First Amendment Commons^™

Producing Democratic Vibrancy, K. Sabeel Rahman

Journal of Law and Policy

Professor Rahman gives his thoughts and opinions on the impact of Citizens' United v. FEC and the growth of the First Amendment debate since. The comment analyzes the normative udnerstanding of democracy and the ongoing debate campaifgn finance have. Professor Rahman concludes by suggesting that the debate is wrongly focused on the indivudals being consumers of politcal speech rather than the producers of it.

Persistent Threats To Commercial Speech, Jonathan H. Adler

Journal of Law and Policy

The current Supreme Court is very protective of speech, including commercial speech. Threats to commercial speech persist nonetheless. This article briefly examines two: the use of commercial speech restrictions as a form of rent-seeking, and compelled commercial speech. Regulation of commercial speech protect is sometimes used to protect established corporate interests from competitors who are less able to bear the costs of regulation, with consequences that extend beyond the economic marketplace. In the case of commercial speech, courts have been unduly deferential to claims of a consumer “right to know” as a basis for mandated labeling and disclosure. Greater protection …

A Balancing Act For American Universities: Anti-Harassment Policy V. Freedom Of Speech, Bridget Hart

Journal of Law and Policy

Legal scholars, educational administrators, journalists, and students have all witnessed a rise in students being disciplined by university officials for speech and conduct deemed inappropriate for college campuses. In endeavoring to explain this trend, some academics point to the disconnect between the Department of Education and university administrators regarding the legal standards for campus anti-harassment policies. The lack of clarity regarding what constitutes harassment on college campuses has resulted in the punishment of students by universities for speech and conduct that is normally considered to be protected speech under the First Amendment. This note first provides an overview of the …

Rwu First Amendment Blog: David Logan's Blog: When Facts And News Diverge 12-2-2016, David A. Logan

Law School Blogs

No abstract provided.

The Dynamic Relationship Between Freedom Of Speech And Equality, Timothy Zick

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the dynamic intersection between freedom of speech and equal protection, with a particular focus on the race and LGBT equality movements. Unlike other works on expression and/or equality, the Article emphasizes the relational and bi-directional connections between freedom of speech and equal protection. Freedom of speech has played a critical role in terms of advancing constitutional equality. However, with regard to both race and LGBT equality, free speech rights also failed in important respects to facilitate equality claims and movements. Advocacy and agitation on behalf of equality rights have also left indelible positive and negative marks on …

Defining Hate Speech, Andrew Sellars

Faculty Scholarship

There is no shortage of opinions about what should be done about hate speech, but if there is one point of agreement, it is that the topic is ripe for rigorous study. But just what is hate speech, and how will we know it when we see it online? For all of the extensive literature about the causes, harms, and responses to hate speech, few scholars have endeavored to systematically define the term. Where other areas of content analysis have developed rich methodologies to account for influences like context or bias, the present scholarship around hate speech rarely extends beyond …

The First Amendment Walks Into A Bar: Trademark Registration And Free Speech, Rebecca Tushnet

Notre Dame Law Review

This Article analyzes the First Amendment arguments against section

2(a)’s disparagement bar with reference to the consequences of any

invalidation on the rest of the trademark statute. My fundamental conclusions

are that In re Tam is wrongly reasoned even given the Supreme Court’s

increased scrutiny of commercial speech regulations, and that to hold otherwise

and preserve the rest of trademark law would require unprincipled distinctions

within trademark law. More generally, the Supreme Court’s First

Amendment jurisprudence has become so expansive as to threaten basic

aspects of the regulatory state; the result of subjecting economic regulations

such as trademark registration to …

Punishing Sexual Fantasy, Andrew Gilden

William & Mary Law Review

The Internet has created unprecedented opportunities for adults and teenagers to explore their sexual identities, but it has also created new ways for the law to monitor and punish a diverse range of taboo sexual communication. A young mother loses custody of her two children due to sexually explicit Facebook conversations. A teenager is prosecuted for child pornography crimes after sending a naked selfie to her teenage boyfriend. An NYPD officer is convicted for conspiracy to kidnap several women based on conversations he had on a “dark fetish” fantasy website. In each of these cases, online sexual exploration and fantasy …

The Legal Revolution Against The Place Of Religion: The Case Of Trinity Western University Law School, Barry W. Bussey

BYU Law Review

The special legal status of religion and religious freedom in liberal democracies has become an issue of controversy among legal academics and lawyers. There is a growing argument that religion is not special and that the law should be amended to reflect that fact. This Article argues that religion is special. It is special because of the historical, practical, and philosophical realities of liberal democracies. Religious freedom is a foundational principle that was instrumental in creating the modern liberal democratic state. To remove religion from its current legal station would be a revolution that would put liberal democracy in a …

Human Rights, Religious Freedom, And Peace, David Little

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

When The State Requires Doctors To Act Against Their Conscience: The Religious Freedom Implications Of The Referral And The Direction Obligations Of Health Practitioners In Victoria And New South Wales, Michael Quinlan

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Sanitizing Cyberspace: Obscenity, Miller,And The Future Of Public Discourse On The Intemet, John Tehranian

Journal of Intellectual Property Law

No abstract provided.

Process Without Procedure: National Security Letters And First Amendment Rights, Hannah Bloch-Wehba

Faculty Scholarship

Each year, the FBI uses tens of thousands of NSLs to obtain “transactional records” related to telephone calls, emails, text messages, online forums, and other communicative activity. NSLs are usually accompanied by nondisclosure orders that prevent recipients from speaking about or acknowledging the requests. Although over 100,000 NSLs have been issued since 2001, there have been fewer than 10 known judicial challenges.

I argue that the absence of procedural safeguards within the NSL authority has created a de facto regime of automatic compliance with the requests, endangering First Amendment rights in the process. NSLs are explicitly directed at uncovering the …

The Misunderstood Right To Be Forgotten: The Future Of Free Expression And Privacy In The Online World, University Of Michigan Law School

Event Materials

Program for the 26th Annual University of Michigan Senate's Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom.

Chafee On Law And Freedom Of Speech, Roy Lechtreck

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The First Amendment And Canon Law, Brendan F. Brown

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Narcotics Statute Ruled Inapplicable To Religious Use Of Peyote

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Redeeming Social Importance Held Decisive In Determining Question Of Obscenity

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Loyalty Oath Held Unconstitutionally Vague

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Obscenity Control And Minors - The Case For A Separate Standard, Edward T. Fagan

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The Proposed Prayer And Bible-Reading Amendments: Contrasting Views, William J. Kenealy, S.J., William B. Ball

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Let Us Pray - An Amendment To The Constitution, Charles E. Rice

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Religion And The Church, Rev. Anthony F. Logatto

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Obscenity: Significance Of Literary Value

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

First Amendment - Passive Accommodation: An Attempt At Demarcation

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

The Dilemma Of Religious Instruction And The Public Schools, Richard J. Regan, S.J.

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Parochial School Aid - A Changing Trend, Lawrence X. Cusack

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

Recent Decision: Mandatory Identification Statute Held Unconstitutional

The Catholic Lawyer

No abstract provided.

A Free Speech Response To The Gay Rights/Religious Liberty Conflict, Andrew Koppelman

Northwestern University Law Review

The most sensible reconciliation of the tension between religious liberty and public accommodations law, in the recent cases involving merchants with religious objections to same-sex marriage, would permit business owners to present their views to the world, but forbid them either to threaten to discriminate or to treat any individual customer worse than others. Even if such businesses have no statutory right to refuse to facilitate ceremonies they regard as immoral, they are unlikely to be asked to participate in those ceremonies. This solution may, however, be forbidden by the law of hostile environment harassment. That raises a severe free …

The Most Loved, Most Hated Magazine In America: The Rise And Demise Of Confidential Magazine, Samantha Barbas

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.