The Supreme Court says offensive trademarks are protected speech
The win for the Slants, an Asian-American band, may help the Washington Redskins get its trademarks back
By S.M. | NEW YORK
“HATE speech”, activists on college campuses like to say, “is not free speech”. Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, made the point last month in reference to a man who uttered anti-Muslim slurs before killing two people who challenged him. “Hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment”, Mr Wheeler said. For decades, the Supreme Court has politely disagreed. And once again on June 19th, in a unanimous ruling regarding a Portland-based rock band, the justices clarified that offensive or hateful speech falls squarely under the First Amendment umbrella.
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