First Amendment Commons^™

Freedom Of Speech & Press: Polish American Immigration Relief Committee, Inc. V. Relax

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Speech & Press: Prozeralik V. Capital Cities Communications, Inc.

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Public Forum Doctrine And The Perils Of Categorical Thinking: Lessons From Lamb's Chapel, Rosemary C. Salomone

Faculty Publications

(Excerpt)

In recent years, the intersection of the Religion and Speech Clauses of the First Amendment has become increasingly controversial particularly in the context of public schooling. Religious group meetings, the distribution of religious literature, the discussion of religious themes, and the recitation of prayers at graduation ceremonies have all forced the courts to weigh and re-weigh the right to individual speech against the responsibility of the state to stay within the bounds of Establishment Clause doctrine. Several legal and political factors have fueled this debate. Although the Supreme Court has reaffirmed on several occasions the unconstitutionality of organized prayer …

City Of Cincinnati V. Discovery Network, Inc.: Towards Heightened Scrutiny For Truthful Commercial Speech?, Robert T. Cahill Jr.

University of Richmond Law Review

Only recently' has the Supreme Court given First Amendment protection to commercial speech. Initially, the Court refused to extend constitutional protection to commercial utterances. In Valentine v. Chrestensen, the Court, without citing any precedent, held that "we are equally clear that the Constitution imposes no such restraint on government as respects purely commercial advertising." However, soon after the Chrestensen decision, in the wake of post-war economic development, the Court began to express doubt about its validity. This doubt eventually culminated in Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council.

Bearing The First Amendment's Crosses: An Analysis Of State V. Sheldon, Chase J. Sanders

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

The 1992 Cable Act And The First Amendment: What Must, Must Not, And May Be Carried, Gary S. Lutzker

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Saving Public Television: The Remand Of Turner Broadcasting And The Future Of Cable Regulation, Monroe E. Price, Donald W. Hawthorne

Articles

The article critiques the Supreme Court's decision in *Turner Broadcasting* for failing to adequately address key First Amendment issues, particularly the distinction between commercial and noncommercial broadcasters. While the Court focused on historical context and government-media relationships, it overlooked the unique role of noncommercial broadcasters in serving public interests like education and culture. The authors argue for a more nuanced First Amendment approach that supports public interest media without infringing on free speech rights, urging courts to recognize the value of noncommercial broadcasting.

Democratic Credentials, Donald J. Herzog

Articles

We've made a mistake, urges Bruce Ackerman. We've failed to notice, or have forgotten, that ours is a dualist democracy: ordinary representatives passing their statutes are in fact the democratic inferiors of We the People, who at rare junctures appear on the scene and affirm new constitutional principles. (Actually, he claims in passing that we have a three-track democracy.)' Dwelling lovingly on dualism, Ackerman doesn't quite forget to discuss democracy, but he comes close. I want to raise some questions about the democratic credentials of Ackerman's view. Not, perhaps, the ones he anticipates. So I don't mean to argue that …

Rewiring The First Amendment: Meaning, Content And Public Broadcasting, Donald W. Hawthorne, Monroe E. Price

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Speaking Of Race, Speaking Of Sex: Hate Speech, Civil Rights, And Civil Liberties, Nadine Strossen

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Voice In Government: The People, Emily Calhoun

Publications

No abstract provided.

The Pornographic State, David Skover, Ronald Collins

Faculty Articles

Written as a contribution to the Harvard Symposium on Changing Images of the State, this article explores the realm of Pornotopia, a republic of images, the state that liberal America aspires to be. Imagine a nation in which there is little or no discord about pornography because there is little or no meaningful discourse about it. Imagine a nation in which people gladly trade the reality of human beings for images of that reality, a "virtual reality." Imagine a nation in which there is erotic self­expression but little or no communal expression. Imagine a nation in which sexual war and …

The First Amendment And Fcc Rule Making Under The 1992 Cable Act, Michael I. Meyerson

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the First Amendment implications of the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) regulations issued under the Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 19921 (1992 Cable Act). The 1992 Cable Act imposes numerous requirements that are beyond the scope of this Article. This Article analyzes only the FCC's exercise of rule making discretion under the 1992 Cable Act.

Additionally, it must be remembered that an under-staffed FCC was given an enormous amount of work to do within fixed time limits. Therefore, it must be expected that the rulemaking would be vulnerable to second-guessing. Nonetheless, whenever a governmental entity …

Feminist Jurisprudence And Free Speech Theory, Susan H. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Different Religions, Different Politics: Evaluating The Role Of Competing Religious Traditions In American Politics And Law, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In addressing the role of religion in politics and law, American political theory has strongly embraced the principle of religious equality. In this article, I explain how this principle has evolved and how it has nourished the privatization of religion and the secularization of public discourse by generating the view that public evaluations of religion are inappropriate. Under this view, religion is a private good that lacks public significance. As matters merely of private taste, matters that cannot be evaluated publicly, religious positions on political issues are not to be "imposed" on other citizens.

I challenge this reading of the …

Free Speech And The Widening Gyre Of Fund-Raising: Why Campaign Spending Limits May Not Violate The First Amendment After All Symposium On Campaign Finance Reform, Vincent A. Blasi

Faculty Scholarship

Candidates for office spend too much of their time raising money. This is scarcely a controversial proposition. A major impetus for campaign finance reform is the frustration politicians now feel concerning how much time they must devote to courting potential donors, often by methods borrowed from the marketplace that can only be described as demeaning. The situation has gotten worse as electoral merchandising has grown ever more sophisticated and expensive.

The Cable-Telco Cross-Ownership Prohibition: First Amendment Infringement Through Obsolescence, Michael G. Oxley

Federal Communications Law Journal

Since 1970, the FCC has prohibited all telephone companies from providing video programming in their local service areas. The primary rationale behind this prohibition was to promote the cable industry. Since 1984, however, the cable industry has seen tremendous growth with very little competition. New technology and market demands have now necessitated a reevaluation of the ban on cable-telco cross-ownership. The Author argues that with the changes that have occurred in the marketplace, the ban is now both an invalid prior restraint and an infringement on commercial expression and thus a violation of the First Amendment rights of telephone companies. …

The Cable Act And Municipal Ownership: A Growing First Amendment Confrontation, Carl R. Ramey

Federal Communications Law Journal

In many communities across the nation cable subscribers depend on government-owned cable television systems for their communication services. This phenomenon may have started out to be fairly insignificant, but as a result of the cable explosion, government ownership of cable systems presents a threat to free expression. Governmental overbuilding and direct competition with private cable service providers have been the subject of unsuccessful First Amendment challenges. The threat of government control of cable systems, though, is potentially dramatic and poses serious First Amendment questions. The Author concludes that private ownership should be encouraged, and public ownership should only be allowed …

The Television Violence Act Of 1990: A New Program For Government Censorship?, Julia W. Schlegel

Federal Communications Law Journal

The Television Violence Act of 1990 is designed to encourage the networks, the cable industry, and independent stations to reduce the amount of violence currently shown on television. To accomplish this goal, the Act grants a three-year antitrust exemption to the television industry so that it may meet and develop joint standards aimed at reducing the amount of violence currently shown on television. The Act's sponsor, Senator Paul Simon, emphasized that the Act simply encouraged the broadcast industry to set standards; it did not require them to do so. However, in December 1992, when the television industry had still not …

Triangulating The Boundaries Of The Pentagon Papers, John Cary Sims

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

The Virginia "Son Of Sam" Law: An Unconsitutional Approach To Victim Compensation, Kerry Casey

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Obscenity, Pornography, And The First Amendment Theory, Arnold H. Loewy

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Limitations On Corporate Speech: Protection For Shareholders Or Abridgement Of Expression?, Alan J. Meese

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

No abstract provided.

Duke V. Cleland: The Eleventh Circuit Neglects The First Amendment Rights Of Political Parties And Allows States To Limit Ballot Access Of Presidential Primary Candidates, Steven A. Kirsch

Vanderbilt Law Review

Notwithstanding H. Ross Perot's strong third place finish in the 1992 Presidential election,' history suggests a successful presidential candidate must be a member of one of the two major political parties to win. As a result, many candidates compete for each major party's nomination. Moreover, the leaders of state Democratic and Republican parties that hold presidential primaries often have attempted to remove the lesser-known, and sometimes politically unpopular, candidates from the ballot. One argument advanced by state party leaders in support of their attempts to prevent some candidates from appearing on the ballot is that the political party has a …

Contexts Of The Political Role Of Religion: Civil Society And Culture, David Hollenbach S.J.

San Diego Law Review

This Article argues that we need to frame the question of the relation of religion to public life in a way that goes beyond discussion of the direct impact of religious convictions on policy choices. The Article considers religion's public influences, such as its influence on the multiple communities and institutions of civil society and on the public self-understanding of a society called culture. In considering these influences, the author offers a new perspective on the role of religious belief in the decisions of those who draft legislation, reach judicial decisions, administer the domestic and foreign affairs of the nation, …

Braun V. Soldier Of Fortune: Tort Law Enters The Braun's Age As Constitutional Safeguards For Commercial Speech Buckle 'Neath The Crunch Of Third-Party Liability, Timothy J. Tatro

San Diego Law Review

Advertising is more than just a substantial source of revenue for publications. This author contends that advertising embodies the liberties of free speech and free press secured to all of us so fundamentally by the First Amendment. This Casenote analyzes Braun v. Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Inc., in which the Eleventh Circuit held a magazine liable for negligently publishing a gun-for-hire advertisement that allegedly resulted in the death of the plaintiff's father. The author is critical of this decision, noting the detrimental, long-reaching effects of sustaining a negligence action that penetrates so deeply into First Amendment freedoms.

The University In The Manner Of Tiananmen Square, William W. Van Alstyne

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Section 3: Free Speech And Press, Institute Of Bill Of Rights Law, William & Mary Law School

Supreme Court Preview

No abstract provided.

Hunter Harassment Statutes: Do They Shoot Holes Into The First Amendment, John A. Grafton

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Braun V. Soldier Of Fortune Magazine, Inc.: Advertisement For Hit Man Brings Four Million Dollar Hit To Publisher, Mae Charles Babb

Mercer Law Review

In Braun v. Soldier of Fortune Magazine, Inc., the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court's holding that the First Amendment does not insulate a magazine publisher from liability for publishing a commercial advertisement that presents a substantial danger of harm to the public. In adopting this affirmative duty to examine an advertisement's language, the court imposed tort liability on Soldier of Fortune Magazine ("SOF") for the criminal acts of its advertiser, a third party not joined in the suit. This decision strikes the correct balance between preserving the free flow of commercial information through advertisement with the need to …