Between 1787 and 1788, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison wrote 85 essays about establishing a Constitution for the United States. Because the English government – the “rule of law” of the day – did not look kindly at essays that advocated a change in government and challenged public policy, Hamilton, Jay and Madison used the pseudonym “Publius” to protect themselves from government retribution for expressing an opinion about the affairs of government.
Most people refrain from speaking up because of the fear of retribution from co-workers, employers and government agents. In some ways this has led to dismal voter turnout in El Paso Elections.
Anonymous discourse has an important historical place in American politics. The Supreme Court has ruled that the right to anonymous free speech is protected by the First Amendment.
In the 1995 McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission Supreme Court ruling, the Supreme Court said that “anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority,” adding that “it thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights and of the First Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation…at the hand of an intolerant society.”
The tradition of anonymous speech is older than the United States. Founders Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison wrote the Federalist Papers under the pseudonyms “Publius” and “the Federal Farmer.”
Retributions for speaking out is a problem in El Paso and Cd. Juárez. With that in mind we are making a Free Speech Zone available to you.
We plan to remain tolerant of your right to express yourself. However, we ask that you refrain from personal attacks on individuals simply to attack. For example, writing that Juan is an idiot is not acceptable. However, writing that Juan voted on measure XYZ makes him an idiot will be – in most cases – acceptable.
In addition to personal attacks, we will not tolerate SPAM, self-promotion or the hijacking of discussions by posting and posting irrelevant content or repeated content to stifle discussions.
You can remain anonymous. Signing up is simple.
When you are on the site, simply click on the “Log in” button found at the top right-hand corner. At the bottom, find the “New around here? Sign up” and click it. Fill out the form and you are signed up.
As soon as you are signed up, you can start posting right away.
Oh, in case you didn’t know, the formal name of El Chuco is El Paso.
Click here to join the Free Speech Zone.