Rokita & Free Speech

Editor, Times-Union:
I suppose it makes sense that Attorney General Todd Rokita would want to seek out people who make free speech comments in a tone he doesn't agree with. After all, he's an expert on acting in a way you shouldn't, as evidenced by his two violations of professional conduct rules, resulting in a public reprimand from the Indiana Supreme Court issued in 2023 (followed by a second reprimand in January 2025, which Rokita is currently disputing in court).
In case Mr. Rokita is unaware, making certain subjects off limits to Americans actually goes against what Charlie Kirk actually believed. When asked about hate speech, Kirk said, "Hate speech does not exist legally in America. There's ugly speech. There's gross speech. There's evil speech. And ALL of it is protected by the First Amendment. Keep America free."
As someone who decidedly did not agree with, well, any of Mr. Kirk's positions and public statements, the protection of free speech is something where we would have had common ground. Efforts like Rokita are a reflection of the current White House crew, who are using Kirk's assassination to stoke further division. Further, it's a deliberate pretext to squash the opposition. If Mr. Rokita intentions were truly about honoring Mr. Kirk, he would be on the front lines defending everyone's right to express their opinion. He's supposed to be about the law, after all. And, like the teachers he's targeting, a public servant. He should take his own suggestion, and conduct his business using a higher standard. Which - call me crazy - doesn't include inciting a witch hunt for people engaged in ugly speech using their own, private platforms.
That said, if Rokita is bound and determined to pursue this misguided course of action, he might want to exercise some judicial fairness, and look into instances across the political spectrum, rather than focus on a narrow segment of voters whose voices he simply wants to scapegoat, then silence.
Charles Eichman
Warsaw, via email