, Columnist
West Point Cadets Have Free-Speech Rights, Too
Those black women who posed with raised fists didn't break military rules.
Free expression.
Should female African-American cadets at West Point be punished for posing for a photograph with their fists raised? Most discussion so far has focused on the contemporary meaning of the gesture and whether it’s a political statement of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
But there’s a further free-speech question that must also be answered: How much leeway should members of the uniformed, active-duty military have to express themselves -- photographically, politically, or otherwise? The best answer, grounded in military regulations and the First Amendment, indicates that the cadets have not violated the letter or spirit of the law and should not be subject to sanction.