentinel deserves praise, not vilification, for its courageous editorial.

Marc Rohr, Plantation

The writer is professor of law emeritus at Nova Southeastern University.

Re: A little girl hit by a bullet asks, Why? | Editorial, Nov. 2

Thank you to the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board for yet another well-written editorial, this time on the mass shooting in Maine and the ever-present pandemic of gun violence.

Kind regards. Stay healthy and safe.

Barney Agate, Tamarac

With the obvious open border crisis where illegal immigrants continue to arrive in the United States, I would like to propose that the first step in the assimilation process would be to have immigrants serve in the military for four years, after which they would be pre-qualified to become U.S. citizens. After an additional two years of proven gainful employment, they would then become fully qualified to be U.S. citizens.

This would solve the issue of paying for their existence in the U.S., and it would fulfill current recruiting shortfalls in the military.

Jack Conill, Fort Lauderdale

Its clear that the pro-Russian Republican chaos caucus does not care about our military or dealing with the many current national and international crises. The GOP-controlled Congress wont even pass a bipartisan Ukrainian aid bill. The GOP leadership in the Senate is allowing one senator to block military promotions.

Why doesnt the GOP just skip the middleman and select Vladimir Putin as Republican nominee for president?

Lanny Budd, Fort Lauderdale

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Hate speech is wrong, but it's protected by the Constitution | Letters ... - South Florida Sun Sentinel