Will the ACLU defend Don Imus?

Answer 1

The ACLU has no more reason to defend Don Imus than it has to defend that beauty pagent woman, Karry Prejean. In both instances, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States is not implicated.

The idea that the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States generally guarantees freedom of speech is one of the most widely pervasive myths currently circulating. What the First Amendment does guarantee is that Congress shall pass no law abridging a person's right to free speech. In other words, the First Amendment only protectes a person's right to free speech from interference by the federal government.

Later, the guarantees provided by the First Amendment have been extended to protect a person's right to free speech from interference by a state government by operation of the Fourteenth Amendment. In other words, as it stands today, the general rule is that for the First Amendment guarantee to be implicated, some government, whether it be federal, state, or local, must act in a manner that impairs a person's right to free speech.

Don Imus got fired by his employer for saying something with which they did not agree. He was not prosecuted for having expressed his opinion, he was just fired. His First Amendment rights have not been implicated.

Karry Prejean took a public stance on an issue that affects the public without being able to discuss the issue in complete sentences. As a result, many people in various media sources have publicly criticized her for having bitten off more than she could chew. Then she was fired by the organization for which she worked. Her First Amendment rights have not been implicated.