What needs protecting

I can’t figure out Terrence Hughes’ true agenda (BDN, July 9). When he and his tiny band resort to what is by all appearances suburban terrorism, the credibility of his opinions on women’s reproductive rights is called into question. Free expression of those wishing to voice their opinions on controversial or divisive social and political issues is and should be guaranteed full protection of the law as directed by the First Amendment.

All who spend a few moments reflecting upon the First Amendment to our Constitution will realize that all speech cannot be protected. Speech and expression which is intended to harm and to harass, as demonstrated all too frequently by Hughes, are not protected but rather are something from which citizens must be protected. It appears that what Terrence Hughes wants most is to horrify children with his obscene placards, confuse them with his slanders, and to annoy and harass citizens of Bangor in their homes.

I attended last Tuesday’s City Council Operations Committee meeting, at which all citizens’ First Amendment rights were clearly demonstrated. I will attend next Tuesday’s meeting (July 16) at which the discussion of Bangor’s parade ordinances will be continued. I support the reasonable and measured modifications to those ordinances, and the protection which they afford Bangor’s neighborhoods.

I suggest that we view with caution any person who characterizes reaction to the cold-blooded Salvi murders as “hysteria,” as Hughes did in his recent letter to the BDN. I further suggest that citizens of Bangor attend Tuesday’s Operations Committee meeting (in the Council Chamber) and see for themselves that the First Amendment is alive and well in Bangor. Martin O’Connell Bangor