The near-absolute protection of all forms of speech by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution (see full text, at left)  is a rarity, not even shared by Great Britain, whose Magna Carta served as a model and inspiration for our Founding Fathers. Peter Scheer, Executive Director of the First Amendment Coalition in San Rafael, notes that other long-established western Democracies in Europe set tighter limits.

The risk inherent in attempting to legislate against hate speech, says Peter Scheer (right), lies in how it is defined, and who is doing the defining.

Even in thoroughly modern and democratic nations, attempts to limit hate speech have proven problematic. Scheer details a specific recent instance in Canada.

The threat of punishment may deter crime, but when it doesn't, a new model called Restorative Justice works instead to create healing after the fact.

 There is extensive background information on the basic concepts at the Restorative Resources website,  including an outline of their restorative conference process.  One important outcome of these conferences, says Clifford Amos, can be an opening of awareness and even sensitivity in kids who often have had very little prior experience with such feelings.

The community circle model that is widely used in restorative justice has its roots in various native cultures around the world, Clifford explains, but New Zealand was the first western culture to seriously attempt to integrate that concept.

 Clifford Amos and Restorative Resources will be awarded the 2009 Sonoma County Peacebuilder Award by the local chapter of the Peace Alliance/Campaign for a U.S. Department of Peace. The presentation will be made at"Creating aWorld Beyond Violence," a wine, cheese and chocolate reception to be held Saturday, June , 2-4 pm at the Power Squadron, 789 Hamilton Parkway in Novato.  Reservations and information at (707) 992-0367, evenings or Saturday morning.

There's more to the story of pirates along the Somali coast than just bad guys in boats. In today's report, John Reid, President of the Conservation Strategy Fund in Sebastopol, looks past recent headlines to the root causes of this outbreak of nautical lawlessness.

Because natural resources are essential to the survival of millions of residents of undeveloped nations, CFS President John Reid (right) predicts that, in order to help preserve them, climate change will soon become a major factor in shaping US foreign policy.

 Michael Winship, senior writer for the weekly PBS public affairs program "Bill Moyers Journal," has additional background on this issue here.

The Sonoma County Sheriff's Department is charged with illegally overreaching in their support for immigration enforcement by federal officials. The ACLU suit also challenges the regulation upon which that cooperation is based.

Julia Harumi Mass, staff attorney for American Civil Liberties Union of Northern  California (ACLUNC) is the lead attorney behind that group's suit  charging that the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been collaborating beyond the law to target, arrest, and detain Latino residents of Sonoma County.

The rights embodied in the US Constitution are not there only for American  citizens, says Mass, but are explicitly applied to everyone, regardless of citizenship or immigration status.

Even as the ALCU lawsuit unfolds, Mass says she sees some early hints that the new Obama administration may be moving toward a different stance on ICE enforcement usage of the disputed regulations.