NY Times: Examining Fans' Rights to Jeer at Games

[Mark Padgett]

From the story: "But many stadiums and arenas constructed with some public financing, or built on state land or land operated by a municipal authority, could be viewed as public entities. In that setting, a government cannot force citizens to surrender constitutional rights like free speech."

The classrooms at a state university are also "public entities" so, by this logic, there can be no restrictions on what a student who has paid tuition can say in a classroom during a class (such as directing blatant profanity at a teacher), and no restriction on the volume of speech (such as yelling and screaming at a teacher during class).

We also have the constitutional right to bear arms. Does this mean a public school cannot have a restriction on carrying a gun onto school property? Actually, this is an issue here in Oregon right now.

BTW - do we also have the right to arm bears?

OK - here's another one. I once worked with a guy in a retail store and we were required to wear long sleeved shirts. One day, he showed up in a short sleeved shirt. When the manager spoke to him about it, he said he had a constitutional right to "bare arms".