Bob Huggins in some hot water

#77
#77
SuzyVol said:
But isn't Huggins' employer the government, or at least a subdivision of the State of West Virginia?
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So a publicly funded university shouldn’t have the right to choose the people who work for and/or represent it? Can those people not be bound by codes of conduct? Should the university be forced to employ people who make bigoted, racist, or otherwise disparaging remarks about protected communities (especially in public settings)?

I’m genuinely curious what line of thinking you’re pursuing here. Huggins didn’t break a law. He just behaved in a way that embarrassed the university and risked damage to its reputation.
 
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#78
#78
Pennheel said:
Despite the disagreements between people in this thread over a sensitive subject, I will say that it's been a civil conversation. You don't see that often. That being said, something that was said earlier and that I thought about regarding this subject came to mind. If this was racist (saying the N word) , I believe he would have been fired the day this came up,and rightly so. We can't have double standards. Free speech has it's consequences especially in the public realm in cases like this.Anywho,that's my two cents on the subject.
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Very true on all counts. Probably why the mods let it stay up. Still, we've seen a clear double standard in so many areas that it makes you very concerned going forward. Just read an article about legislation that's being pushed in Ireland that would give prison terms of a year to anyone found guilty of "hate speech". Canary in the coal mine. You know it's going to come to this country at some point. You also know it's about who will decide what constitutes "hate speech". You also can be certain it won't be applied equally. Like I said....and sexual preferences aside.......it's my main point, it's a damned slippery slope when you start picking and choosing what constitutes free speech. You can't straddle the fence on this one. You either have that critical freedom or you don't.
 
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#79
#79
ThatVolGuy said:
So a publicly funded university shouldn’t have the right to choose the people who work for and/or represent it? Can those people not be bound by codes of conduct? Should the university be forced to employ people who make bigoted, racist, or otherwise disparaging remarks about protected communities (especially in public settings)?

I’m genuinely curious what line of thinking you’re pursuing here. Huggins didn’t break a law. He just behaved in a way that embarrassed the university and risked damage to its reputation.
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I would probably answer your questions the same way you would. So it appears that the government can, in fact, seriously restrict someone's free speech.
 
#80
#80
SuzyVol said:
I would probably answer your questions the same way you would. So it appears that the government can, in fact, seriously restrict someone's free speech.
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Let me flip the question on you—a clear First Amendment expert—to hear exactly how Huggins’ rights were violated. Do explain.

I’m sure you’d be pissed at our own university if Rick Barnes got in trouble for saying … oh, I don’t know, that Christians are bad people. Right?

I swear. Some of you might clutch your pearls when you find out that freedom of speech isn’t even technically unlimited.
 
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#81
#81
ThatVolGuy said:
Let me flip the question on you—a clear First Amendment expert—to hear exactly how Huggins’ rights were violated. Do explain.

I’m sure you’d be pissed at our own university if Rick Barnes got in trouble for saying … oh, I don’t know, that Christians are bad people. Right?

I swear. Some of you might clutch your pearls when you find out that freedom of speech isn’t even technically unlimited.
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I have never represented myself as a First Amendment expert, either overtly or by lecturing. I have never represented that any constitutional right, including freedom of speech, is unlimited. A million dollar salary reduction because of a person's statement is certainly a restriction on that person's speech. It may be a good restriction or a bad restriction, but it is a restriction. Don't be so arrogant as to think you know what would or would not piss me off about Rick Barnes or any other UTK employee. Is there something incorrect in my understanding that an agency of state government may restrict its employees' speech, either by prior restraint of that speech or by punishing that speech after the fact?
 
#82
#82
Since Huggy has am employment contract, the $1MM reduction would have to be agreed to by both parties...
 
#83
#83
Huggins’ speech was not restricted at all. His conduct embarrassed his employer, and the apology + salary reduction were the required penance for maintaining his job as head men’s basketball coach at WVU.

For like the 10,000th time, he is MORE THAN WELCOME to continue using the word “f*g” on the radio—and anywhere else, for that matter. He has the absolute right to use that word as much as he wants, because the First Amendment dictates that no law shall be passed restricting that (hateful) speech.

What he does not have a right to, on the other hand, is a job at WVU. That’s a privilege that can only be enjoyed if he behaves in accordance with his employer’s expectations. I again go back to—what if he said the N-word? Is it your position that getting in trouble for that would be equally egregious? Would that be a loss of freedom of speech?
 
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#86
#86
Think this'll be it for Huggs? This is nothing new for him. He had an issue like this one night while coaching in Cincinnati. He obviously never licked it. He's 69 and not adapting well to today's college landscape. I figured drinking was behind his issue last month on Cincinnati radio and all.
 
#92
#92
Nope, he'll survive this. Maybe a suspension, but this guy is WV basketball, absent Jerry West.
 
#97
#97
He just resigned.

Bet he ends up as an assistant on some NBA team.
 
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