First Amendment Commons^™

Lifting The Pall Of Orthodoxy: The Need For Hearing A Multitude Of Tongues In And Beyond The Sexual Education Curricula At Public High Schools, Carlo A. Pedrioli

Faculty Scholarship

When public high schools promote heterosexuality at the cost of denying sexual minority youth the opportunity to learn about minority sexualities, these schools contribute to the disastrous situation in which many sexual minority high school students find themselves. This approach, which many public high schools take, is unnecessarily destructive and warrants prompt change. Instead of helping to perpetuate many of the challenges that sexual minority students face in high school, public high schools can and need to help address these challenges. To establish the case for such a position, this article begins by presenting the plight of many sexual minority …

The Value Of Institutions And The Values Of Free Speech, Dale Carpenter

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Open Season On The Journalist's Privilege: Do Recent Rulings Represent A Trend Against Assertions Of The Privilege Or Proper Applications Of Existing Law?, Will E. Messer

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Recent Developments In Trademark Law: Confusion, Free Speech And The Question Of Use, 4 J. Marshall Rev. Intell. Prop. L. 387 (2005), Chad J. Doellinger

UIC Review of Intellectual Property Law

The Supreme Court’s continued trend of refining trademark rights combined with a new concern for free speech and expression brings current and unresolved trademark issues to light. The large amount of activity in the development of trademark law in 2004 has brought additional uncertainty to trademark law. This article discusses recent Supreme Court trademark jurisprudence refining trademark rights, the development of recent trademark dilution cases, the role of use in commerce as applied to internet search engines and keyword issues, and the emphasis on free speech and expression.

The Constitutional Failing Of The Anticybersquatting Act, Ned Snow

Faculty Publications

Eminent domain and thought control are occurring in cyberspace. Through the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (ACPA), the government transfers domain names from domain-name owners to private parties based on the owners' bad-faith intent. The owners receive no just compensation. The private parties who are recipients of the domain names are trademark holders whose trademarks correspond with the domain names. Often the trademark holders have no property rights in those domain names: trademark law only allows mark holders to exclude others from making commercial use of their marks; it does not allow mark holders to reserve the marks for their own …

Dealing With Hate In The Feminist Classroom, Kathryn M. Stanchi

Scholarly Works

The goals of this essay are two-fold. First, by describing the experience I had in Law and Feminism, the essay will show how hateful and harassing speech in a seminar devoted to issues of gender, race and sexuality can rob students of important educational experiences. The story of my class is meant to remind legal educators and administrators of the concrete harm, both personal and educational, of hate speech. Too often the hate speech debate focuses on the theoretical and the abstract; participants forget that the principles at stake have demonstrable consequences for real people.

Second, while this essay does …

Book Review, Walking A Gantlet: Nielsen’S License To Harass, Lynne Henderson

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

What Is War? Reflections On Free Speech In 'Wartime, David Skover, Ronald Collins

Faculty Articles

Written as the lead article for a Symposium issue commemorating the Free Speech in Wartime Conference held in January of 2005 at Rutgers Law School - Camden, this piece analyzes the following questions: What qualifies as war in the 21st Century? Who determines when the country is at war? And what effect, if any, should the existence of a war have on judicial review of First Amendment challenges?

Reconceptualizing Public Employee Speech, Randy J. Kozel

Journal Articles

If government employees didn't have any free speech rights, America might well be a much quieter place. But tying public employers' hands by denying them the ability to restrict employee speech could take a massive toll on governmental efficiency-a toll that we would all end up paying with our tax dollars. Striking the proper balance between protecting free speech and promoting social order is a tricky enough proposition when the government is acting in its familiar role as sovereign. When we move into the realm of public employee speech, striking the balance gets even tougher; it requires us to …

Caging Animal Advocates' Political Freedoms: The Unconstitutionality Of The Animal And Ecological Terrorism Act, Andrew N. Ireland Moore

Animal Law Review

The animal advocacy movement is facing another obstacle, resulting from the creation of the Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act (AETA). The Act seeks to create harsh penalties including a Terrorist Registry for acts performed by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and ALF-type actors. In addition, the proposed legislation will affect animal advocates not involved with the ALF. However, the model legislation, as written, must pass Constitutional scrutiny. This paper argues that the proposed Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act is unconstitutional due to its infringement on the First Amendment, its overbreadth, and its vagueness.

The "Do-Not-Call List" Controversy: A Parable Of Privacy And Speech, Rodney A. Smolla

Law Faculty Publications

The controversy surrounding the constitutional challenge to the federal telemarketing "Do-Not-Call List" is a revealing parable of modern American life. The questions of First Amendment policy and doctrine posed by the challenge to the list are interesting in their own right. The real interest lies, however, not in the doctrinal chess moves themselves, but in the patterns of the larger match those moves reveal. ...

Not Playing Around: The Chilling Power Of The Federal Trademark Dilution Act Of 1995, Julie Zando-Dennis

Cardozo Journal of Equal Rights & Social Justice

The Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995 (FTDA) has become a powerful tool for corporations to suppress criticism and parody, undermining free speech by allowing broad claims of trademark dilution without requiring proof of consumer confusion. The note argues that the FTDA’s provisions against dilution, including blurring and tarnishment, disproportionately favor corporate interests over First Amendment rights, particularly in cases involving parody and satire. Courts have inconsistently applied the law, with some circuits offering protections for parody while others prioritize trademark protection, creating uncertainty and chilling artistic and activist expression. The note advocates for reform to balance trademark rights with …

The Permissible Scope Of Legal Limitations On The Freedom Of Religion Or Belief In The United States, Frederick Mark Gedicks

Faculty Scholarship

This article summarizes the law of legal limitations on religious freedom in the UnitedStates, including sources and hierarchies of applicable law, structural limitations on religious freedom, grounds for limiting such freedom, an analytical description oflimitations, and background influences on limitations law, and applies this law to hypothetical situations.

Federal judicial decisions interpreting the Religion Clauses are the principal source oflimitations law in the United States. RLUIPA and RFRA, federal anti-discrimination statutes, and executive orders are other important sources of religious freedom law. State constitutions, statutes, and regulations are important sources law when federal sources are absent or inapplicable. International human …

Law And Liberty In Virtual Worlds, Jack M. Balkin

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Availability Or Practical Obscurity: The Debate Over Public Access To Court Records On The Internet, Arminda Bradford Bepko

NYLS Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Band From Hell: An Examinatioin Of Suicide On Stage As Expressive Conduct Under The First Amendment, Elizabeth Cameron

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Buttletproof Speech: Are Political Books Beyond Litigation's Reach, Emily Kirstine Wacker

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

City Of Littleton V. Z.J. Gifts D-4, L.L.C.: Are We Losing The First Amendment, Or Just Adult Businesses, Karen Cynn

Jeffrey S. Moorad Sports Law Journal (1994 - )

No abstract provided.

Panel Presentation Transcript: Symposium: Free Speech In Wartime, Nadine Strossen

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Society’S Software, Beth Simone Noveck, David R. Johnson

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Changing Minds: Proselytism, Freedom, And The First Amendment, Richard W. Garnett

Journal Articles

Proselytism is, as Paul Griffiths has observed, a topic enjoying renewed attention in recent years. What's more, the practice, aims, and effects of proselytism are increasingly framed not merely in terms of piety and zeal; they are seen as matters of geopolitical, cultural, and national-security significance as well. Indeed, it is fair to say that one of today's more pressing challenges is the conceptual and practical tangle of religious liberty, free expression, cultural integrity, and political stability. This essay is an effort to unravel that tangle by drawing on the religious-freedom-related work and teaching of the late Pope John Paul …

Title Blanding: How The Lanham Act Strips Artistic Expression From Song Titles, Lisa Tomiko Blackburn

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The "Privilege Of Speech" In A "Pleasantly Authoritarian Country", Hans C. Clausen

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

Giving credence to Alexis de Tocqueville's argument that in democratic societies the love of equality is greater than the love of freedom is a recently emerging trend among Western nations to legally proscribe speech critical of homosexuality. Such laws, in various forms, now exist in a large and growing minority of countries in Europe and North America. The goal of these laws is much grander than preventing discrimination against homosexuals; rather, the objective is seemingly to promote the social acceptance of gay and lesbian lifestyles. These laws provide for civil remedies and in some instances even criminal sanctions for speech …

Is The Solomon Amendment Unconstitutional, Dale Carpenter

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Considering Individual Religious Freedoms Under Tribal Constitutional Law, Kristen A. Carpenter

Publications

As American Indian nations revitalize their legal systems, there is renewed interest in "tribal law," that is, the law of each of the Indian nations. Today, there is a particular focus on the subject of "individual rights" under tribal law. In tribal contexts, people are highly interested in the legal institutions and rules that govern their lives, especially as many tribal communities are experiencing a period of great political, social, and economic change. At the national level, the Supreme Court repeatedly expresses concern about whether individuals, especially non-Indians, will be treated fairly in tribal court. For scholars, individual rights under …

In Cases Involving Sites Of Religious Significance, Plaintiffs Will Fall In The Gap Of Judicial Deference That Exists Between The Religion Clauses Of The First Amendment, Jeff Pinter

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

Scylla Or Charybdis: Navigating The Jurisprudence Of Visual Clutter, M. Ryan Calo

Michigan Law Review

This Note argues that passing close to Discovery Network is the safest route - municipalities can still drastically reduce visual clutter by regulating commercial speech alone without violating the First Amendment. Part I looks at the onsite/offsite distinction, a singularly popular method of sign regulation, and concludes that this distinction runs squarely afoul of Metromedia. Part II looks at the once-accepted alternative route - the commercial/noncommercial distinction - and argues that this distinction does not run afoul of Discovery Network. Rather, a close reading of Discovery Network permits the regulation of exclusively commercial billboards where, as typically, they …

A Curious Concurrence: Justice Brandeis' Vote In Whitney V. California, David Skover, Ronald Collins

Faculty Articles

A piece of jurisprudential sleuthing, this article uncovers the back story for a puzzle unanswered by legal historians for some eighty years: Why would the free-speech libertarian Louis Brandeis write the most famous paean to First Amendment normative values in his opinion in Whitney v. United States, and yet join (by way of a concurring opinion) the judgment of the majority of the Court that would have sent the "patrician radical" Anita Whitney to prison for a 14-year term solely for participating in the formation of the California Communist Labor Party? Part of the puzzle is provided by the unpublished …

Review Of Refuge Of A Scoundrel: The Patriot Act In Libraries, Glenda A. Thornton

Michael Schwartz Library Publications

Review of Refuge of a Scoundrel: The Patriot Act In Libraries

Scylla Or Charybdis: Navigating The Jurisprudence Of Visual Clutter, Ryan Calo

Articles

State and local governments seeking to address the proliferation of billboards and other outdoor advertising must negotiate two obstacles of First Amendment law. The first is the Supreme Court’s 1981 decision in Metromedia, Inc. v. City of San Diego. Following Metromedia, regulators can neither select among noncommercial messages nor privilege commercial messages over noncommercial ones. For years, regulators navigated around Metromedia by drawing a distinction between commercial and noncommercial speech. Then came the Supreme Court’s decision in City of Cincinnati v. Discovery Network, holding that regulators had to account for why they were privileging noncommercial over commercial …