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Mindy Kaling brings back NEPA connection in movie

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; In the tug-of-war over the removal a Ku Klux Klan group&#8217;s brick from city-owned property the Constitution pulls for it to remain in place, a First Amendment studies professor at Penn State said.</p><p>The controversy has been playing out in public for the past two weeks with a protest and elected officials voicing their displeasure that the East Coast Knights of the True Invisible Empire has a spot on a column on Public Square celebrating the city.</p><p>Say what they will, the brick stays on display, said Robert D. Richards, founding director of the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment at the school.</p><p>&#8220;The city has created a program that invites individuals, and presumably groups, to purchase a brick that will be displayed on the Public Square. Under the First Amendment, as a government actor creating this forum, Wilkes-Barre cannot administer the program in a manner that discriminates on the basis of viewpoint,&#8221; Richards said Wednesday in an email.</p><p>While advocating for the First Amendment, city council members drew the line at its free speech protections short of the group.</p><p>&#8220;To me it is an utter embarrassment to the city I serve with all my heart and soul to have what I consider an advertisement from an organization that throughout its history has had an anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, an anti-black lineage,&#8221; councilman Tony Brooks said in a prepared statement read at Tuesday night&#8217;s work session at City Hall.</p><p>Brooks went to say an online comment to a newspaper story about the controversy called for his death and that the brick struck fear in him and so many others.</p><p>&#8220;Let&#8217;s us not use the path of least resistance. Let&#8217;s us make a clear stand against for what the KKK represents,&#8221; Brooks urged city officials.</p><p>Councilwoman Beth Gilbert said she was disheartened by what was happening.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m an advocate for the First Amendment, obviously, but I do not believe that that is a First Amendment right to have a brick on a monument on Public Square,&#8221; Gilbert said.</p><p>Even if a majority of the citizens don&#8217;t approve of including the brick, the group can&#8217;t be exclude because the city has allowed others access to the Square, Richards said.</p><p>&#8220;The Constitution does not permit the government to quash speech just because society finds the speaker objectionable. That is the case whether we&#8217;re talking about Nazis marching in a parade, protesters having vile messages on signs at military funerals or the KKK participating in government-operated &#8216;Adopt-a-Highway&#8217; programs,&#8221; Richards said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Richards</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_RICHARDS.ROBERT__.jpg</photo0><caption0>Richards</caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

KKK brick protected under 1st Amendment, says PSU professor