Saturday, July 21, 2012


When free speech collides with occupational licensing

"Can the government throw you in jail for offering advice on the Internet about what food people should buy at the grocery store? That is exactly the claim made by the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition.

In response, a major free speech lawsuit was filed in federal court on May 30. It seeks to answer one of the most important unresolved questions in First Amendment law: When does the government’s power to license occupations trump free speech?

The case could have a profound impact on the Internet freedom of millions of Americans who share advice on blogs, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and elsewhere online."

Source

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

As long as he does not claim to BE a licensed nutritionists he should be in the clear but we will see.

Bird of Paradise said...

Hitler and stalin was also in favor of curtailing Free Speech

Anonymous said...

Hitler and stalin also ate mashed potatoes.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Hitler was a vegetarian and suffered from severe flatulance.

Anonymous said...

These days, with the Marxist-in-Chief sitting in the Oval Office, the govt. can jail you for just about anything you say, think, or do that they disagree with.

Yes, it's called, democracy. (LOL!!) More accurately, it's also called, herding the sheep.

Anonymous said...

The general theory is that if you are charging people for your advice the State has determined that you should meet a minimum set of criteria so you do not cause harm or defraud the public. The other side of the coin is that people should do their research and the buyer should beware, for freedom is far more important than the few crackpots. Unfortunately another downside to the former side of the coin is that the industry and the state use the licensing to control supply and crush competition.