Twitter, the Confederate flag, abortion. Free speech debate nothing new to Fresno

The controversy swirling around the Fresno State professor who tweeted that former first lady Barbara Bush, who died Tuesday, was "an amazing racist" is only the latest in a string of local free speech cases.

Fresno is no stranger to fights over the First Amendment. Here is a list of our most recent battles over what — and what does not — qualify as the right to freedom of speech.

'Trump must hang'

Last year, Fresno State professor Lars Maischak also faced consequences for a Twitter post, when he said that “to save American democracy, Trump must hang. The sooner and the higher, the better.” While Maischak said he had no plans of violence, the tweet led to questions from the Secret Service. The professor was immediately put on paid leave and no longer teaches at Fresno State.

'College campuses are not free speech areas'

In another incident at Fresno State in 2017, video captured professor Greg Thatcher scrubbing out students' anti-abortion chalk messages. Thatcher was seen in the video telling students that their messages, which said "women need love, not abortion," were only allowed in a designated free speech zone on campus. Fresno State disagreed, saying the entire campus supports freedom of speech, and Thatcher was later sued by the students involved for $17,000. As part of the settlement, Thatcher — who said he admitted no wrongdoing in the case — agreed to go to a free speech seminar. He is still listed as an assistant professor on Fresno State's website.

A Confederate flag at the Big Fresno Fair

In 2015, a man's painting of the Civil War was banned from being included in the Big Fresno Fair's annual art competition because of its depiction of the Confederate flag. A state law passed in 2014 prohibits state agencies from displaying or selling the flag, with one lawmaker calling it "a symbol of hate." But last year, the California attorney general ruled that the law does not apply to "the speech or the acts" of private citizens, after a nonprofit public interest firm sued fair officials on Fresno artist Timothy Desmond's behalf. “Today, some public officials wonder whether controversial speech is deserving of the cost of protecting it. But either we protect speech or it is not truly free," Center for Individual Rights President Terry Pell said of the case.

Black Lives Matter

In 2016, a 75-year-old substitute teacher was fired by Clovis Unified after wearing a "Black Lives Matter" pin to school. The school district said that the pin violated a policy that forbids political activities conducted by employees on campus during normal operating hours, and “engaging in political activity” during class time. But the teacher, David Roberts, disagreed. “A pin that reads ‘Black Lives Matter’ is not a political button. It is a peaceful request to end this violence. It is not a protest. It is not intended to be anti-police and does not imply that black lives matter more than other lives. It simply says they matter, too,” he said. “Clovis Unified claims you have to be neutral, but they’re not neutral. There’s a set of beliefs you’re expected to have there.”

Boys take a stand against dress code — in dresses

The Clovis Unified school board shocked many when it refused to vote for recommendations in 2016 to revise its decades-old dress code to reflect state gender-rights laws. The strict policy had forbidden boys from wearing earrings and long hair, as well as regulations for girls' clothing — an infringement of students' freedom of expression, according to some. The board reluctantly made the changes after boys wore dresses to class in protest, making national headlines.

City Council weighs in on NFL protests

The national debate over NFL players choosing to kneel during the national anthem in a protest against racism was hotly debated locally last year when Fresno City Councilman Gary Bredefeld went on a tirade condemning those actions. Bredefeld, a Republican, called the actions of the protesting football players “repugnant, disrespectful and misguided." Complaints about his words led to an investigation of whether it created a hostile work environment, but it was ruled he did not break workplace rules.

Censoring rock and roll

While most of this year's drama about Fresno's annual music festival, Grizzly Fest, concerned noise at its new location in Woodward Park, some also took issue with headlining rapper Snoop Dogg's lyrics. In February, a man stood before the Fresno City Council and read aloud the iconic rapper's lyrics, calling him "vile." The video of the man — who said Snoop Dogg should not be allowed "in our community" — made its rounds on the internet. The council ultimately voted to approve the plans for the music festival, which will feature the rapper and others next month. The debate was similar to another held by Fresno City Council in 1999 regarding a Marilyn Manson concert coming to town. In the wake of the Columbine High School shooting, then councilman Henry Perea — who ran for mayor in 2016 — said the rocker was "an offensive threat to the children of Fresno."

A gun protest that can't mention guns

As public school students across the country marched out of class in a protest for stricter gun regulations in March, one Fresno school imposed an eyebrow-raising rule: the gun protestors couldn't actually mention guns. Computech Middle School officials said that while they wouldn't stop students from participating in National School Walkout Day, students were not to speak about gun policy or convey anti-gun messages — a rule at least one parent said infringed on the students' right to free speech. "They're learning about the Constitution right now. They just took a test last week on the Bill of Rights. It's astonishing to me that nobody sees the irony in that," parent Doug Gordon said.

This story was originally published April 18, 2018 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Twitter, the Confederate flag, abortion. Free speech debate nothing new to Fresno."