Good And Bad On The Same Day

Two California court cases just came down, one that's a reason to celebrate, the other to sigh.

The first is Lyle V. Warner Bros, dismissing a claim that vulgar language and conduct in a room full of comedy writers constitutes sexual harassment. The case was brought by a secretary who worked on the Friends sitcom. (The facts are pretty wild, making more interesting reading than your usual case.)

Without this sort of protection, writers, especially on adult-oriented shows, would become so self-conscious that their work would be seriously impaired. I only wish the court had adopted the even stronger First Amendment arguments in Judge Chin's concurrence. In fact, I wonder if other courts, less familar with the entertainment industry, would have been so protective of the writers.

On the negative side, there's Harper v. Poway Unified School District, where a high school was allowed to bar a student from wearing a t-shirt with an anti-homosexuality message. As ugly as the words may be, and as much as school authorities may have disciplinary discretion, the decision is extremely hostile to generalized, political speech. The Constitution, in my understanding, does not offer freedom from offending viewpoints.

Much better is Judge Kozinski's dissent. It not only makes a strong argument for freedom of speech, but also has quite entertaining footnotes.