Llewellyn may be finalist for muzzle award
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The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Speech, having heard of Llewellyn’s policy preventing city employees from writing a letter to the editor of the Standard, says Llewellyn is being considered as a finalist for its annual Jefferson Muzzle Award.
The Jefferson Muzzle Award has been presented since 1992. It was created as a means to draw national attention to abridgments of free speech and press.
“We get different reactions from people who have won this award,” said Josh Wheeler, an attorney with the Jefferson Center, which is located in Charlottesville, Va. “Some people have accepted the award graciously and others have told me to stick it where the sun don’t shine.”
When contacted by the Standard yesterday, Llewellyn said he had already been informed by a representative from the Jefferson Center that he is being considered as a finalist. He believes he doesn’t deserve consideration.
“I told him if he values the truth as much as he values free speech then he’ll do a little homework,” said Llewellyn. “I told him to go back and read the article in the paper and read the letters to the editor. He needs to know what he’s nominating me for.”
The situation which led to Llewellyn’s policy began when Standard sports reporter Dale Stubblefield wrote a column that was critical of food being served at ballpark concession stands. City employees who work at the Civic Center’s concession stands took exception to the column and responded with two letters to the editor defending their food.
It was shortly after those letters were published that Llewellyn attached a notice to each city employee’s paycheck saying letters to the editor were not to be written without his permission. Llewellyn says his being considered for the Muzzle Award is a bit bothersome, but he will take it all in stride if he eventually wins it.
“I’ve spent my entire professional career preserving the freedoms we hold dear,” said Llewellyn. “I’m a little bit offended that someone who doesn’t even know me, or what I stand for, would consider me for this award.”
The Jefferson Center is devoted solely to the defense of free expression in all its forms.