Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Power Of Public Concern And First Amendment Values: Insulating Speech In Sports And Entertainment From Tort Liability For Others' Actions, Clay Calvert
UF Law Faculty Publications
When should First Amendment interests in free expression shield speakers from civil liability for harm to others caused by third parties who allegedly followed or otherwise were inspired by the speakers' words? Two recent federal court opinions - Higgins v. Kentucky Sports Radio, LLC involving post-game coverage by sports commentators about a college basketball referee, and Stricklin v. Stefani pivoting on a singer's words to her concert audience - illustrate similar yet distinct methodologies for analyzing this important question. The speech of the commentators in Higgins allegedly "incited the harassment" by listeners and readers of referee John Higgins and his …
Reconsidering Incitement, Tinker And The Heckler’S Veto On College Campuses: Richard Spencer And The Charlottesville Factor, Clay Calvert
Reconsidering Incitement, Tinker And The Heckler’S Veto On College Campuses: Richard Spencer And The Charlottesville Factor, Clay Calvert
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Essay analyzes key First Amendment issues surrounding Richard Spencer and Milo Yiannopoulos speaking on public university campuses. Some institutions (Ohio State University, Michigan State University and Pennsylvania State University) have flatly banned Spencer, citing fears of incitement to violence but also sparking federal lawsuits. Other schools have permitted Spencer to speak, but at massive security costs, in an attempt to prevent a so-called heckler’s veto. This Essay examines the tension between providing a public platform for controversial speakers and the costs associated with doing so, including the relevance of the Supreme Court’s aging incitement test created in Brandenburg v. …
First Amendment Envelope Pushers: Revisiting The Incitement-To-Violence Test With Messrs. Brandenburg, Trump, & Spencer, Clay Calvert
First Amendment Envelope Pushers: Revisiting The Incitement-To-Violence Test With Messrs. Brandenburg, Trump, & Spencer, Clay Calvert
UF Law Faculty Publications
This Article examines weaknesses with the United States Supreme Court’s Brandenburg v. Ohio incitement test as its fiftieth anniversary approaches. A lawsuit targeting Donald Trump, as well as multiple cases pitting white nationalist Richard Spencer against public universities, provide timely springboards for analysis. Specifically, In re Trump: 1) illustrates difficulties in proving Brandenburg’s intent requirement via circumstantial evidence; and 2) exposes problems regarding the extent to which past violent responses to a person’s words satisfy Brandenburg’s likelihood element. Additionally, the Spencer lawsuits raise concerns about: 1) whether Brandenburg should serve as a prior restraint mechanism for blocking potential speakers …
Incendiary Speech And Social Media, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky
Incendiary Speech And Social Media, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky
UF Law Faculty Publications
Incidents illustrating the incendiary capacity of social media have rekindled concerns about the "mismatch" between existing doctrinal categories and new types of dangerous speech. This Essay examines two such incidents, one in which an offensive tweet and YouTube video led a hostile audience to riot and murder, and the other in which a blogger urged his nameless, faceless audience to murder federal judges. One incident resulted in liability for the speaker, even though no violence occurred; the other did not lead to liability for the speaker even though at least thirty people died as a result of his words. An …