Federal Government
Free Speech Update
February 28, 2006 
Looks like Dwight Scarbrough has won his free speech battle with the Federal Protection Service (Homeland Security Agents). No shots were fired and no weapons of mass destruction were found.
Scarbrough, a federal employee, was rousted for having anti-war signs on his truck parked in a government facility. The agents said it was illegal for him to have the signs–regardless of the message–on a government facility and ordered him to move his truck off the parking lot.
The US Navy vet complied, but the next day after stops at a lawyer and media coverage–with the glaring exception of the Idaho Statesman–he resumed parking at the government building on Overland Road near Wal-Mart.
The GUARDIAN has followed up with the U.S. Attorney’s office where a spokesperson said the Homeland Security folks have been verbally advised that Scarbrough’s actions are protected speech under the Hatch Act which allows government employees to display bumper stickers and signs on personal vehicles, regardless of the message. There CAN be sanity among government officials!
No charges were ever filed–despite the threats by the agents–and it appears the matter is closed.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
Feb 28, 2006, 2:31 pm
It makes you wonder if the result would have been the same but for the courage of Mr. Scarbrough and those willing to champion the cause.
Feb 28, 2006, 3:00 pm
It would have been mildly amusing to see the look on the face of the parking-lot enforcement bureaucrat, when told that he had to cease and desist. (I’m thinking a Barney Fife -type… God rest his soul.)
It also takes a bit of wind out of the sails of those who declared this was just another case of Bush Administration heavy-handedness. Apparently the harrassment order didn’t get issued from the White House, after all.
Feb 28, 2006, 4:42 pm
Steve–
No it was just those seeking to do the administration’s bidding.
Feb 28, 2006, 5:27 pm
I wanted to follow up to the comments in the long thread in the previous post on this subject and who said that Mr. Scarbrough was not supporting the troops. Here’s a new Zogby poll that says that 72% of them want to come home, this year. It would appear that he is supporting the troops, or at least most of them.
http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1075
Mar 1, 2006, 10:02 am
Zogby, schmogby. They’re volunteers, so they obviously want to be there, supporting their gubermint.
Mar 2, 2006, 10:59 am
I doubt most of the volunteers in our armed forces would have volunteed had they known how utterly incompetent their commander-in-chief and his administration is, or that he was going to start a war based on lies. It’s the Koolaid swilling Bush lovers that equate “support the troops”=”support the president”.
What would HS think a month ago if Scarbrough was wildly promoting the operation of US ports by a company owned by an Arab sheik? Do you think they would have at least thought he was NUTS?
Mar 8, 2006, 7:05 am
What a bunch of liberals. I thought all you guys lived in California.