The First Amendment's protections of freedom of speech, assembly, petition, and religion are considered by many to be the most important and valued rights protected by the Constitution. The ACLU of Minnesota is firm in its commitment that no person should be restricted from speaking or advocating for whatever position in which they believe in the free marketplace of ideas, or from worshipping in any way that they see fit without interference.
But as Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. wrote nearly a century ago, "the most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing a panic." Nor, in our opinion, would the most stringent protection of free speech protect a person from falsely communicating bomb threats to community centers, schools, mosques, churches, synagogues -- or anywhere else for that matter.
It is with the words of Justice Holmes firmly in mind that the ACLU of Minnesota expresses its condemnation of the recent bomb threats which have been repeatedly telephoned into Jewish Community Centers across the country. Such true threats do not constitute speech protected by the First Amendment and serve no purpose other than to harass and intimidate.
ACLU of Minnesota will proudly and without reserve continue to take vigorous action to protect the legitimate rights of free expression protected by the U.S. Constitution. At the same time, we will continue to deplore senseless and despicable threatening speech which is used to harass, intimidate, scare and panic people.
The ACLU of Minnesota has protected the civil liberties of Minnesotans through litigation, public education, and lobbying for over 65 years. Our primary client is the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution. We do not accept government funding and we defend against all attacks on civil liberties.