Just because columnist Jacob Sullum calls his magazine Reason doesn’t mean everything he says is reasonable. His recent column is evidence (“Time to extinguish the claim that you can’t yell ‘fire in a crowded theater’ ” — Aug. 30).
The police conduct in the Louisiana case he cited about a man who was arrested for a Facebook post is indeed outrageous, and legal action in its wake is entirely appropriate. But it is unreasonable to suggest it somehow invalidates the concept that freedom of speech has its limits.
Sullum apparently has trouble internalizing that every freedom has a limit when it constrains the freedom of others. Free speech is no exception. Deciding how and where to balance these competing interests is the messy business of democracy. It doesn’t always go smoothly — as he illustrated. But missteps don’t invalidate the absolute need to adjudicate at the margin.
It is still wrong to shout “fire” in a crowded theater.
Mike Koetting, West Loop
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No hard feelings for Jerry Reinsdorf
As my family has had White Sox season tickets for 38 years, you’d think I’d be mad at Jerry Reinsdorf for threatening to move the White Sox, but I am not. I get it.
First, when any lease comes due, every tenant naturally considers its options. That’s prudent. The White Sox are a business, so of course its owner will weigh all options.
Second, the real problem with the White Sox is what comes before its name: Chicago. The trend line of the city is bad. We are shedding population. Chicago Public Schools has lost more than 100,000 students over the last 20 years. People are voting with their feet. When you add crime, taxes and our politics, our best days are sadly behind us.
So as the White Sox wave the white flag, add them to the long list of companies that once called Chicago home but (wisely) moved.
Jean DuBois, West Beverly
Recognizing value of workers on Labor Day
This is one script even the most imaginative minds in Hollywood would have trouble believing. On this Labor Day, the signs of our organized workforce’s importance are everywhere.
Across Illinois, our union workforce is putting in place the state’s largest transportation infrastructure plan, providing an excellent education in our schools and higher education institutions, and making critical life-and-death decisions in our hospitals and nursing homes.
The people of Illinois understand the union members in their families and their neighborhoods make a positive difference that is hard to quantify, and our influence is growing.
That is why the ongoing writers’ strike is mystifying.
Our Chicago members of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) have joined in the fight with Hollywood’s mega-bucks movie and television producers over a fair deal on TV, theatrical and streaming work.
Illinois is the Midwest leader for film production, and the third-largest SAG-AFTRA workforce in the country calls Chicago home. Each time we turn on the TV or open up a streaming service on our devices, union labor helps make that happen. It’s crystal clear the tiny residuals and salaries our entertainment professionals receive for their hard work — as little as 3 cents per check — are far short as the industry makes billions of dollars.
Yet weeks of negotiations have revealed the sides are far apart on the critical issues.
We hope Hollywood will take a moment this Labor Day to shape a new narrative, one that recognizes and values the contributions our workers make behind the scenes to bring every production to life.
After voters approved last year’s Workers Rights Amendment to enshrine worker protections in the Constitution, Illinois has partnered with organized labor to improve wages and working conditions for temporary workers, created legal protections for freelancers, increased transparency in wage rates and ensured the emerging clean energy industry has an equally strong, diverse workforce.
We never take these advancements for granted. We see neighboring states attacking working families through misguided policies such as right-to-work or loosening child labor protections. We remain diligent and resilient, even in our victories.
This Labor Day, we encourage you to take a moment to think about the teachers, nurses, plumbers, set riggers, drillers and many more men and women who sacrifice every day to make our lives better. We have included on our website a list of labor-sponsored events scheduled for this Labor Day to support Illinois working families.
Tim Drea, president, and Pat Devaney, secretary-treasurer, Illinois AFL-CIO
Trouble buying Auditorium Theatre tickets
Recently, I spent over two hours on the website for the Auditorium Theatre attempting to buy tickets. Time after time, I saw that frustrating “wheel of death” and there was no way I could buy two tickets together. Out of my frustration, I purchased my two tickets that are not adjoining. I fear the Auditorium Theatre’s lost revenue from the absence of the Joffrey Ballet may have impacted its ability to maintain the technical side of their business. I hope this does not signal the demise of a wonderful concert venue.
Claudia Laupmanis, Edgewater
