Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Publication
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Absurd Logic Behind Florida’S Docs Vs. Glocks Law, Dahlia Lithwick, Sonja R. West
The Absurd Logic Behind Florida’S Docs Vs. Glocks Law, Dahlia Lithwick, Sonja R. West
Popular Media
This article published at Slate.com on January 8, 2016, reviews the Wollschlaeger v. Governor of the State of Florida case in which the Florida legislature passed a law that bars health care workers from discussing or recording anything about their patients’ gun ownership or safety practices that could be deemed in bad faith, irrelevant, or harassing.
The Problem With Free Press Absolutism, Sonja R. West
The Problem With Free Press Absolutism, Sonja R. West
Scholarly Works
In her important new book, The First Amendment Bubble, Professor Amy Gajda exposes the many dangers of this all-encompassing attitude about constitutional rights for the press. Sure, there may have been a time when the news media could demand- and the courts and public would grant near immunity for their work, making free press absolutism relatively costless. Yet Gajda provides example after example demonstrating that the courts no longer give the media a free pass. And as the public and the courts' opinions about the press change, Gajda warns, the news media's thinking about their legal protections must change as …
The 'Press,' Then & Now, Sonja R. West
The 'Press,' Then & Now, Sonja R. West
Scholarly Works
Does the First Amendment’s protection of freedom of “the press” simply mean that we all have the right to use mass communication technology to disseminate our speech? Or does it provide constitutional safeguards for a particular group of speakers who function as government watchdogs and citizen surrogates? This question defines the current debate over the Press Clause. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, along with recent work by Michael McConnell and Eugene Volokh, suggests the answer is the former. This article pushes back on that view.
It starts by expanding the scope of the relevant historical evidence. Discussions about the …