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I’ve got a problem with this post. Not with the chilling effect that censorship has on us all, but the idea that all three of these are, in fact, attacks on the 1st Amendment.

In the case of the first story, the Chicago Olympic Committee is a quasi-governmental board that has no legal authority over what a television station does or does not broadcast. They were within their rights to approach the station and work out anything they might be able to. The station was within it’s right to come to an agreement. The idea that a station would agree to NOT cover a legit news story is distressing, but not a 1st amendment issue.

In the second, the mall is completely within it’s right to lease to anyone they want, for whatever reason. And, if they have a termination clause, they have the right to execute it. Many smaller vendors accept leases with a termination clause because it lowers their rent. You’ll see these vendors commonly bouncing around a mall as bigger names move in. By accepting the termination clause, the vendor has to put up with these kinds of headaches in exchange for a lessor lease. Again, no government agency shut him down, so not a 1st Amendment issue. Dirty, sick and unkind, but not 1st Amendment stuff. (Locally, we had a mall do the same thing to a “southern pride” store.)

Now the last one is different. It IS an attack on the 1st Amendment. A government agency is ordering private hospitals to cease political speech. That is an attack on our rights, and I hope Humana fights this in court.