Wisconsin County Officials Attempt To Censor Speech About Covid-19
BY Herschel Smith
4 years, 8 months ago
The Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and Public Health Department take coronavirus infection (COVID-19) seriously. We are informing the public that making false statements and spreading rumors about COVID-19 is a crime and will be prosecuted.
No Wisconsin statute is cited. Wisconsin statutes have provisions for false statements or claims by a health care provider. A search did not find a statute for false statements by a member of the public, not for spreading rumors.
The problem with prosecuting people for spreading rumors or making false statements is it is not clear who gets to decide what is false or not.
There are often diametrically opposed statements made by different media, which cannot both be true.
The First Amendment protects speech, very widely. There are exceptions for inciting riots, slander, defamation or inciting the violent overthrow of the government. There is a provision for disorderly conduct.
None of that seems to apply to the Rusk County threat about false statements and rumors.
The First and Second Amendments are tied tightly together. Openly carrying a firearm is a strong, symbolic, political speech. It is difficult to protect your right to freedom of speech and the press, if you have no right to bear arms, or are not allowed to protect the property necessary to spread your message.
Petty tyrants flow like feces out of the ground as if from a leaking sewer pipe when times get spicy. Times are spicy, thus the Sheriff seeps from the leak.
If for no other reason, this pandemic is a good chance to see them in action, taking advantage of the situation to lord it over other men and women in violation of their God-given rights.
Nothing gives them the right to prohibit free speech, not God, not the constitution, not anyone or anything. They may even find a tyrannical judge who backs them up. That wouldn’t change the reality that they are entirely outside their authority to do something like this.
Sheriff Jeffery Wallace’s email address is jw101@ruskcountywi.us.
Oh, and by the way, if this Sheriff will clamp down on God-given rights to free speech, he’ll do it when the .gov demands gun confiscations too. You know he will. He’s already demonstrated fealty to the dark powers of tyranny.
On April 6, 2020 at 4:40 pm, dad29 said:
Curious, because the area is VERY conservative. Just spoke with a City official in a city near Eau Claire. While he was clearly following the Gummint line about China Flu, he also relayed the info about the conservatism of the area which is where he lives. (Eau Claire, however, is another Lefty village which–no coincidence–has a UW branch.)
On April 6, 2020 at 4:50 pm, George 1 said:
If the Sheriff is going to arrest for false statements he should start with all of the lying press people who work for the news networks. Just about every statement they make is a false.
On April 6, 2020 at 5:57 pm, Heywood said:
If I lived in the area I would purposely make a false statement and dare them to arrest me. Bunch of effing Nazi’s.
On April 6, 2020 at 6:12 pm, Jack said:
Tic Tock Tic Tock…
Its getting easier to bring the vultures to the body….
A child could do it
fffffft fffffft ffffffft
On April 6, 2020 at 7:02 pm, Fred said:
Nice @Jack. Don’t know if you know anything about the factual history of this verse, but yes, you nailed it. Matthew 24:28
On April 6, 2020 at 8:05 pm, Ned2 said:
Going to be a lot of new civil disobedience situations out there. They just can’t help themselves; making laws upon laws upon laws.
The lawyers must be salivating.
On April 7, 2020 at 7:32 am, June J said:
https://www.fox4news.com/news/police-searching-for-carrollton-18-year-old-who-claims-to-be-willingly-spreading-covid-19
18 yr old girl claims to be Covid-19 positive and out to infect as many people as she can.
She probably doesn’t have it and is Just another attention seeking social media afflicted clown.
Never underestimate the capacity for human stupidity.