Suits Challenging NYC Mayor Giuliani’s Free Speech Violations “Burden” Courts, Says 2nd Circuit Court Judge
Law suits challenging violations of free speech rights by NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani had become so numerous, it was reported on this day, that two federal appeals court complained that it was a “burden” on the court system.
In his complaint about the many cases, Judge Guido Calabresi of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals cited 17 cases in the last four years. In all 17, the appeals court had locked censorship actions by the Giuliani administration. In the case that prompted the judge’s complaint, the New York City had barred a photographer, Spencer Tunick, from taking pictures of 75 to 100 nude people posing on a city street.
A second judge in the current case also criticized the city’s actions, arguing that to bar nude photographs without clear guidelines was “a variation on the classic theme of censorship. Some of the Giuliani-related cases involved artistic expression and others involved demonstrations and other First Amendment-protected political activities.
On July 4, 1998, the New York Civil Liberties Union issued a report, Civil Liberties Line: Do Not Cross, condemning Mayor Giuliani’s many violations of First Amendment rights.
Spencer Tunick is an internationally acclaimed photographer who has taken a long series of photographs of large groups of nude people in public places. Visit his web site to see his work.
Learn more about the NYCLU here.
Learn about the 100 Year fight for free speech in America: Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey Stone, The Free Speech Century (2018)
View the Art and Culture Censorship Timeline (1989- ) here.