This diary is dedicated to the memory of Linda C. Lee.
9/11 was a catastrophic tragedy. The wholesale erosion of our civil rights and liberties is the self-inflicted collateral damage.
In a blatant violation of the First Amendment, the Broadcasting Board of Governors--a federal agency that oversees U.S. government and international broadcasting services, including Voice of America--fired contractor Melodi Navab-Safavi for working on an Internet music video protesting the Iraq war.
At the time of the firing, then-Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice was a member of the Board.
Melodi Navab-Safavi (a U.S. citizen born in Iran, who is fluent in English, Farsi, Norwegian and Swedish) worked as a contractor for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), prividing translation to Voice of America's (VOA) Persian Service.
As a private citizen, Melodi is a member of a band named Abjeez, which makes songs regarding, among other things, women's rights and other social problems in Iran. Her husband, Saman Arbabi, helps produce the videos. He also is a BBG employee working in Voice of America's Persian Office. (Not surpriosingly, this music group is banned in Iran.)
In July 2007, Abjeez made a video entitled "DemoKracy," which protested U.S. involvement in the Iraq war and contains footage of wounded U.S. soldiers, injured and dead Iraqi civilians, and coffins draped in U.S. flags. The song does not mention VOA or identify the professional affiliation of any of the band members or video producers.
Once the video went up on YouTube, U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) learned of it and pressured BBG to fire Melodi and her husband because, even though no VOA resources were used to produce the video, management did not want "a scandal on its hands" since it might affect Congressional funding of the agency. In something reminiscent of the House Un-American Activities Committee of the last century, the Board, which included Condi Rice, met and determined that the DemoKracy video was "anti-American."
The Courts luckily sided with Melodi. The case is in the prelimiary stages, but Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle denied the defendants' motion to dismiss because
[T]he law is settled that as a general matter, the First Amendment prohibits government officials from subjecting an individual to retaliatory actions . . . for speaking out. In particular, it has long been established that public employees do not surrender all their First Amendment rights by reason of their employment . . . [A] citizen who works for the government is nonetheless a citizen.
Navab-Safavi v. Broadcasting Bd. of Gov's, Civil Action No. 08-1225 (ESH) (U.S.D.C. D.D.C. 2008), Memorandum Opinion at 15.
9/11 was a catastrophic tragedy. Our civil liberties are the collateral damage. Thanks to Judge Huvelle for reviving one of them.