Opinion

Taylor Armerding: 'Free speech' is not a license to be a nuisance

By Taylor Armerding
Published: February 24, 2008

One of the classic lines about free speech is that it doesn't give you permission to yell, "Fire!" in a crowded theater.

But then again, maybe it does, if you claim that it was a mental illness that caused you to yell, "Fire!"

That, at least, is the premise of a lawsuit filed by Andover resident Ross Tobia, who is suing the local Memorial Hall Library for $10 million after he was banned from the building in January. He didn't yell "Fire!" but he was allegedly swearing, yelling and threatening the staff.

Tobia said he suffers from epilepsy and bipolar disorder, which sometimes causes him to become agitated, talk to himself or speak loudly to others. But he said he is no threat to anyone, and that it is the library's responsibility to accommodate him, even if the symptoms of his illnesses can be disruptive.

According to Tobia, a self-published author of a book on physics, a library is supposed to be "the bastion of free speech in the nation, and as such must be available to all citizens."

I'm not sure who gets to decide what is a "bastion" of free speech, but I'm pretty certain it is not Tobia, just like it is not me. And I don't know where he has been for the past 10 or 20 years, but based on the premise of his lawsuit, there are a lot of places he ought to be suing.

College campuses were supposed to be bastions not just of free speech but of free inquiry and free thought as well. Now they are among the most repressive places in the country — places where violating speech codes, whether written or unwritten, can get you in major trouble. Indeed, you can't even wonder aloud about something politically incorrect, as the former president of Harvard University did, which is why he is now the former president.

I wonder if Tobia knows that people can get fired, or sued, simply for uttering words that make another person, or group of persons, uncomfortable — you know, unless those persons are white males or evangelical Christians.

In other words, within and without our bastions, speech has never been entirely free, and is less free now than ever.

But the larger problem here is that Tobia is simply doing what a generation or more of Americans have been trained to do — blame their transgressive speech or behavior on somebody, or something else, and then demand big bucks when somebody tries to hold them accountable.

I'm not the first to observe this, but we have moved into the genetic version of that old line comedian Flip Wilson made famous: "The devil made me do it." Now, there's a T-shirt for sale out there that offers the blanket excuse for whatever you did, proclaiming: "My DNA made me do it."

This is the way I'm made, the argument goes. I can't help that, don't need to change it or do anything about it, and no person or organization has any right to put any limits on me because of it.

The problem is, of course, that this attitude doesn't take the way anybody else is made into consideration.

I'm very sympathetic to those who suffer from illnesses, physical or mental. And yes, I think a library ought to be accessible to the public in general, and should make reasonable accommodations for those who are disabled.

But that doesn't mean the library has no right to put limits on speech, behavior or even admission, no matter what the cause of the problem. It is along the lines of the old cliche, "Your freedom to swing your fist ends at the point of my nose."

Should the library be forced to admit a person with a serious contagious disease? After all, it's not the person's fault that he's sick.

Simple common sense says that would be absurd. You don't put other people at risk to accommodate the desires of one person. And in somewhat the same way, Tobia has a contagious disease. It may not be his fault, but it makes it impossible for other people to have what the library promises — a quiet environment to read or study.

Abusive or threatening speech is not, and should not, be protected, no matter what is causing it. And if it is delivered at a volume that disturbs everybody else, what has happened to their rights? Should Tobia owe each of them $10 million for violating what is supposed to be a bastion of peace and quiet?

Real freedom demands responsibility and accountability. We've come to a pretty sad place when a local institution that demands some basic accountability for the benefit of all ends up being the target of a lawsuit.

Taylor Armerding is associate editorial page editor of The Eagle-Tribune. He may be reached at 978-946-2213 or at tarmerding@eagletribune.com. Read him daily at The Soapbox, the Eagle-Tribune blog at blogs.eagletribune.com/soapbox