She has the right to wear the t-shirt, and the airline has the right to not serve her if they so choose. She isn't in a public space, she is in an airplane that is owned and operated by a private company.
Even if she was wearing the shirt in a public space, her freedom of expression defense is lame. Who are these simpletons who believe that their own individual rights are unlimited? An individual's rights are limited by the rights of other individuals. In case a like this one, freedom of expression is potentially limited by community standards of obscenity- e.g. you can't walk around in public with a t-shit imprinted with a photo of people engaged in explicit sex acts. Does her shirt cross the line? I haven't seen it, but there is an easy test to ask yourself in such a case. If she showed up wearing this t-shirt at a local elementary school, would she be kicked off the grounds? When you are out in public wearing a shirt with profanity on it, you are potentially exposing other people's children- perhaps very small children- to that profanity. And that's wrong. > RENO - A Washington state woman intends to press a civil-rights case > against Southwest Airlines for booting her off a flight in Reno after > fellow passengers complained about a message on her T-shirt. > > Lorrie Heasley, of Woodland, Wash., was halfway home on a flight > Tuesday that began in Los Angeles, wearing a T-shirt with the pictures > of President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State > Condoleezza Rice and a phrase similar to the popular film, Meet the > Fockers. > > Heasley said she wore the T-shirt as a gag. She wanted her parents, > who are Democrats, to see it when they picked her up at the airport in > Portland, Ore. > > "I just thought it was hilarious," said Heasley, 32, a lumber > saleswoman. > > And she felt she had the right to wear it. > > "I have cousins in Iraq and other relatives going to war," she said. > "Here we are trying to free another country and I have to get off an > airplane in midflight over a T-shirt. That's not freedom." > > http://www.usatoday.com/travel/news/2005-10-06-swa-tshirt_x. htm?csp=34 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how to get a fax number that sends and receives faxes using your current email address http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=64 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:176154 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
