Editorial: Judge safeguards free expression

Ever since the first term of President Franklin Roosevelt, political activists from both the right and left have attacked the lifetime appointments and administrative independence of federal judges. But one Arizona man can safely continue to speak out against the Iraq war by selling T-shirts that include the display of names of our military dead, thanks to that independence.

U.S. District Judge Neil Wake has at least temporarily forbidden state and local officials from arresting or prosecuting Dan Frazier, a peace activist who makes a living by selling politically themed bumper sticks, buttons, posters and other items over the Internet.

Frazier designed three protest T-shirts with the names of more than 3,000 military service people killed in Iraq. One of the T-shirts has emblazoned over these names the words “Bush Lied” on front and “They Died” on back.

These shirts angered family members of some deceased soldiers, who claim that Frazier shouldn’t be allowed to use the names of military troops who might not share his political beliefs. Those families have demanded that states and Congress pass laws giving them an exclusive veto over the use of their love ones’ names.

The Arizona Legislature did so unanimously, even though a few critics pointed out that such a law blatantly violates Frazier’s right to political speech as enshrined in the First Amendment.

The judge was surprisingly blunt when he issued a preliminary injunction blocking the law.

“The T-shirts, like the Vietnam War Memorial, derive some of their communicative force from their ability to personalize human loss on a great scale,” Wake wrote. “Without the large number of real names of fallen soldiers, the effect of Frazier’s political message would be diminished.”

This is not a liberal activist throwing his weight around. Wake was one of Arizona’s most effective court advocates for Republican causes when he was nominated to the bench by President Bush in 2003. He was approved by a GOP-controlled Senate that expected him to strictly interpret the Constitution.

Apparently, unlike Arizona’s lawmakers, Wake has the freedom and the fortitude to reject emotional pleas and political shortcuts that would undermine the intent of our nation’s founders.

The case of Frazier vs. the state of Arizona isn’t over. But federal judges issue preliminary injunctions only when there’s a high likelihood of the plaintiff winning.

Attorney General Terry Goddard and the other defendants in this case should see the handwriting on the T-shirt and stop trying to prop up a law passed solely to muzzle Frazier’s free speech.