Nat Hentoff: Philadelphia man indicted for using right to free speech
This is a story that should be a warning to Americans, regardless of political party, because it dramatically illustrates what pre-eminent civil liberties attorney Harvey Silverglate documents in his book, “Three Felonies A Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent” by means of the ever-increasing broad and vague federal laws that allow prosecutors to pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, even for the most seemingly innocuous behavior.
Consider what happened to an unemployed American, Bruce Shore, because of e-mails he sent to the Web site of U.S. Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky. As reported by Arthur Delaney on huffingtonpost.com, Shore, watching the Senate in inaction on C-Span, was angered when Bunning complained that, gosh, he has missed the Kentucky-South Carolina basketball game because he had to be in Congress to debate an unemployment benefits bill.
“I was livid, I was just livid,” recalled the 51-year-old Shore. “I’m on unemployment, so it affects me.”
Here is part of his Feb. 26 messages to Bunning staffers: “Are you’all insane. No checks equal no food for me. Do you get it?”
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