Censuring the Censors

Published April 13, 2004 at 12:00 AM EDT

Each year since 1992, the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression in Charlottesville, Va., has presented its Jefferson Muzzles award to people and organizations who have stood in the way of free speech. NPR's Bob Edwards speaks with center director Robert O'Neil about "winners" of the 2004 award, being announced today.

Previous recipients have included Attorney General John Ashcroft, for pushing the USA Patriot Act and other measures in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, for cutting city funding for the Brooklyn Museum over a controversial painting; and the Clinton administration, for its "don't ask, don't tell" policy over homosexuals in the military.

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