First Amendment Commons^™

Distinction Without A Difference: A Reappraisal Of The Doctrine Of Prior Restraint, Marin Roger Scordato

Scholarly Articles

For nearly 60 years, the doctrine of prior restraint has held a central position in first amendment jurisprudence. A law that acts as a prior restraint on speech comes under such searching judicial scrutiny that it almost always is invalidated. Professor Marin Scordato makes a frontal attack on the existing prior restraint doctrine in this Article. ie first maintains that the traditional definition of prior restraint defies the common-sense meaning of the term. Then he examines the policy justifications for identifying prior restraints by their asserted tendency to produce constitutionally undesirable results compared with their definitional opposites, subsequent sanctions. He …

Propaganda, Xenophobia, And The First Amendment, Rodney A. Smolla, Stephen A. Smith

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

Nudity, Obscenity And Pornography: The Streetcars Named Lust And Desire, George P. Smith Ii

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Taking Libel Reform Seriously, Rodney A. Smolla

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

Free Exercise And The Values Of Religious Liberty, John H. Garvey

Scholarly Articles

One thing that has always bothered me about free exercise jurisprudence is that it rests on values we have seldom tried to state, much less justify. In a way this is not surprising. We have only recently abandoned the assumption, which may never have been true, that Americans share a common understanding of language about God and transcendent values. That understanding made it unnecessary to define for nonspeakers a meaning that even believers have trouble putting into words. But today we are probably not "a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being-at least not if "religious" is supposed to …

"Where Have You Gone, Walter Cronkite?" The First Amendment And The End Of Innocence, Rodney A. Smolla

Scholarly Articles

None available.

Comment: Zauderer V. Office Of Disciplinary Counsel, Geoffrey R. Watson

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Note: Exit Polls And The First Amendment, Geoffrey R. Watson

Scholarly Articles

This Note examines the constitutionality and the wisdom of these state laws and congressional proposals. Part I traces the history of exit polls and election-night projections. Part II argues that restrictions on the collection or dissemination of exit poll data, whether designed to prevent disruption at the voting area or to protect the integrity of the vote, violate the first amendment. Part III concludes that a uniform poll-closing time coupled with voluntary network restraint would both allay legitimate concerns about election-night predictions and comport with first amendment values.

Let The Author Beware: The Rejuvenation Of The American Law Of Libel, Rodney A. Smolla

Scholarly Articles

Not available.

The Future Of Defamation In Illinois After Colson V. Steig And Chapski V. The Copley Press, Inc., Rodney A. Smolla, Linda A. Malone

Scholarly Articles

None available.

Violent Pornography: Degradation Of Women Versus Right Of Free Speech, Lisa G. Lerman

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Children And The First Amendment, John H. Garvey

Scholarly Articles

If children possess moral and political rights against the state, theories about these rights have scarcely progressed beyond first principles. The state must retain power to regulate education and some aspects of family life. Parents sometimes have a final say concerning what a child may do and experience. Professor Garvey offers an account of the way in which these and other realities shape the child's rights of free expression under the first amendment.

Flag Salute, Patriotic Exercises, And Students’ Rights, William A. Kaplin, Edward P. Jesella Jr.

Scholarly Articles

The public school system is the major American social institution responsible for the transmission of our democratic heritage to present and future generations. In fulfilling this responsibility, the schools often confront problems involving their duty to inculcate students with a sense of patriotism. Probably the most controversial questions have concerned compulsory flag saluting and participation in patriotic exercises. Can a school demand that students salute the flag?

Questions such as this arise under circumstances where students, allegedly exercising First Amendment rights, clash with school authorities engaged in the promulgation and enforcement of school rules. This interplay of educational order and …

The Development Of The Right Of Assembly: A Current Socio-Legal Investigation, George P. Smith Ii

Scholarly Articles

It will be the purpose of this article to assay the historical evolution of the freedom of assembly, noting first its development in England and later in America and finally its current position in the twentieth century. Even though the rights of free speech, association, and religion are inescapably drawn into case discussions of freedom of assembly, effort will be made to confine the consideration to the pertinent assembly problems. In addition to considering the fundamental legal propositions embodied in this right, as well as its raison d'etre, thought and discussion will be given to the sociological interpretations of the …

The Law Of Obscenity And Military Practice, Harvey L. Zuckman

Scholarly Articles

In recent years, problems surrounding the law of obscenity have become increasingly important and this development has resulted in a corresponding awareness of these problems by the courts, both state and federal. This awareness is now being extended into the military legal field. Two recent decisions, one by the United States Court of Military Appeals and the other by an Army board of review, have focused attention on the military's handling of obscenity problems under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. These recent decisions encompass issues occurring in civilian practice as well as issues peculiar to the military. Before any …

Obscenity In The Mails, Harvey L. Zuckman

Scholarly Articles

For nearly one hundred years the federal government has had as one of its functions the suppression of mail trade in obscene and pornographic matter. The first federal enactment in this field provided that the mailing of an obscene book, pamphlet, picture, print, or other publication with knowledge of its nature was a misdemeanor. The present postal obscenity law' dates back to 1873 and is sometimes referred to as the Comstock Law because of the support given its passage by the notorious Anthony Comstock, agent for the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice. While its original wording would …

Censorship Of Defamatory Political Broadcasts: The Port Huron Doctrine, Harvey L. Zuckman

Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.