First Amendment Commons^™

Enforcement Of Foreign Judgements, The First Amendment, And Internet Speech: Notes For The Next Yahoo! V. Licra, Molly S. Van Houweling

Michigan Journal of International Law

The Article begins with a review of the relevant rules governing enforcement of foreign judgments in the United States. Part II explains how courts have unpersuasively applied these rules when refusing to enforce foreign libel judgments. Part III then explains how the Yahoo! court adopted much of this faulty reasoning. Finally, Part IV explains the considerations that better justify judicial refusal to enforce speech-restrictive foreign judgments, especially those triggered by Internet speech. The Article concludes that the prospect that U.S. Internet speakers will choose to speak only to a U.S. audience-even when their speech would be legal everywhere-is the most …

Religious Expression, Government Funds, And The First Amendment, Suart J. Lark

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judicial Elections, Campaign Financing, And Free Speech, Ronald D. Rotunda

Law Faculty Articles and Research

No abstract provided.

Cross-Burning Case Explores Free-Speech Controversy, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

Virginia v. Black was Smolla's first oral argument before the Supreme Court, but his appearance on the national stage of First Amendment controversy was nothing new. Among academics, Smolla has long been regarded as a leading First Amendment voice. His publications include a widely-used casebook, top law review articles, plays, short stories, a forthcoming novel, and a nonfiction work that became the script for a popular movie. As a litigator of two decades experience, he has argued First Amendment appeals in dozens of state and federal courts around the nation. Early in his career, he had a knack for finding …

Quo Vadis: The Continuing Metamorphosis Of The Establishment Clause Toward Realistic Substantive Neutrality, Paul E. Salamanca

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

For years, the rhetoric of substantive neutrality has dominated interpretation of the Establishment Clause. Under this approach, courts and commentators purport to ask whether a public policy under scrutiny is likely to affect religious choices in an unacceptable way. In fact, so broadly has this approach been taken that both separationists and accommodationists resort to it freely, although with radically differing perceptions as to when policy becomes unacceptable. Arguably, however, adherents to this approach have paid insufficient attention to religious behavior per se. Had they paid sufficient attention to this phenomenon, they would have been forced to acknowledge that little …

The Liberal Polity And Illiberalism In Religious Traditions, Paul E. Salamanca

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

It is in the nature of religious traditions to be somewhat illiberal. Indeed, a religion that does not require its adherents to affirm at least some belief is probably a logical impossibility. Christians, for example, must believe something about the nature of Christ. Even Unitarians, who advocate tolerance of all religions, must affirm a belief in tolerance.

Recently, and largely because of the events of September 11, 2001, enhanced attention has been paid to certain potentially illiberal aspects of Islam in the United States. The journalist Daniel Pipes, for example, has written about certain Moslem Americans who, according to his …

Can We Talk? About Food And Drug Regulation And The First Amendment, Marsha N. Cohen

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Discussing The First Amendment , Christina E. Wells

Faculty Publications

Despite its many good qualities, Eternally Vigilant nevertheless suffers from a flaw common to First Amendment scholarship--a tendency to give short shrift to study of the social, psychological, historical, and political factors that influence the Court's decision making and, thus, free speech doctrine. Discussion including these influences would facilitate an even greater understanding of free speech doctrine and the principles that underlie it.

Introduction: The Yahoo! Case And Conflict Of Laws In The Cyberage, Mathias Reimann

Michigan Journal of International Law

Three years ago, two French public interest groups, La Ligue Contre le Racisme et L'Antisemitisme (LICRA) and LUnion des Etudiants Juifs De France (UEJF), sued Yahoo! Inc., a Delaware corporation headquartered near Santa Barbara, California, in the Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris. The undisputed facts underlying the complaint were that: Yahoo! Inc. operated, inter alia, an auction website on which various Nazi memorabilia (such as flags, stamps, and military souvenirs) were offered for sale; the respective Yahoo! Inc. website was accessible in France; and the display of the Nazi memorabilia was illegal under French law. The French plaintiffs sought …

The Populism Of Justice Byron R. White: Media Cases And Beyond, Bernard W. Bell

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Judging Reputation: Realism And Common Law In Justice White's Defamation Jurisprudence, John C.P. Goldberg

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Law Of Obscenity - Or Absurdity, H. Franklin Robbins Jr., Steven G. Mason

St. Thomas Law Review

At any rate, if the First Amendment only protects expression that the majority believes will promote the right values, it does not protect very much. Sexually explicit materials arouse intense, deep-seated feelings, and from a moral point of view, the desire to stop their dissemination is understandable. But the censoring of morally bad ideas is glaringly incompatible with the most basic principles of First Amendment law. Nonetheless, for nearly two hundred years the censorship of morally offensive materials has been a part of our legal history, notwithstanding the absolute terms of the First Amendment.

Should Klansmen Be Lawyers? Racism As An Ethical Barrier To The Legal Profession, Carla Pratt

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

How The Overturn Of The Child Pornography Prevention Act Under Ashcroft V. Free Speech Coalition Contributes To The Protection Of Children, Emily D. Goldberg

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The note examines the Supreme Court's decision in Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition, which struck down portions of the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) as unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The Court ruled that the CPPA's ban on virtual child pornography was overbroad, as it prohibited lawful speech that could have artistic, literary, or scientific value. The decision highlights the tension between protecting children from exploitation and safeguarding free speech, ultimately emphasizing the importance of allowing narratives that confront and address difficult issues like child sexual abuse.

National Do-Not-Call Registry To Stay: Opt-In Feature May Be Its Saving Grace, Amanda Strainis-Walker

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

What Does It Mean To Remain Silent?, Alexis Reed

Public Interest Law Reporter

No abstract provided.

You Can't Ask (Or Say) That: The First Amendment And Civil Rights Restrictions On Decisionmaker Speech, Helen Norton

Publications

Federal, state, and local civil rights laws regulate private decisionmaking about whom an employer may hire or fire, to whom a landlord may rent an apartment, or to whom a creditor may extend credit. In prohibiting discriminatory conduct, however, these laws also limit the speech of those making these decisions. In this Article, Professor Norton explores how we might think about these civil rights laws in the context of the First Amendment, and their place within the Supreme Court's commercial speech jurisprudence. She concludes that the speech restricted by these laws may be characterized as falling outside the protection of …

Public Importance: Balancing Proprietary Interests And The Right To Know, Eric B. Easton

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Classified Information Protection Act: Killing The Messenger Or Killing The Message, Mitchell J. Michalec

Cleveland State Law Review

The purpose of this Note is to discuss the adequacy of existing statutory and administrative protections for classified information, examine how the agencies responsible for protecting this information implemented controls, and how the courts interpreted these existing protections. This Note argues that the failure of the government to prevent "leaks" is not necessarily a failure of the existing scheme, but rather a failure of the government to apply current controls. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the Classified Information Protection Act is an unnecessary, overbroad, and in some cases, ineffective alternative to the existing protections, with a great potential for abuse. If …

Jon Newman’S Theory Of Disparagement And The First Amendment In The Administrative State, Edward L. Rubin

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The New Software Jurisprudence And The Faltering First Amendment, Liam S. O'Melinn

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

Given that courts reviewing restrictions on the development and distribution of software are increasingly invoking the First Amendment, it should follow that software will receive strong protection. Yet, while there have been judicial decisions which lend credence to the view that the Constitution can be invoked to protect software, subsequent developments in this area, which I term "the new software jurisprudence" cast severe doubt on the ability of the courts to apply the First Amendment so as to shield software effectively. These developments include the faults of previous strains of First Amendment analysis and then add more, with the ironic …

The "Blaine" Debate: Must States Fund Religious Schools?, Laura S. Underkuffler

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, the United States Supreme Court held-by a vote of 5 to 4-that the funding of religious schools with taxpayer money through voucher programs does not violate the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution. Emboldened by this success, voucher proponents now attack state constitutional provisions (often called "Blaine Amendments") that prohibit taxpayer funding of religious schools. These state provisions, which may stand in the way of religious-school voucher programs, are attacked as violative of the federal Constitution, rooted in anti-religious bias, or otherwise illegal or unwise.

It is my view that efforts to force states …

Liberalism And The Establishment Clause, Steven H. Shiffrin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Every political theory tolerates some things and not others. Every political theory promotes a particular kind of person even if it denies it is doing so. But the best liberalism does not confine itself to promoting a Rawlsian-tolerant citizen. Liberalism, like conservatism, has greater ambitions in the socialization of the young. The best liberalism, a neo-Millian liberalism, promotes a creative, independent, autonomous, engaged citizen and human being who works with others to make for a better society and speaks out against unjust customs, habits, institutions, traditions, hierarchies, and authorities.

Although government may promote a particular conception of the good life, …

Insert Coins To Slay - Regulating Children's Access To Violent Arcade Games, Elizabeth A. Previte

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

To Convergence And Beyond: First Amendment Law To Withstand Fast-Paced Change In The Telecommunications Industry, Mary V. Sooter

University of Colorado Law Review

No abstract provided.

Right To Write - Free Expression Rights Of Pennsylvania's Creative Students After Columbine, Barbara Brunner

Faculty Scholarship

This comment analyzes the current state of students' free speech rights in the context of creative writing assignments and examines potential First Amendment applications to the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA), a statewide, mandatory, standards-based exam administered to Pennsylvania public school students. The PSSA, which currently contains a writing assessment for students in sixth, ninth, and eleventh grades requiring students to write essays in response to prompts, is scored anonymously by private entities under contract with the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Those private subcontractors have "red-flagging" procedures in place to identify essays containing imagery or themes that indicate imminent …

Smolla Argues Before The Highest Court: Cross-Burning Case Explores Free-Speech Controversy, John G. Douglass

Law Faculty Publications

A First Amendment advocate's greatest burden can be his own client. Those clients range from the offbeat to the dangerous, from pornographers to neo-Nazis. Yet in standing up for the disreputable client, the free speech advocate stands for one of more cherished freedoms: "If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is that the Government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable." Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397, 414 (1989). As one of the nation's leading First Amendment advocates, Allen Professor Rodney Smolla understands that burden …

Reconciling What The First Amendment Forbids With What The Copyright Clause Permits: A Summary Explanation And Review, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Right To Receive Information, Susan Nevelow Mart

Publications

Ms. Mart examines the legal evolution of the right to receive information, particularly focusing on its application to libraries, beginning with the Supreme Court holding in Board of Education v. Pico, and followed by cases that have considered the meaning of Pico in a variety of library-related contexts.

Six Opinions By Mr. Justice Stevens: A New Methodology For Constitutional Cases?, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.