Show The Herald Journal Logan Utah Thursday Q April 24 2003 — A5 Nation Court weighs free speech rights of corporate America the company’s lawyer told the high court Wednesday When Nike fought back it used die sameitind of public relations tactics employed by WASHINGTON (AP)— its critics lawyer Laurence Nike hoped to improve its Tribe argued for Nike The bottom une and public image ' company the world’s largest when it embarked on public maker of athletic shoes wrote relations campaign against letters to newspaper editors allegations it used Third and issued press releases fact Worid sweatshops to make sheets and other documents sneakers a lawyer told the ' Such statements are part of Supreme Court on Wednesthe marketplace of ideas day Tribe said Nike’s effort is the center-piec- e “It’s part of an extended of an argument over free ' argument about why the allespeech in die business worid gations against Nike are and whether private unfounded" Tribe said can go to court if a Nike got help Wednesday company stretches the truth the Bush administrafrom Nike painted a rosy picture tion’s top Supreme Court of its labor practices and colt lawyer Solicitor General Burners relied on those misrepTheodore Olson told the jusresentations when choosing California court a tices that which products to buy the California critic gave lawyers for a California Marc Kasky too much authoractivist argued That is false ity to go after Nike in court advertising hot protected by die First Amendment and Nike should be made to answer for it in court lawyer Paul R Hoeber told die court Not so fast several Supreme Court justices replied “The First Amendment is designed to protect all participants in a public debate" Justice Stephen Breyer said Hie government can police false or deceptive advertising but companies should be free to respond to their critics Breyer said It is extremely hard to say what is a sales pitch and what is not he ' Nike claims being debated - countered The point is that when a company speaks it ought to tell the truth or pay the consequences in court Kasky’s lawyers told reporters outside the courthouse “The fact is when they : i con-sunie- AP photo rs Protesters move a cardboard shoe on top of a mock copy of the Declaration of Independence during a protest against Niks in front of the Supreme Court in Washington on Wednesday Unless the Supreme Court says otherwise the Nike case could mean that “anyone with a whim a grievance and a fil- can become al govern- ing-fe- e censor” Olson ment-licens- ed argued No one wans to stop Nike pr other companies from speaking up Kasky’s lawyers ' make specific representations ' aboutthe conditions under which their products are made that are false well that's not OK because consumers rely t on what companies say" Kasky lawyer Patrick J Coughlin said The company is hiding behind the notion of free ' speech he said “They moved to get rid of it oh First Amendment grounds hoping that their lies would be completely protected” Coughlin said of Kasky 's case “No In the First ' Amendment arena you can’t lie about your products And that’s what this case is about" J Nike wants the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling by California’s top court that would allow Kasky to sue the firm under state law The justices spent a significant portion of Wednesday’s oral argument ses sion examining whether Kasky a private citizen whopdmittedly never bought a pair of Nike sneakers should be able to sue on behalf of the general public Kasky sued five years ago but his allega-- : tions have never gone to trial Forty large media companies including The Associated ' Press signed a friend of the court brief favoring Nike Corporate executives won't talk about product safety or other important issues if they fear their words will lead to a lawsuit the media organizations said The case is Nike v Kasky ' 5 te : 02-57- 5 added “They can be both trying to sell a product and trying to make a statement relevant to the public debate” Breyer said The distinction makes all the difference because of the way the Supreme Court has treated advertising and other forms of “commercial speech" in the past The court has resisted a definition of commercial speech but has repeatedly said that it deserves less constitutional protection than might a political statement or a newspaper article The Nike case offers the court an opportunity to draw the line more clearly The case arose from a public debate over allegations that big American firms exploit their foreign workers Nike became a “poster child" for that debate in the black-and-wh- ite alleges is unconstitutionally vague or overly broad language in the schools’ racism and cultural diversity policy which cautions among other thingsagainst “unconscious altitudes toward individuals which surface through the use of discriminatory semantics" The policy also warns 'against use of “presumptive statements” and conduct or “attitude" that “annoys” another person or group The plaintiffs are political science majors and members tions who feel the policies “have a chilling effect bn plaintiffs' rights to freely and openly engage in appropriate discussions of their theories ideas and political and-o- r religious beliefs" Gold & Diamond Earrings Semi-Mou- nt & 14k Sale RegJJ75 Sale Ladies Ruby & Diamond Ring Onyx Earrings in Sterling Silvery 14k Gold Men's Diamond Band Diamond Ring Sale Sale Mounting of Diamond Included Ladies Emerald A Regfl225 RegJ1900 399°° 69 00 Group sues college over ‘speech codes’ nation Hie Foundation for Individual Rights in Education filed die lawsuit Tuesday in federal court said Thor Halvorssen the group’s chief executive The nonprofit group which focuses on civil liberties issues on college campuses said the suit was the first of many it would file ‘Tpo many colleges and universities attempt to outlaw free speechrand expression that does not conform to a specific orthodoxy” he said The complaint cites what it Platinum Regfi 280 mid-199- 0s PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A civil liberties group has filed suit against Shippensburg University saying the state school’s policy on speech is among the most unconstitutionally restrictive in the Heart Shaped 14k Onxy & Mother of 299°° 699°° Ladies 10k Cold Pearl - 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