I do not think it means what you think it means

No, I'm not channeling Inigo Montoya from the Princess Bride. I'm talking about the Northern Kentucky University professor who told her graduate students to exercise their "freedom-of-speech" by vandalizing a display of crosses. The crosses had been erected by an anti-abortion student group, with permission from the university.

"I did, outside of class during the break, invite students to express their freedom-of-speech rights to destroy the display if they wished to," Jacobsen said.

We begin to see the problem. Your right to free speech trumps everyone else's professor? Your right to free speech entitles you to destroy property that does not belong to you?

I think the good professor should be invited to don a set of handcuffs.

At least the president of NKU understands:

NKU President James Votruba said any evidence of criminal conduct in the incident will be turned over to prosecutors. He said he appreciated the emotional nature of the abortion debate and was glad that diverse viewpoints are represented at the school, but he condemned the destruction of the crosses.

"Freedom-of-speech rights end where you infringe on someone else's freedom of speech," Votruba said.

"I don't buy the claim that this is an act of freedom of speech, to destroy property."

He said he was gathering information about the extent of Jacobsen's participation.

Good for him.