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Eras Of The First Amendment, David S. Yassky
Eras Of The First Amendment, David S. Yassky
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
Part I will begin the story with the Founders' understanding of the structural role of the First Amendment. In this understanding, the First Amendment served as a bulwark of state independence. Along with the rest of the Bill of Rights, the First Amendment had as its primary purpose maintenance of the federal system--or, more precisely, protection of the states against federal government overreaching. The Founders' plan left the individual states entirely free to regulate speech, while strictly prohibiting the federal government from displacing the states' various speech regimes.
When the Civil War dramatically reshaped the federal-state relationship, the structural purpose …
Justice Brennan And The First Amendment Minefield: In Respectful Appreciation, Ralph Michael Stein
Justice Brennan And The First Amendment Minefield: In Respectful Appreciation, Ralph Michael Stein
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
It is a special privilege, and a personal joy, for me to have the opportunity to contribute a piece honoring such a revered figure. I make no claim to scholarly objectivity. My premise is simple: William J. Brennan has given us a legacy of first amendment decisions, concurrences, and dissents that reflect great honor on the jurist. My portion of this Festschrift provides selected examples of Justice Brennan's contribution, and concludes by thanking him for serving, through his opinions, as a mentor for me throughout my career as a teacher of constitutional law.