The Evening Standard in London reports that a three-man “Adjudication Panel” for England has suspended London Mayor Ken Livingstone from work for four weeks for being “unnecessarily insensitive and offensive” to an Evening Standard reporter.

The Mayor’s response strikes me as on point: “This decision strikes at the heart of democracy. Elected politicians should only be able to be removed by the voters or for breaking the law.”

Just to be clear, I’m not excusing what the mayor said. But this all just sounds a little too much like big brother to me: An unelected panel removes an elected official from office (albeit it temporarily) for something he said. Hmmmm.

HT: Volokh.

Jim: You gotta be kidding me. A couple years back, a colleague claimed that a certain lawmaker gently slapped him in response to a question. Calling a reporter a “Nazi guard,” obnoxious and disgraceful as it is, ought not to be a crime. Leave it up to the voters.

I can’t quite get my head around the laws in Europe and England regarding freedom of speech. For example, in some countries, there are laws on the books making Holocaust denial a crime. I can hate what these folks are saying, but I don’t like the idea that they can be convicted in a court, or in this case, temporarily removed from office for saying something. (Besides the usual exceptions for slander, libel, threats, etc.)

Cam: Imagine if he had drawn a cartoon of Mohammed. He’d probably be drawn and quartered in the public square.

Marshall: The Washington Post picked up the story this morning. Best coverage I’ve seen. If you’re interested, read every word.