DescentBB

Interesting problem being brought up here in my home province in Canada. Someone is trying to sue a school board for not properly controlling the comments made by some of the public duing two public forums held to discuss a very contentious issue. The plaintif feels the comments of many of the crowd were inciting hatred toward an idendified minority. There is a lot of politics and posturing in this lawsuit so the specifics are not the point but it does raise an interesting point. The defence feels any attempt to restrict the type of commentary made in a public meeting is an unwarranted restriction on free speech.
So what do you think? If an organization holds a public meeting, is it responsible for keeping the tone of the discussion and presentations civil? If for example, things get overwrought and a mob forms that storms out to do bodily harm to the first minority representative they find, can the organizer be held responsible? Even if they are a public body such as the School Board?

I think if the party holding the meeting doesn't do anything that a reasonable person would consider inciteful then they are innocent. If someone brings there attitude and hatred into the meeting and gets themselves all worked up then it's not the fault of the party holding the meeting.

You just don't have a grand opening for your Ku Kux Klan museum on Martin Luther King day in Harlem...timing is everything!