quote:

2001-2002 District Co-Chair Respect & Responsibility Design Team

quote:

Originally posted by taxpayer:
I don't think the first amendment applies strictly to public property.

Most newspapers, the press are in private hands and they're protected by the first amendment.

The public part would be in the establishing or promoting of a religion.

quote:

Originally posted by Ted E.:
Although claimed in part to be a “free Speech” issue, this isn't. The First Amendment applies only to public property; the Daily herald web site is privately owned.

quote:

Putting his renowned sarcastic wit and talent for satire to the task, Lincoln, through his assumed identities, lampooned Shields poor policies and mismanagement of his duties. Throughout this series of letters, Lincoln’s friends Mary Todd and Julia Jayne also began sending letters of their own. The two got carried away and their letters became increasingly more vicious attacking the character and personality of Shields, in which they stated that he was “overly pompous, a hypocrite, and a liar”.

The satire also began to take on a life of its own in the social scene as letters were written from assumed identities recalling fictitious events at parties and social clubs that painted a poor picture of Shields, as well as stating Shields apparent inadequacies with the ladies.

Because of Shields vain and overly pompous personality, he became a natural target for satire. Word spread quickly of these “letters” in the newspaper and Shields was outraged. He was determined to discover who had begun this criticism. Shields pressured the editor of the paper to reveal the sources of these letters. The editor gave Shields only Lincoln’s name, as Lincoln himself had instructed him too. Even though Lincoln was not the only one taking part in this letter writing campaign, he had decided to take the blame for it if things got out of control. He especially wanted to protect Mary Todd, the friend who would soon become his wife.