no free speech at Regent

a student at Regent University, posted a picture of university president Pat Robertson demonstrating an obscene hand gesture (the finger) on his personal Facebook site. now he's in trouble.

The student, Adam M. Key, defended his action as constitutionally protected free speech in a 14-page legal brief he presented to the dean of the law school ... [the] second-year law student, said he refused to apologize and “be muzzled” by the university, so he composed the document, which includes citations from noted First Amendment cases ...

In earlier Internet postings, Key has criticized public statements Robertson has made, including a suggestion in 2005 that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be assassinated. He said he posted the Robertson photo in the spirit of satire and is protected under the First Amendment.

“I didn’t put it on there to make a big stink,” he said of the photo. “I was exercising my right to free expression. All I would say to Regent is, 'Please respect my right to express myself.’”

one motivating factor, he said, for attending Regent, was “the opportunity to show people that liberalism isn’t a sin.”

it's a shame that we are losing first amendment rights in this country. but it's not a shock from Pat Robertson.