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Series

University of South Carolina

Constitutional Law

2007

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Law

Envisioning The Constitution, Thomas P. Crocker Oct 2007

Envisioning The Constitution, Thomas P. Crocker

Faculty Publications

If one of the more persistent problems of constitutional interpretation, particularly of the Bill of Rights, is that we lack a clear view of it, then it would appear that how we see the Constitution is as important as how we read it. What clauses we see as connected in order to form comprehensive values, such as federalism or rights protections, are not so much products of constitutional interpretation as constitutional vision. To obtain a view of the Constitution, we have to do more than derive semantic meaning from diverse articles and clauses. To have a vision of the Constitution …


Displacing Dissent: The Role Of Place In First Amendment Jurisprudence, Thomas P. Crocker Apr 2007

Displacing Dissent: The Role Of Place In First Amendment Jurisprudence, Thomas P. Crocker

Faculty Publications

From the perspective of free speech theory, both of the central First Amendment values - human autonomy and deliberative democracy - require robust protection for the places and spaces in which speech and public discourse occur. This Article argues that current Supreme Court doctrine does not effectively protect speech from content neutral regulation of place. The problem is that remaining neutral is consistent with policies that would dislocate the very place for the "marketplace of ideas." Moreover, free speech theory focused on autonomy and deliberative democracy has not adequately addressed the role that place plays in furthering these values. Speech …