Admittedly, Oak Park is a tiny microcosm of the country as a whole, but I have been thinking about the application of both constitutional protections and the implications of current events.
It occurs to me that there is at least the possibility that one’s opposition to local public policy might be construed as traitorous. The requirements for leaf disposal might be an example. What if such opinions, publicly expressed, perhaps in the pages of Wednesday Journal, were construed to be contrary to effective law enforcement in the village and therefore criminal for the writer? Could he/she be eligible for deportation? Would a person, such as Marco Rubio, in an equivalent local government position have the one and only controlling opinion as to interpretation of whether a Viewpoints letter is inflammatory?
Although historically it has never occurred, to my knowledge, that a Viewpoints letter has caused an insurrection, that is not sufficient evidence that it never will. Does such an immediate threat to law and order justify suspension of constitutional protections such as due process or free speech?
There is also the question of the liability of the person who makes the decision to print the submission.
As they say: Just asking.
Sandra Shimon
Oak Park