Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Law Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Law

Preacher Man V. Porn King: A Legal, Cultural, And Moral Drama Starring Jerry Falwell, Larry Flynt, And The First Amendment, Tory L. Lucas Aug 2007

Preacher Man V. Porn King: A Legal, Cultural, And Moral Drama Starring Jerry Falwell, Larry Flynt, And The First Amendment, Tory L. Lucas

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Take one part proselytizing, political Southern Baptist televangelist, one part obnoxious, media-seeking pornographer, and one part First Amendment free speech, and you get the colossal legal, cultural, and moral battle embodied in the seminal Supreme Court case of Hustler Magazine v. Falwell. It all started in late 1983 with a controversial and despicable ad parody of a man and his mother that culminated in an aggressive legal battle between litigants on polar opposites of the moral and legal spectrum. Going behind the text of the Supreme Court decision, this article delves into the history behind the unique circumstances that made …


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 …


Substantive Media Regulation In Three Dimensions, Gregory P. Magarian Jan 2007

Substantive Media Regulation In Three Dimensions, Gregory P. Magarian

Scholarship@WashULaw

Changes in the political and regulatory climates are prompting calls to revive substantive government regulation of the broadcast media, specifically the now-defunct fairness doctrine. In this article, Professor Magarian attempts to sharpen the present debate over substantive regulation by closely examining earlier defenses and criticisms of the fairness doctrine. The article assesses how supporters and opponents of the fairness doctrine have characterized three issues essential for assessing the doctrine's wisdom and constitutionality: who is regulating; who is being regulated; and the goal of the regulatory scheme. As to the first issue, who is regulating, fairness doctrine supporters emphasize the democratic …


The Jurisprudence Of Colliding First Amendment Interests: From The Dead End Of Neutrality To The Open Road Of Participation-Enhancing Review, Gregory P. Magarian Jan 2007

The Jurisprudence Of Colliding First Amendment Interests: From The Dead End Of Neutrality To The Open Road Of Participation-Enhancing Review, Gregory P. Magarian

Scholarship@WashULaw

First Amendment interests in both speech and religion often collide with one another. A political activist claims a free speech interest in the right to purchase advertising time on a television network, while the network claims a free speech interest in its decision not to sell the time. A religious enclave claims a free exercise interest in having a dedicated public school district, while its neighbors claim a nonestablishment interest in the government's not extending the group special treatment. In this article Professor Magarian examines the phenomenon of colliding First Amendment interests, explains and critiques the Supreme Court's failure to …