Legal Education Commons^™

Academic Freedom: A ‘Special Concern Of The First Amendment’, J. Peter Byrne

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

The First Amendment protects academic freedom. This simple proposition stands explicit or implicit in numerous judicial opinions, often proclaimed in fervid rhetoric. Attempts to understand the scope and foundation of a constitutional guarantee of academic freedom, however, generally result in paradox or confusion. The cases, shorn of panegyrics, are inconclusive, the promise of their rhetoric reproached by the ambiguous realities of academic life.