First Amendment Commons^™

The Chains Of The Constitution And Legal Process In The Library: A Post-Usa Patriot Reauthorization Act Assessment, Susan Nevelow Mart

Publications

Since the Patriot Act was passed in 2001, controversy has raged over nearly every provision. The controversy has been particularly intense over provisions that affect the patrons of libraries. This article follows those Patriot Act provisions that affect libraries, and reviews how they have been interpreted, how the Patriot Reauthorization Acts have changed them, and what government audits and court affidavits reveal about the use and misuse of the Patriot Act. The efforts of librarians and others opposed to the Patriot Act have had an effect, both legislatively and judicially, in changing and challenging the Patriot Act. Because libraries are …

The Measure Of Government Speech: Identifying Expression's Source, Helen Norton

Publications

States and other governmental bodies increasingly invoke the government speech defense to First Amendment challenges by private parties who seek to alter or join what the government contends is its own expression. These disputes involve competing claims to the same speech: a private party maintains that a certain means of expression reflects (or should be allowed to reflect) her own views, while a public entity claims that same speech as its own, along with the ability to control its content.

In suggesting a framework for approaching these problems, this Article starts by examining the theoretical and practical justifications for insulating …

Government Workers And Government Speech, Helen Norton

Publications

This essay, to be published in the First Amendment Law Review's forthcoming symposium issue on Public Citizens, Public Servants: Free Speech in the Post-Garcetti Workplace, critiques the Supreme Court's decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos as reflecting a distorted understanding of government speech that overstates government's own expressive interests while undermining the public's interest in transparent government.

In Garcetti, the Court held that the First Amendment does not protect public employees' speech made "pursuant to their official duties," concluding that a government employer should remain free to exercise "employer control over what the employer itself has commissioned or created." …

Amending The Massachusetts Parental Notification Statute, Yuval Simchi-Levi

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note argues that the Massachusetts Parental Notification Statute, enacted in 1996, should be amended to explicitly permit public schools to teach about sexual orientation in the context of promoting tolerance without requiring parental notification. The statute's ambiguity regarding whether such discussions fall under "human sexual education or human sexuality issues" has led to hesitation among schools and legal challenges. The author contends that clarifying the statute would align it with Massachusetts' commitment to diversity and tolerance, as reflected in court rulings like Goodridge v. Department of Public Health.

The Possibility Of A Secular First Amendment, Chad Flanders

All Faculty Scholarship

In a series of articles and now in their new book, Religious Freedom and the Constitution, Lawrence Sager and Christopher Eisgruber (E&S) defend an interpretation of the religion clauses of the First Amendment which, they write, "denies that religion is a constitutional anomaly, a category of human experience that demands special benefits and/or necessitates special restrictions." While not a book review in the traditional sense, my essay takes E&S's defense of a secular First Amendment as a starting point and asks, how did we get to the point where an interpretation of the First Amendment which denies that religion is …

First Amendment Decisions From The October 2006 Term, Erwin Chemerinsky, Marci A. Hamilton

Articles

No abstract provided.

Garcetti V. Ceballos: Stifling The First Amendment In The Public Workplace, Julie A. Wenell

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Space, The Final Frontier-Expanding Fcc Regulation Of Indecent Content Onto Direct Broadcast Satellite, John C. Quale, Malcolm J. Tuesley

Federal Communications Law Journal

The vast majority of viewers today receive video programming from multichannel video programming providers-mostly cable television or direct broadcast satellite ("DBS")-rather than directly over-the-air from broadcast stations. While the FCC has not hesitated to sanction broadcasters for what it deems to be indecent content, it consistently has found that it lacks the authority to regulate indecency on subscription services like cable television. Citizens groups and some in Congress now seek to extend indecency restrictions to DBS services under existing law or through the enactment of new legislation. It is true that DBS, because of its use of radio spectrum to …

In The Dark: A Consumer Perspective On Fcc Broadcast Indecency Denials, Genelle I. Belmas, Gail D. Love, Brian C. Foy

Federal Communications Law Journal

Indecency regulation has been a hot political and social topic since Janet Jackson revealed her breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. The number of indecency complaints the FCC receives each year continues to rise. Moreover, to further complicate matters, in 2007 the Second Circuit overturned the FCC policy that so-called "fleeting expletives" would be considered indecent. However, there has been no systematic review of the complaints from the perspective of the complainant. How has the FCC managed its increasing indecency complaint load, and what does it tell consumers who have taken the time to write formal complaints about …

Keep Out Of Myspace!: Protecting Students From Unconstitutional Suspensions And Expulsions, Christi Cassel

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law—Campaign Finance Law & The First Amendment—Can You See The Light?: Illuminating Precedent And Creating A New Tier Of Judicial Scrutiny For Campaign Finance Laws. Randall V. Sorrell, 126 S. Ct. 2479 (2006)., Christopher A. Mcnulty

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Thoughts On Commercial Speech: A Roundtable Discussion, Ronald K.L. Collins, Steven H. Shiffrin, Erwin Chemerinsky, Kathleen M. Sullivan

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Adam Liptak, the legal affairs writer for The New York Times, moderates a lively discussion about commercial speech between three esteemed constitutional scholars: Professor Erwin Chemerinsky of Duke University School of Law; Professor Kathleen Sullivan of Stanford Law School; and Professor Steve Shiffrin of Cornell Law School. These scholars debate the proper definition of defining commercial speech, how the corporate identity of a speaker and the content of the speech determines the level of First Amendment protection, whether it is possible to demarcate commercial speech from political speech, and the problems of paternalism and viewpoint discrimination in this complex and …

Religious Exemptions And The Common Good: A Reply To Professor Carmella, Laura S. Underkuffler

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

"Prologue To A Farce?" A Historical Perspective On The Aipac Case And The Applicability Of The Espionage Act To Journalists, Peter Shapiro

Cardozo Public Law, Policy & Ethics Journal

The note argues that the expansion of the Espionage Act of 1917 to prosecute private citizens, as seen in the AIPAC case, poses a significant threat to press freedom and democratic governance. This shift marks a dangerous precedent, as it potentially criminalizes activities protected by the First Amendment, such as journalism, and undermines the balance between national security and the public's right to know.

Second Class Citizen Soldiers: A Proposal For Greater First Amendment Protections For America's Military Personnel, Emily Reuter

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

A Helping Hand: Addressing New Implications Of The Espionage Act On Freedom Of The Press, Laura Barandes

Cardozo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reconciling The Irreconcilable: Military Chaplains And The First Amendment, Steven K. Green

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public School Students' Religious Speech And Viewpoint Discrimination, Kristi L. Bowman

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Why Student Religious Speech Is Speech, John E. Taylor

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Establishment Clause And Religious Expression In Government Settings: Four Variables In Search Of A Standard, Daniel O. Conkle

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Establishment Clause Limits On Free Exercise Accommodations, Kent Greenawalt

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

When Accommodations For Religion Violoate The Establishment Clause: Regularizing The Supreme Court's Analysis, Carl H. Esbeck

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religious Exemptions And The Common Good: A Reply To Professor Carmella, Laura S. Underkuffler

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Responsible Freedom Under The Religion Clauses: Exemptions, Legal Pluralism, And The Common Good, Angela C. Carmella

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Uncivil Religion: Judeo-Christianity And The Ten Commandments, Frederick Mark Gedicks, Roger Hendrix

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

"Sectarianizing" Civil Religion? A Comment On Gedicks And Hendrix, Steven D. Smith

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Soldier's Blog: Balancing Service Members' Personal Rights Vs. National Security Interests, Tatum H. Lytle

Federal Communications Law Journal

This Note examines the competing interests between ensuring military personnel's freedom of speech while protecting national security interests. The Author recognizes the necessity of protecting national security interests but emphasizes that military personnel's rights to free speech must be protected as long as such speech poses no threat to military security. In conclusion, clearer protections must be implemented to protect military personnel's right to free speech.

Free To Believe, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

Richard Garnett reviews Religious Freedom and the Constitution by Christopher L. Eisgruber & Lawrence G. Sager, Harvard University Press, 352 pages, $28.95

Public Employee Speech Rights Fall Prey To An Emerging Doctrinal Formalism, Charles W. "Rocky" Rhodes

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

A Response To Professor Laycock, Marci A. Hamilton

Articles

No abstract provided.