[ RadSafe ] RadSafe: invitation to violate scientific free speech rights at UNC

[KARAM, PHILIP]

There are many accepted restrictions on free speech in the law. We cannot libel or slander, we cannot incite violence, we cannot impersonate cops, we cannot claim medical benefits for concoctions we develop in our basements, and so forth. However, there is no law that I know of for keeping people from making non-commercial idiotic statements that they believe to be true.

On the other hand, institutions are permitted to set their own rules for their employees. As a city government employee there are restrictions that on what I can say that might be taken to represent city policy, as well as what I can say when speaking as an city employee. Similarly, many businesses restrict what their employees can say in their capacity as a representative for that business or when they claim affiliation with that business - I wasn't allowed to close a business deal for the company I used to work for and I couldn't comment on company projects or clients without permission from my boss. And universities can restrict what their faculty and staff say when they are speaking as a university representative or when they claim university affiliation.

For example - I can say pretty much anything I want (with the exceptions noted in the first paragraph) if I am speaking as a private citizen. But when I was RSO at the University of Rochester or when I was a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology I had to clear it with my boss before I gave an interview with the media in which my position with the university was stated. 

The bottom line is that organizations have the right to protect corporate information and to maintain their reputation - including limiting what their employees say that might reflect poorly on their organization. If the professor says "I am a radiation expert and I think that Fukushima is going to kill millions of people" the university can't do much. If he says "I am a professor at UNC and I say that Fukushima will kill millions of people" the university can take him to task for making UNC look like they employ a fear-mongering professor who clearly doesn't understand his field.


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of Optusnet
Sent: Monday, December 30, 2013 6:12 AM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] RadSafe: invitation to violate scientific free speech rights at UNC

First Amendment starts with 'Congress shall make no law(s)...'.  If Congress, or other legislative body didn't make a law, then no free speech rights would be violated.

Brent Rogers

Brevity alert: Sent from my iPad

On 30/12/2013, at 5:40, Ed Slavin <easlavin at aol.com> wrote:

> Sounds like an incitement to violate scientist's First Amendment rights at UNC.  
> Ed Slavin
> 
> 
> On Dec 29, 2013, at 1:00 PM:
>> 
>>  1. Epidemiologist back from Fukushima: ?We?re talking about a
>>     sacrifice zone and millions of people live in this area? ?
>>     Exceeds allowable radiation dose for nuclear workers 40
>>     kilometers from Fukushima plant (VIDEO) (Roger Helbig)
>> 
>> 
>> The University should sanction this professor for knowingly lying
>> about what he has seen.  As I recall, he claims to be expert on
>> Chernobyl as well.  Perhaps I am wrong.
>> 
>> Roger Helbig
>> 
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: nuclear-news <comment-reply at wordpress.com>
>> Date: Sat, Dec 28, 2013 at 8:45 PM
>> Subject: [New post] Epidemiologist back from Fukushima: ?We?re 
>> 
>> 
>> arclight2011part2 posted: " Published: December 28th, 2013 
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