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Forbes Breaking News
  • 6 months ago
At today's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) quesitoned Eric Chunyee Tung, nominee to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit.
Transcript
00:00Congratulations, gentlemen.
00:05Mr. Tung, you were asked about some of the things you said back in college.
00:14And one of the things that you were asked about was a statement you made in 2004.
00:31I believe that women are simply better than men at some things.
00:36Did you say that?
00:38I did say that, Senator.
00:41You said that you believe that women are better at some things, right?
00:48That's right, Senator.
00:49You didn't say women are worse at some things, did you?
00:55I did not say that, Senator.
00:56I just want to be sure I understand.
01:00How is that denigrating women?
01:05It was not denigrating women, and I did not intend it to be so, Senator.
01:08I mean, you said they're better at some things.
01:12If you said they were worse at some things, you would be denigrating women, wouldn't you?
01:17I would, Senator.
01:19I don't know if I asked you this, but you didn't say they could do things worse.
01:26You said better, right?
01:27I just want to be sure I understand.
01:29That's right, Senator.
01:30Does government have free speech rights?
01:35Government does have free speech rights.
01:37How so?
01:39The First Amendment doesn't mention government except to the extent that government is there
01:47to protect—for us to have protection against government restricting our speech.
01:54How can government have free speech?
01:56Senator, you are right to the extent that the First Amendment refers to Congress—Congress
02:01shall not make any law abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.
02:06But there is a government speech doctrine that allows the government to convey a political
02:11message it wishes to, and the government is not committed to a policy of neutrality at
02:18all times.
02:19Have you ever been to Boston?
02:23I have been to Boston.
02:24Okay.
02:25You've seen the Boston City Hall?
02:26I believe I have, Senator.
02:28There's a plaza in front, and there's some flagpoles.
02:33And Boston, when different groups are having protests or demonstrations or rallies on the plaza,
02:42allows those groups to fly their flag.
02:50Someone wanted to fly a Christian flag, and the city of Boston said no.
02:58And the Supreme Court and the city of Boston said, that's our choice.
03:03That's government speech.
03:05We don't want to fly a Christian flag.
03:08So how come the Supreme Court said that they had to fly the Christian flag if government
03:14has free speech?
03:16Senator, if the government opens up its plaza to all comers, so to speak, then it's
03:25restricted under the public forum doctrine in terms of what viewpoints it would decide
03:31to favor or not?
03:32That's not necessarily so, is it, Counselor?
03:33I mean, let's suppose Texas—this actually happened.
03:37And Texas lets people buy specialty license plates.
03:44You know, I love little warm puppies and stuff like that.
03:49You can buy a specialty license plate.
03:52And somebody wanted to have a specialty license plate that pictured the Confederate flag.
04:04And Texas said no.
04:08And the Supreme Court said Texas doesn't have to do it—government speech.
04:15So isn't that inconsistent with what you just said?
04:17Senator, it is not inconsistent.
04:20This area of law is extremely complicated.
04:24When something qualifies as a public forum, such that viewpoint discrimination might not
04:30be allowed, versus a public benefit and public conditions that the government can rightly impose
04:37on others, on its recipients, then that shades into government speech, in which case the government
04:44would have more control over what kind of speech gets projected into the public square.
04:50But there is potential for tension there between the two doctrines that you raised, Senator.
04:55The chairman's going to gavel me to shut up in a second.
04:59I just want to be sure I understand, back at Yale, you said there are some things that women are better at, right?
05:06Yes, Senator.
05:07Not worse?
05:08That's right.
05:09Better?
05:09Yes, Senator.
05:11Okay.
05:11Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
05:13Senator Whitehouse.
05:13Senator Whitehouse.
05:14Senator Whitehouse.
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