Law Commons^™

Copyright And The First Amendment: Comrades, Combatants Or Uneasy Allies?, Joseph P. Bauer

Joseph P. Bauer

The copyright regime and the First Amendment seek to promote the same goals. Both seek the creation and dissemination of more, better and more diverse literary, pictorial, musical and other works. But, they use significantly different means to achieve those goals. The copyright laws afford to the creator of a work the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, transform and perform that work for a extended period of time. The First Amendment, on the other hand, proclaims that Congress “shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press,” thus at least nominally indicating that limitations on …

The Corporatization Of Communication, Eric Chiappinelli, Adam Candeub, Jeffrey Chester, Lawrence Soley

Lawrence Soley

Our next panel discusses the corporatization of communication.

Déjà Vu: From Comic Books To Video Games: Legislative Reliance On “Soft Science” To Protect Against Uncertain Societal Harm Linked To Violence V. The First Amendment, Terri R. Day, Ryan C.W. Hall M.D.

Terri R. Day

This article discusses the weaknesses and limitations of social science evidence to prove that the virtual world of violent video games causes any real world harm. The Supreme Court, in its next term, will consider the constitutionality of California’s ban on the sale and rental of violent video games to minors. The controversy on violent video games is the latest legislative attempt to ban access and distribution of violent materials to children, reminiscent of the comic books debate over sixty years ago. This paper goes beyond a discussion of the First Amendment obstacles to violent video game restrictions. It focuses …

Déjà Vu: From Comic Books To Video Games: Legislative Reliance On “Soft Science” To Protect Against Uncertain Societal Harm Linked To Violence V. The First Amendment, Terri R. Day, Ryan Cw Hall M.D.

Terri R. Day

This article discusses the weaknesses and limitations of social science evidence to prove that the virtual world of violent video games causes any real world harm. The Supreme Court, in its next term, will consider the constitutionality of California’s ban on the sale and rental of violent video games to minors. The controversy on violent video games is the latest legislative attempt to ban access and distribution of violent materials to children, reminiscent of the comic books debate over sixty years ago. This paper goes beyond a discussion of the First Amendment obstacles to violent video game restrictions. It focuses …

Déjà Vu: From Comic Books To Video Games: Legislative Reliance On “Soft Science” To Protect Against Uncertain Societal Harm Linked To Violence V. The First Amendment, Terri R. Day, Ryan C.W. Hall M.D.

Terri R. Day

This article discusses the weaknesses and limitations of social science evidence to prove that the virtual world of violent video games causes any real world harm. The Supreme Court, in its next term, will consider the constitutionality of California’s ban on the sale and rental of violent video games to minors. The controversy on violent video games is the latest legislative attempt to ban access and distribution of violent materials to children, reminiscent of the comic books debate over sixty years ago. This paper goes beyond a discussion of the First Amendment obstacles to violent video game restrictions. It focuses …

A First Amendment Theory For Protecting Attorney Speech, Margaret C. Tarkington

Margaret C Tarkington

In June 2010, the United States Supreme Court held that Congress could constitutionally prohibit attorneys from providing legal assistance and advice regarding lawful nonviolent conduct to groups that the Secretary of State has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). The plaintiffs wished to assist two FTOs invoke international human rights law, petition the United Nations and United States Congress, and peacefully resolve their disputes. The Supreme Court held that the statute clearly prohibited plaintiffs’ proposed activities, but did not violate the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment because the attorneys could still engage in “independent advocacy” of any message …

Déjà Vu: From Comic Books To Video Games: Legislative Reliance On “Soft Science” To Protect Against Uncertain Societal Harm Linked To Violence V. The First Amendment, Terri R. Day, Ryan C.W. Hall Dr.

Terri R. Day

This article discusses the weaknesses and limitations of social science evidence to prove that the virtual world of violent video games causes any real world harm. The Supreme Court, in its next term, will consider the constitutionality of California’s ban on the sale and rental of violent video games to minors. The controversy on violent video games is the latest legislative attempt to ban access and distribution of violent materials to children, reminiscent of the comic books debate over sixty years ago. This paper goes beyond a discussion of the First Amendment obstacles to violent video game restrictions. It focuses …

Antisemitism In The Academic Voice: Confronting Bigotry Under The First Amendment, Kenneth Lasson

Kenneth Lasson

Among the abuses of the academic enterprise that have been taking place in American universities over the past several decades, and continue to this day, are failures of intellectual rigor: the abandonment of reliance on facts, common sense, and logic in the pursuit of narrow political agendas – which all too often presented in the academic voice. Students today increasingly find themselves confronted by curricula manipulated by scholarly extremists. While the number of overt antisemitic incidents has declined markedly in the United States over the past few years, there has been a significant increase in anti-Zionist rhetoric and activity on …

Neoformalism And The Reemergence Of The Rights/Privilege Distinction In Public Employment Law, Paul Secunda

Paul M. Secunda

The First Amendment speech rights of public employees, which have traditionally enjoyed protection under the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions, have suddenly diminished in recent years. At one time developed to shut the door on the infamous privilege/rights distinction, the unconstitutional conditions doctrine has now been increasingly used to rob these employees of their constitutional rights.

Three interrelated developments explain this state of affairs. First, a jurisprudential school of thought – the “subsidy school” – has significantly undermined the vitality of the unconstitutional conditions doctrine through its largely successful sparring with an alternative school of thought, the “penalty school.” Second, although …

Foreword: Our Paradoxical Religion Clauses, Mark A. Graber

Mark Graber

No abstract provided.

A Justified Assault Upon The Citadel Of Privity And The First Amendment, Joseph G. Bunn Esq.

Joseph G Bunn Esq.

The active involvement of credit rating agencies (“CRAs”) in the structured finance market and the recent financial crisis is an adequate basis for investors to pursue claims against CRAs for negligent misrepresentation. Traditionally, CRAs have qualified for protection from suit by investors under the privity doctrine and under the First Amendment. CRAs qualified for protection under the privity doctrine because CRAs are not typically in a contractual relationship with investors who utilize their ratings. CRAs qualified for protection under the First Amendment because courts viewed their ratings as “speech” regarding public matters. However, this dual protection is limited in certain …

Teaching In A Democracy: Why The Garcetti Rule Should Apply To Teaching In Public Schools, Paul Forster

Paul Forster

This article examines an important yet unsettled First Amendment issue—whether the rule of Garcetti v. Ceballos should extend to teaching in public schools. In Garcetti, the Supreme Court held that when public employees make statements pursuant to their official duties, they are not speaking as citizens for First Amendment purposes, and the Constitution does not insulate their communications from employer discipline. Yet the Court expressly declined to decide whether this principle should extend to “scholarship or teaching,” leaving lower courts to decide the issue for now. Despite the large number of publicly employed teachers and professors, lower courts have yet …

Democracy At The Corner Of First And Fourteenth: Judicial Campaign Spending And Equality, James Sample

James Sample

This Article posits that the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Caperton v. A.T. Massey Coal Co., Inc., which recognized that substantial independent expenditures in support of a judicial candidate present threats to judicial impartiality similar to those posed by direct contributions, suggests that guaranteeing due process of law in state courts presents a compelling state interest justifying the regulation of spending in judicial elections.

The Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Buckley v. Valeo is understood to hold that only an “anti-corruption” rationale can justify campaign finance regulations, and to draw a rigid distinction between political campaign “expenditures” and “contributions,” holding …

When The Exception Becomes The Rule: Marsh And Sectarian Legislative Prayer Post-Summum, Scott W. Gaylord

Scott W. Gaylord

Across the country, federal, state, and local legislative bodies begin their meetings with prayer. Yet, as recent challenges to sectarian legislative prayer demonstrate, legislative prayer rests uneasily at the intersection of the Free Speech and Establishment Clauses. While the government has the right to speak for itself, many contend that it is precluded from engaging in paradigmatic religious activity, such as sectarian prayer. As a result, although legislative prayer has been part of the “fabric of our society” since at least the First Continental Congress, sectarian prayer teeters on the brink of unconstitutionality.

Despite the pervasiveness of legislative prayer and …

The New Digitial Dating Behavior - Sexting: Teens' Explicit Love Letters: Criminal Justice Or Civil Liability, Terri R. Day

Terri R. Day

The New Digital Dating Behavior – Sexting: Teens’ Explicit Love Letters: Criminal Justice or Civil Liability proposes a unique response to the explosive combination of teens, sex and technology. This paper discusses why most teen sexting does not meet the Ferber definition of child pornography; therefore, a civil remedy for the dignitary and emotional harm caused by the public dissemination of private sexual pictures is far superior to imposing criminal sanctions. The proposed statutory civil cause of action would hold parents vicariously liable for the harms caused by their children’s sexting when done with actual malice. Recognizing that common law …

The New Digitial Dating Behavior - Sexting: Teens' Explicit Love Letters: Criminal Justice Or Civil Liability, Terri R. Day

Terri R. Day

The New Digital Dating Behavior – Sexting: Teens’ Explicit Love Letters: Criminal Justice or Civil Liability proposes a unique response to the explosive combination of teens, sex and technology. This paper discusses why most teen sexting does not meet the Ferber definition of child pornography; therefore, a civil remedy for the dignitary and emotional harm caused by the public dissemination of private sexual pictures is far superior to imposing criminal sanctions. The proposed statutory civil cause of action would hold parents vicariously liable for the harms caused by their children’s sexting when done with actual malice. Recognizing that common law …

The New Digitial Dating Behavior - Sexting: Teens' Explicit Love Letters: Criminal Justice Or Civil Liability, Terri R. Day

Terri R. Day

The New Digital Dating Behavior – Sexting: Teens’ Explicit Love Letters: Criminal Justice or Civil Liability proposes a unique response to the explosive combination of teens, sex and technology. This paper discusses why most teen sexting does not meet the Ferber definition of child pornography; therefore, a civil remedy for the dignitary and emotional harm caused by the public dissemination of private sexual pictures is far superior to imposing criminal sanctions. The proposed statutory civil cause of action would hold parents vicariously liable for the harms caused by their children’s sexting when done with actual malice. Recognizing that common law …

Excuse Me, Sir, Can You Spare Some Certiorari? Why Downtown “No Panhandling” Zones Are Constitutionally Suspect, Noah J. Kores

Noah J Kores

Panhandlers are becoming increasingly prevalent in urban areas across the United States. Many cities have taken action to regulate where, when, and how panhandling may be performed. One particular trend raises many First Amendment questions: downtown panhandling bans. As panhandling is a form of free speech, the question is whether downtown bans go too far.

Under the First Amendment, many downtown bans fail both intermediate and strict scrutiny. Specifically, St. Petersburg, Florida’s ordinance fails because it places content-based restrictions on speech -- meaning it restricts speech based on what an individual is attempting to say. Panhandling bans are content-based because …

To Infinity And Beyond: Fcc Enforcement Limiting Broadcast Indecency From George Carlin To Cher And Into The Digital Age, Blake M. Lawrence

Blake M Lawrence

Abstract: This article argues that FCC enforcement of broadcast indecency has become severely outdated, especially with the internet revolution of the past two decades. In Fox Television Studios v. FCC, the Court insisted on upholding the analysis of In re Pacifica (from the 1970s) which limited indecent speech based on the “unique accessibility” and the “uniquely pervasive” nature of broadcast television. However, the rise of cable television and internet television (from sites such as YouTube and Hulu) has nullified that rationale. The article further argues that the FCC’s method of enforcement based on complaints does not serve the public interest …

Compelling The Courts To Question Gonzales V. O Centro: A Public Harms Approach To Free Exercise Analysis, Ari B. Fontecchio

Ari B Fontecchio

At its core, this article uses an original, empirical case study to argue that the Supreme Court's 2006 decision in Gonzales v. O Centro has elevated the level of scrutiny with which courts evaluate the government's compelling interest, expanding the safe harbor for harmful, religious activity. In O Centro, the Supreme Court rejected the government's compelling interest in regulating religious use of the Schedule I hallucinogenic substance hoasca. The case survey at the core of this article demonstrates that since this decision, lower courts have required the government to justify its regulation of potentially harmful activities with an almost unrealistically …

Government Speech 2.0, Helen L. Norton, Danielle Keats Citron

Danielle Keats Citron

New expressive technologies continue to transform the ways in which members of the public speak to one another. Not surprisingly, emerging technologies have changed the ways in which government speaks as well. Despite substantial shifts in how the government and other parties actually communicate, however, the Supreme Court to date has developed its government speech doctrine – which recognizes “government speech” as a defense to First Amendment challenges by plaintiffs who claim that the government has impermissibly excluded their expression based on viewpoint – only in the context of disputes involving fairly traditional forms of expression. In none of these …

Cyberspace Is Outside The Schoolhouse Gate: Offensive Online Student Speech Receives First Amendment Protection, Joseph Tomain

Joseph A Tomain

Doctrinal and normative analysis show that schools do not possess jurisdiction over offensive online student speech, at least when it does not cause a substantial disruption of the school environment. This article is a timely analysis on the limits of school jurisdiction over offensive online student speech.

On February 4, 2010, two different Third Circuit panels issued opinions reaching opposite conclusions on whether schools may punish students based on online speech created by students when they are off-campus; one of these cases may be heard en banc. Another case addressing this same issue is currently pending before the Second Circuit. …

Towards A Constitutionally Protected Public Domain, Elizabeth Townsend Gard

Elizabeth Townsend Gard

How are we to understand the physics of the public domain within contemporary copyright law? Is the public domain a constitutionally protected component of the copyright system? The Golan decisions—first in the Tenth Circuit, Golan v. Gonzales, and now the remanded decision from the district court, Golan v. Holder, handed down on April 9, 2009—may provide an avenue towards a definitive answer. The Golan decisions mark the first time a part of the Copyright Act has been found to be unconstitutional. The case concerned the restoration of foreign copyrighted works in the U.S., but the decision could have larger implications …

Constitutional Faith And Dynamic Stability: Thoughts On Religion, Constitutions, And Transitions To Democracy, David C. Gray

David C. Gray

This essay, written for the 2009 Constitutional Schmooze, explores the complex role of religion as a source of both stability and instability. Drawing on a broader body of work in transitional justice, this essay argues that religion has an important role to play in the complex web of overlapping associations and oppositions constitutive of a dynamically stable society and further contends that constitutional protections which encourage a diversity of religions provide the best hope of harnessing that potential while limiting the dangers of religion evidenced in numerous cases of mass atrocity.

A New Name For An Old And Discredited Metaphor, Luis M. Dickson

Luis M. Dickson

This Article engages Paul Horwitz's recent Churches as First Amendment Institutions: Of Sovereignty and Spheres, arguing that the Kuyperian approach invoked by Horwitz is functionally indistinguishable from 'separate spheres' ideology long cited as justification for discrimination against women and blacks.

Religious Argument, Free Speech Theory, And Democratic Dynamism, Gregory P. Magarian

Gregory P. Magarian

Political theorists have long debated whether liberal democratic norms of public political debate should constrain political arguments grounded in religious beliefs or similar conscientious commitments. In this Article, Professor Magarian contends that normative insights from free speech theory have salience for this controversy and should ultimately lead us to reject any normative constraint on religious argument. On the restrictive side of the debate stand prominent liberal theorists, led by John Rawls, who maintain that arguments grounded in religion and other comprehensive commitments threaten liberal democracy by offering illegitimate grounds for government action and destabilizing democratic politics. On the permissive side …

Freedom Of Speech In American & Spanish Law: A Comparative Perspective, Alfredo Coll

ALFREDO COLL

The Supreme Court of the United States, particularly in the area of obscenity within freedom of speech, has imposed stringent procedural requirements on governmental action aimed at controlling the exercise of first amendment rights. This study argues that several lessons can be learned from these cases: that a judicial body, following an adversary hearing, must decide on the protected character of the speech, and that the judicial determination must either precede or immediately follow any governmental action which restricts speech. The authors also compare and contrast free speech protection in the United States as compared to Spain by analyzing several …

Punishment & Student Speech: Straining The Reach Of The First Amendment, James Ianelli

James Ianelli

No abstract provided.

Noncitizens And Citizens United, James Ianelli

James Ianelli

No abstract provided.

Free Speech Unmoored In Copyright’S Safe Harbor: Chilling Effects Of The Dmca On The First Amendment, Wendy Seltzer

Wendy Seltzer

Each week, more blog posts are redacted, more videos deleted, and more web pages removed from Internet search results based on private claims of copyright infringement. Under the “safe harbors” of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Internet service providers are encouraged to respond to copyright complaints with content takedowns, assuring their immunity from liability while diminishing the rights of their subscribers and users. Paradoxically, the law’s shield for service providers becomes a sword against the public who depend upon these providers as platforms for speech.

Under the DMCA, process for an accused infringer is limited. The law offers Internet …