It’s not exactly the kind of thing that high-ranking Democratic Congressman John Conyers Jr. wants to be reminded of as he circulates his “Sense of Congress Resolution” which calls for the vigilant protection of American Muslims’ “First Amendment protected rights.” Because while Conyers is steadfastly committed to protecting the First Amendment rights of Muslims, he wasn’t always as keen on protecting the First Amendment rights of the rest of us.
In 1988, Conyers was the keynote speaker at a conference held at Hofstra University (New York’s largest private college). The conference, attended by some of the leading (and predominantly liberal) legal scholars of Europe, Canada, Australia, and the U.S., had one purpose – to create a model statute that would criminalize speech that “defames” minority religious, racial, and ethnic groups.
Essentially, the purpose of the conference was to scuttle the First Amendment, and bring European-style speech restrictions to the U.S.
Read more details about the conference here.
Oddly, when the speeches from the conference were reprinted (in edited form) in a 1995 book by Greenwood Press (“Group Defamation and Freedom of Speech”), not only was Conyers’ speech omitted, but his mere presence at the conference was completely left out.
The fact is, there’s not much proof that John Conyers ever attended, much less addressed, the conference.
Except, of course, for the audio recording of his speech, which is being released today by CounterContempt to inaugurate our release of the recordings of all the speeches from the conference.
It’s damning enough that Conyers would address a conference the goal of which was to restrict the free speech rights of Americans (Conyers supporters who might argue that 1988 was a long time ago and the matter is unimportant should reflect on whether they’d feel the same way if a Republican Congress member had attended a conference aimed at curbing Fourth or Eighth Amendment protections). Even more damning is what Conyers says during his remarks – he readily admits that the idea of removing First Amendment protections from “extremist speech” “really appeals” to him, and he finds himself “hard pressed” to resist the urge to criminalize it.
However, he also cautions that doing so might invite people to challenge the law, therefore increasing rather than decreasing the amount of “extremist speech” from “racists.”
He praises the conference as “timely and important,” and he invokes the Tawana Brawley case (which would soon be thoroughly exposed as a hate-crime hoax) as a reason that the conference is necessary.
Elsewhere in the speech, Conyers is careful to temper his enthusiasm for criminalizing “extremist speech” by reminding the attendees that the overzealous use of the Official Secrets Act in the UK is an argument for not censoring “too much” speech. He also suggests several alternatives that can be tried before outright prohibition of speech is considered.
He then embarks on an off-topic tirade against Ronald Reagan, George Bush, the CIA, and the Nicaraguan Contras.
In the end, Conyers balances his “excitement” about this “auspicious” conference with words of praise for the First Amendment (yes, the Amendment that the conference had convened to gut).
The entire speech runs thirty-three minutes, and can be heard here (the video might take a few moments to load). Be forewarned – those most familiar with Conyers because of his recent viral sound bites (including his “I’m not going to read the bill” remarks during the Obamacare debate) might assume that his frustratingly halting and stammering delivery is the product of age.
It isn’t, so don’t expect the full version of the speech to be quick or easy listening.