By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON
Associated Press Writer
RICHMOND, Va. – Banning the sale of wine because of a nude, bike-riding nymph on the label of the bottle. Confining campus protests to a “free-speech patio.” Keeping street performers off the Las Vegas Strip.
Those were some of the actions that the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression cited Tuesday in awarding its dubious “Muzzle” awards. The Charlottesville center awards the Muzzles annually to mark the April 13 birthday of Jefferson – its namesake, the third president and free-speech advocate.
Center director Bob O’Neil said that while the 10 winners of the 2010 awards were geographically diverse, they didn’t include any corporations or other private entities as in past years – all are government and school officials.