Dear Editor,

My letter is a response to the “Juicy Campus a Pathetic Cesspool of Hate Speech” article published on Oct. 23.

I was alarmed by the writer’s suggestion that Congress should amend the laws that currently protect the First Amendment rights of Internet users and Web site owners. Juicy Campus’ content is disgusting by any standard, but is governmental intervention the answer to all of life’s trivial injustices? Does Congress need to pass a law to protect college students from some temporary embarrassment?

The request for legislation on Internet content is like asking to be coddled by the law, and is no different than a child begging for his nanny. It is a proposal that demonstrates the increasing unwillingness of Americans to deal with their own personal and social problems. America needs less government, not more of it.

Ultimately, an individual should be allowed to say what he wants, and if the pathetic coward chooses to hide behind the Web site’s anonymity then I suppose cowardice is his right. If I ever spoke to the site’s founder or its contributors, I would surely invoke the words of Voltaire: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

— Nicolas Sawaya
Earl Warren College junior