Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Boycott Threats Lead to Resignation of Theater Artistic Director Who
Contributed to Anti-Same-Sex-Marriage Initiative:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2008_11_09-2008_11_15.shtml#1226609203
The [1]Sacramento Bee reports:
Scott Eckern, artistic director for the California Musical Theatre,
resigned Wednesday as a growing number of artists threatened to
boycott the organization because of his $1,000 donation to the
campaign to ban gay marriage in California....
Los Angeles-based and Tony Award-winning composer Marc Shaiman
("Hairspray") wrote a blog saying he would never allow any of his
shows to again be licensed or performed by California Musical
Theatre while Eckern was employed there....
Speech calling for such boycotts is itself constitutionally protected.
It neither is nor, in my view, should be illegal for people to refuse
to patronize a theater because of the artistic director's political
views. It likewise isn't illegal, and shouldn't be illegal for
copyright owners to refuse to license their works for such reasons. I
don't think there's a constitutional right to refuse to license the
work under such circumstances, but I wouldn't support a ban on such
refusals.
California law does bar employers from firing their employees for the
employees' political activity, which would surely include
contributions to political campaigns, and it doesn't seem to have an
exception for situations where the employees' activity has caused
boycotts or other losses to the employer. (See [2]Cal. Labor Code ��
1101-02, which has been read fairly broadly.) But it appears that
Eckern resigned without being forced to do so by his employer.
Still, it seems to me that this story helps provide a counterpoint to
the criticism of [3]people and organizations who boycotted the Dixie
Chicks for their statements. For more on the general topic of boycotts
for speech, see my [4]Deterring Speech: When Is It �McCarthyism�? When
Is It Proper? (PDF pp. 11-30).
References
1. http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1393290.html
2.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=lab&group=01001-02000&file=1101-1106
3. http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Music/03/16/maines.bush.ap/
4. http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/mccarthyism.pdf
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