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majoroutage t1_jebafd7 wrote

Reply to comment by DumbshitOnTheRight in Ramifications of the "Right to be Rude" in Massachusetts by abhikavi

throws them in the trash with junk mail "Yes, of course I read them."

I'm not sure that counts. A public forum is the only way to guarantee you are heard.

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DumbshitOnTheRight t1_jebe36t wrote

They're not required to give any weight to spoken words either.

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majoroutage t1_jebekss wrote

True. But they have to listen.

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DumbshitOnTheRight t1_jebewza wrote

They have to hear. Listening isn't mandatory.

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abhikavi OP t1_jebfsws wrote

I think the more important thing is that it's in public.

If someone shows up and states their grievance and I think they're kinda cuckoo, eh.... I probably support the board in ignoring them.

If someone shows up and has some great points and the board ignores them.... I want to keep that in mind next election.

It really sucks if free speech gets de facto limited to private channels; we lose all the other benefits of it being in public.

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abhikavi OP t1_jebbk3b wrote

The thing is, it'd either take a lawsuit, or laws would have to be added in MA to protect public speaking time.

Honestly kind of appalling to me to learn this isn't a codified right. I'd assumed this was legally required, not down to the discretion of the chairperson.

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majoroutage t1_jebd4gm wrote

There's a lot of stuff that has been understood as the rights of the people for a long time, now our divisive and power-drunk government has learned it can push those boundaries and maybe or maybe not get in trouble for it.

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abhikavi OP t1_jebfbbu wrote

The thing is, I genuinely have been impressed with my local boards. We have a lot of competent, hard working, level headed people on them. I think they usually make a lot of solid decisions, and when I disagree, I still very much see where they're coming from.

Like, my local politics isn't crazytown bananapants, like some can get. (Ok, the school board has been a little, in the past. But definitely not like, board of health, which is one of the ones pulling Citizen's Time.)

I don't think this is a power play, I think they're just panicking at the idea of someone showing up, really crossing some serious lines, and not feeling like they have the right to stop or limit it.

But.... that doesn't make my losing Citizen's Time access in a bunch of places any more palatable. Well-intentioned or not, it's an important access point.

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