![](\"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/segall-370x242.jpg\")
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A constitutional law professor at Georgia State University recently said it\u2019s \u201cunfortunate\u201d that the Michigan \u201cpronouns\u201d bill making its way through the state legislature is likely unconstitutional.<\/p>\n
Georgia State College of Law Professor Eric Segall\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0this was his \u201cpersonal view\u201d regarding House Bill 4474, which\u00a0would criminalize<\/a>\u00a0sparking \u201cfrightened\u201d feelings in someone in a protected class such as sexual orientation or gender identity.<\/p>\n The proposal \u201cis probably in trouble under American law. I also think that\u2019s unfortunate because my personal view is the law should be constitutional,<\/em> but I think it\u2019s likely not,\u201d he said.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cIn a sane world, which is most free countries on Earth, you just outlaw all threats,\u201d said Segall\u00a0(pictured)<\/em>. \u201cAnd if you threaten somebody, you go to jail. It\u2019s much more complicated in America. Guns and free speech. America is crazy about both.\u201d<\/p>\n But the author of \u201cOriginalism as Faith and Supreme Myths: Why the Supreme Court is not a Court and its Justices are not Judges\u201d emphasized what makes the U.S. rather unique regarding free speech.<\/p>\n \u201cThe [Michigan] law basically says you can\u2019t threaten somebody with speech that will discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity,\u201d Segall said. \u201cAnd here\u2019s the deal. Hate speech and threats aren\u2019t the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Segall noted \u201cthe fact that I can stand on a street corner and say \u2018All Jews should be sent back to Israel\u2019\u2014which I can do in America\u2014does not mean that I can go up to a Jewish person and get in their face and say, \u2018You should be sent back to Israel.’\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. Supreme Court would strike down the Michigan law, Segall added, \u201cboth because it protects LGBTQ speech, which this court no longer wants to do at all, and because of their definition of free speech which is way overbroad.\u201d<\/p>\n The College Fix<\/em>\u00a0asked Segall via email if he indeed would favor fining or jailing someone who, for example, told a transgender female in a non-threatening manner that she (he) \u201creally is a man.\u201d (Someone violating HB 4474\u00a0could face<\/a>\u00a0a $10,000 fine and up to five years in jail.)<\/p>\n Segall reiterated that \u201cthreats are unprotected speech\u201d and repeated his point about someone saying (peacefully) that Jews should go back to Israel \u201cshould probably be protected speech.\u201d<\/p>\n However, he added that such \u201cdepends on context\u201d and he \u201ccould be talked out of\u201d his current view.<\/p>\n As previously noted<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0The Fix,<\/em>\u00a0Western Michigan University Law Professor William Wagner warned that those in favor of the Michigan legislation will use it \u201cas a weapon capable of destroying conservative expression or viewpoints grounded in the sacred.\u201d<\/p>\n The Michigan Democratic Party\u2019s Andrew Feldman told\u00a0Newsweek<\/em>\u00a0that HB 4474 was being \u201cdeliberately misinterpreted to polarize voters and cause outrage among conservatives.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Nice when PID is provided. Law professor: \u2018Unfortunate\u2019 that Michigan anti-free speech bill likely unconstitutional. A constitutional law professor at Georgia State University recently said it\u2019s \u201cunfortunate\u201d that the Michigan \u201cpronouns\u201d bill making its way through the state legislature is likely unconstitutional. Georgia State College of Law Professor Eric Segall\u00a0told\u00a0Newsweek\u00a0this was his \u201cpersonal view\u201d regarding … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94302","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-enemies-foreign-domestic","category-rights"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94302","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94302"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94303,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94302\/revisions\/94303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}