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- Cyberbullying laws (1)
- Defamation; political campaigns; First Amendment; SLAPP (1)
- Fighting Words Doctrine; Chaplinsky v New Hampshire; 315 U.S. 568 (1942); First Amendment (1)
- First Amendment (1)
- Garcetti v. Ceballos; First Amendment; Public Employees; Free Speech; United States Supreme Court; SCOTUS (1)
Articles 1 - 7 of 7
Full-Text Articles in Law
The Supreme Court's Worst Decision In Recent Years--Garcetti V. Ceballos, The Dred Scott Decision For Public Employees, David L. Hudson Jr.
The Supreme Court's Worst Decision In Recent Years--Garcetti V. Ceballos, The Dred Scott Decision For Public Employees, David L. Hudson Jr.
Law Faculty Scholarship
The United States Supreme Court decision of Garcetti v. Ceballos deserves its rightful place in the Court’s hall of shame. In Garcetti, the Court issued a decision that serves as a Dred Scott-type ruling for public employees, diminishing their free speech rights to an unacceptable level. The Court created a categorical rule that public employees have no free speech rights when engaged in official, job-related speech.
Under Garcetti, it does not matter how valuable an employee’s speech is, how much corruption that speech exposes, or whether the speech informs the public regarding an important issue. Instead, the five-justice majority focused …
Essay: The Fighting Words Doctrine: Alive And Well In The Lower Courts, David L. Hudson Jr.
Essay: The Fighting Words Doctrine: Alive And Well In The Lower Courts, David L. Hudson Jr.
Law Faculty Scholarship
The fighting words doctrine is alive and well in the lower courts. The first part of this article briefly explains how the fighting words doctrine has fared in the U.S. Supreme Court. These results would seem to indicate that it would be rare indeed for a defendant’s words to fall under the fighting words exception. That is not always the case. The next part of this article provides a sampling of decisions in which lower courts have rejected First Amendment-based defenses to disorderly conduct, breach of the peace, or similar charges based on the fighting words doctrine. The final part …
Unsettled Questions In Student Speech Law, David L. Hudson Jr.
Unsettled Questions In Student Speech Law, David L. Hudson Jr.
Law Faculty Scholarship
More than fifty years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court famously proclaimed in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969), that students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” In subsequent decades, the Supreme Court reduced the level of free-speech protections for public school students, but Tinker is still the lodestar decision.
There remain several areas of uncertainty regarding the scope of student (K–12) First Amendment rights. This Article addresses three of those main areas: (1) whether a student’s speech can be limited by the unruly behavior …
Anti-Slapp Coverage And The First Amendment: Hurdles To Defamation Suits In Political Campaigns, David L. Hudson Jr.
Anti-Slapp Coverage And The First Amendment: Hurdles To Defamation Suits In Political Campaigns, David L. Hudson Jr.
Law Faculty Scholarship
Defamation cases often arise out of intemperate or offensive statements made in political campaigns. These comments may refer to a candidate’s criminal history, familial conduct, or other matters. Whatever the subject, emotions undoubtedly run high during hotly contested campaigns. However, First Amendment protection is at its zenith when speakers engage in political speech, and speech about political candidates is inherently political speech. Thus, defamation suits arising out of political campaigns face significant hurdles, including (1) anti-SLAPP statutes and a greater public awareness of SLAPP suits; (2) a history and tradition of mudslinging and enhanced protection of political speech during political …
Essay: Cyberbullying And Freedom Of Speech, David L. Hudson Jr.
Essay: Cyberbullying And Freedom Of Speech, David L. Hudson Jr.
Law Faculty Scholarship
Part I of this essay examines state cyberbullying laws. These laws vary a lot in terms of language and coverage but this part attempts to group these different state laws into different categories. This section categorizes cyberbullying laws into two main categories—(1) those that treat cyberbullying as a crime and (2) those that address cyberbullying as a violation of a school’s code of conduct. Part II of this essay then addresses court decisions that deal with cyberbullying. Once again, this essay examines the topic from both the perspective of (1) criminal law decisions and (2) school law decisions.
Essay: Understanding First Amendment Freedoms Through The Remarkable Life Of "The Greatest" --Muhammad Ali, David L. Hudson Jr.
Essay: Understanding First Amendment Freedoms Through The Remarkable Life Of "The Greatest" --Muhammad Ali, David L. Hudson Jr.
Law Faculty Scholarship
Muhammad Ali represents much more than a great sports figure and one of the greatest fighters of all time.He is also the epitome of the citizen protected by the First Amendment– a man who paid dearly for his religious convictions and provocative speech, but found a defense in the amendment’s forty-five words. An examination of First Amendment freedoms through the prism of Ali can teach us much about the fragility of the amendment but also the strength that we all can find in it. The First Amendment provides: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting …
Fixed Stars: Famous First Amendment Phrases And Their Indelible Impact, David L. Hudson Jr., Jacob David Glenn
Fixed Stars: Famous First Amendment Phrases And Their Indelible Impact, David L. Hudson Jr., Jacob David Glenn
Law Faculty Scholarship
Some passages in First Amendment law have taken on a life and legend of their own, entering our cultural lexicon for their particular power, precision or passion. Some phrases are just so beautifully written that they cannot escape notice. Others aptly capture the essence of a key concept in a memorable way. Still others seemingly have grown in importance simply by the frequency for which they are cited in later court decisions. This article analyzes ten phrases from U.S. Supreme Court First Amendment decisions that qualify as some of the most enduring passages in First Amendment jurisprudence.