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Sovereign Indignity? Values, Borders And The Internet: A Case Study, Eric Easton
Sovereign Indignity? Values, Borders And The Internet: A Case Study, Eric Easton
All Faculty Scholarship
This article focuses on the publication ban issued by a Canadian court in a notorious murder trial, and the popular reaction to the publication ban, as a case study of the new global communications environment. Part I reconstructs the factual circumstances that provoked the ban, as well as the responses of the media, the legal establishment, and the public. Part II examines the ban itself, the constitutional challenge mounted by the media, and the landmark Dagenais decision. Part III reflects on the meaning of the entire episode for law, journalism, and national sovereignty.
The Dagenais decision demonstrates the continued independence …
Closing The Barn Door After The Genie Is Out Of The Bag: Recognizing A "Futility Principle" In First Amendment Jurisprudence, Eric Easton
All Faculty Scholarship
This article argues for a simple proposition: the First Amendment imposes a presumption against the suppression of speech when suppression would be futile. Suppression is futile when the speech is available to the same audience through some other medium or at some other place. The government can overcome this presumption of futility only when it asserts an important interest that is unrelated to the content of the speech in question, and only when the suppression directly advances that interest.
In Part I, the article explores the role that this unarticulated "futility principle" has played in Supreme Court and other decisions …