Iām sure the free speech discussions will be measured and calm.
Or non-existent, since this is absolutely not a situation governed by constitutional freedom of speech. 
Well, Iām sure youāre right. If itās not covered specifically by the US constitution, probably no one will complain about it.
Well Louis C. K. will quit complaining about his new shitty jokes getting too much attention.
Yeah, a private establishment has the right to tell you āno use of cell phonesā. And this is not an uncommon ask at very private or exclusive clubs or bars (like many āspeakeasiesā).
Youāre right. A comedy club has a commonly recognized legal right to limit speech within their private business area.
If someoneās speaking there, itās ultimately because the private owners are cool with it.
Iām confused on thisā¦is there sarcasm here I am not getting?
Having access to a phone/recording device is not the same thing as free speech; at least not by any definition I know.
Haha. Good pointā¦
Freedom of speech only means that the government canāt penalize anyone for what they say.
It doesnāt mean that anyone can say anything they want with no consequences, or that people can record whatever they like, whenever they like. In public is another matter, but the comedy club is private property.
(Some casinos, for instance, have been known to block cell phone signals.)
Mrs Q and I will be in Vegas in a couple weeks and we like a little speakeasy there off Fremont. They do not allow cell phone use in the placeā¦though if you are the only ones there at the time the bartender and host(ess) will not say anything if you snap a couple pics of the place.
I dunnoā¦seems reasonable enough to me. I kind of want movie theaters to do this. I am sick of blindingly distracting cell phone screens popping up randomly during my movies.
Personally, it seems more economically viable to block the signal than to try to collect peopleās phones from them, which is taking responsibility for othersā property.
Itās legal, sure.
This is also the club that framed putting up Louis CK, as a private performer, in a private club, as unavoidable on Free Expression grounds.
They understand the law now, maybe they didnāt so much thenā¦?
Simple. Go to the john, slit the bag, remove phone, put phone in pocket, throw bag in trash.
Please donāt get me started on whatās ālegalā vs whatās actually āokay.ā
I agree!
And I never said this was a First Amendment violation. Itās not.
But neither was the Louis CK thing. This club has every right to protect his future spots there. Iām surprised they didnāt do this earlier, honestly. I think they were waiting so they werenāt making freeze peach arguments in the same breath.
And patrons have every right to take their business elsewhere.
Jamming cell signals is extra illegal. Itās fucking with national level emergency services.
Unless the government does it, of course.
I am a little worried when I hear this from good people though. Bear with me. Iām not defending idiots here.
That XKCD comic was GREAT, but it wasnāt talking about the global philosophical concept of āFreedom of Speechā. It was talking about people who specifically misused references to the āFirst Amendmentā in an argument, and it was completely correct about whatās constitutionally protected in the US. Completely correct.
āFreedom of speechā is a vague idealistic principle, that we can work towards or not, but itās not solely about the government. (But the constitutional protection is.)
(And none of that means you have to bother listening to nazis and rapists and other stonecold fools. Or even me!)
