Police Charge Art Students; Catholic Bishop Seeks Restrictions on ‘Freedom of Speech’

THINK PROGRESS 
By Ian Millhiser

Carnegie Mellon University police filed charges of indecent exposure against
two art students  including sophomore Katherine B. O’Connor, 19 

PENNSYLVANIA---Katherine O’Connor is an art student at Carnegie Mellon University who allegedly decided to dress as the pope and march in a campus parade — or, at least, dress as the pope from the waist up. Police charged her with public nudity because she allegedly wore nothing at all below the belt. As Eugene Volokh points out, there’s nothing unconstitutional about arresting someone this kind of childish stunt. If O’Connor actually displayed her genitals in public, police may arrest her for public nudity. [link]

Yet, in a statement expressing satisfaction with O’Connor’s arrest, Catholic Bishop David Zubik of the Pittsburgh Diocese endorsed far greater restrictions on free speech:

“As I have said over these last few weeks, this is an opportunity for all of us to be reminded that freedom of speech and freedom of expression do not constitute a freedom to dismiss or disrespect the beauty of anyone’s race, the sacredness of anyone’s religious belief or the uniqueness of anyone’s nationality.”