First Amendment Commons^™

Fast Food And False Friends In The Shopping Mall Of Ideas, Steven L. Winter

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

The First Amendment In The Foreign Affairs Realm: Domesticating The Restriction On Citizen Participation, Brad R. Roth

Law Faculty Research Publications

No abstract provided.

Foreword: Religious Participation In Public Debate, Matthew Steffey

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Broadcasting And Speech, Jonathan Weinberg

Law Faculty Research Publications

It is illegal to speak over the airwaves without a broadcast license. The FCC grants those licenses, and decides whether they will be renewed, on the basis of a vague "public interest" standard. The resulting system of broadcast regulation conflicts, starkly and gratuitously, with ordinary free speech philosophy. In this Article, the author argues that that inconsistency is crucially linked to inadequacies in free speech theory itself Conventional free speech theory ignores the extent to which imbalances of private power limit freedom of expression. It presupposes that public discourse takes place on a rational plane. The author explores the link …

The Right To Religion-Based Exemptions In Early America: The Case Of Conscientious Objectors To Conscription, Ellis M. West

Political Science Faculty Publications

One of the more controversial decisions handed down by the Supreme Court in recent years was its decision in the case of Employment Division, Oregon v. Smith, which raised the basic issue of whether the free exercise clause of the First Amendment guarantees a right to religion-based exemptions, i.e., whether it gives persons and groups a prima facie right to be exempt from having to obey valid laws when they have religious reasons for noncompliance. More specifically, in Smith, two Native Americans claimed that their prosecution for using an illegal drug, peyote, was precluded by the free exercise clause …

Public Funds, Private Schools, And The Court: Legal Issues And Policy Consequences, Michael Heise

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

How To Do Things With The First Amendment, Pierre Schlag

Publications

No abstract provided.

Freedom Of Speech As A Product Of Democracy, Arnold H. Loewy

University of Richmond Law Review

There are very nearly as many (if not more) rationales for freedom of speech as there are books and articles on the subject. Without attempting to canvass them all, I think that they can be divided into two generic theories. One theory suggests that freedom of speech is essentially teleological or consequentialist, i.e. it exists to serve some other goal, usually effective participation in the democratic process. The other theory, which is deontological or normative, suggests that freedom of speech exists as an end in itself rather than as a means towards accomplishing something else. Of course, these theories are …

The Lemon Test Rears Its Ugly Head Again: Lamb's Chapel V. Center Moriches Union Free School District, Wirt P. Marks Iv

University of Richmond Law Review

Since 1971, Establishment Clause cases have been analyzed under the three-prong test articulated by the Supreme Court in Lemon v. Kurtzman. However, this test has often been criticized for producing inconsistent results. In addition, inconsistent application of the test by the Court, and conflicting philosophies among judges and scholars regarding the separation of church and state, have resulted in considerable objection to the Lemon test. In fact, at least five of the current Supreme Court Justices have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Lemon test as a workable framework for Establishment Clause analysis.

Some Reflections On Multiculturalism, "Equal Concern And Respect," And The Establishment Clause Of The First Amendment, Sanford Levinson

University of Richmond Law Review

I was born and grew up in Hendersonville, North Carolina, a small town of about 6000 people in the western part of the state. There were about 30 Jewish families in Hendersonville, and I knew from a very early age that I was Jewish and, consequently, that I was different in an important way from almost all of my neighbors and classmates. The most evident way, especially to a child, involved dietary prohibitions against eating pork. I also knew that I was allowed absences from school (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) while other children were not. Inevitably, my Jewishness accounts …

Lemon Lives, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This article responds to an article by Professor Michael Stokes Paulsen, entitled "Lemon Is Dead," in which Paulsen interprets the Supreme Court's decision in Lee v. Weisman to repudiate the Establishment Clause test of Lemon v. Kurtzman and to replace it with a test that limits the Clause to cases involving direct or indirect coercion. The article disputes Paulsen's interpretation of Weisman, and it also disputes his normative argument in support of the coercion approach. It contends that Lemon survives Weisman, and that Lemon's multi-faceted and context-specific approach, however vague, is preferable to a test that focuses exclusively on the …

Harm, Morality, And Feminist Religion: Canada's New -- But Not So New -- Approach To Obscenity, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Panhandlers At Yale: A Case Study In The Limits Of Law, Brandt Goldstein

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

Retracing First Amendment Jurisprudence Under The Free Exercise Clause: Culmination In Church Of The Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. V. City Of Hialeah And Resolution In The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, Laura A. Colombell

University of Richmond Law Review

The above comments of Justice Stewart recognize the myriad of religious beliefs and practices which exist in our nation of diverse people. Protecting them all from government infringement has become an increasingly lofty aim as the number and nature of religions in the United States continue to grow.

Is The New York Times "Actual Malice" Standard Really Necessary? A Comparative Perspective, Geoffrey Bennett, Russell L. Weaver

Journal Articles

In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, the United States Supreme Court extended First Amendment guarantees to defamation actions. Many greeted the Court's decision with joy. After the decision, many years elapsed during which "there were virtually no recoveries by public officials in libel actions."

The most important component of the New York Times decision was its "actual malice" standard. This standard provided that, in order to recover against a media defendant, a public official must demonstrate that the defendant acted with "malice." In other words, the official must show that the defendant knew that the defamatory statement was false …

New York Times Co V Sullivan: The 'Actual Malice' – Standard And Editorial Decision-Making, Geoffrey Bennett, Russel L. Weaver

Journal Articles

In an effort to explore conflicting views of the New York Times decision, this article compares how the British media functions under Britain's more restrictive defamation laws with how the US media functions under the actual malice standard. It does so based on interviews with reporters, editors, defamation lawyers, and others involved in the media in an effort to understand how they decide which stories to publish, and to gain some understanding of how libel laws affect editorial decision-making.

A Critique Of The Anti-Pornography Syllogism , George C. Thomas Iii

Maryland Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Adventures In Wonderland: Exploring The Debate Between Rules And Standards Through The Looking Glass Of The First Amendment, David L. Faigman

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Triangulating The Boundaries Of The Pentagon Papers, John Cary Sims

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

No abstract provided.

Girls Lean Back Everywhere: The Law Of Obscenity And The Assault On Genius, Chapter 30, Edward De Grazia

Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Identity, Speech, And Equality, Nan D. Hunter

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

My experience as a litigator tells me that the First Amendment as provided the most reliable path to success of any of the doctrinal claims utilized by lesbian and gay rights lawyers. Certainly no other block of cases can rival the success rate of the cases seeking recognition and even funding of lesbian and gay student organizations, all of which were brought on First Amendment grounds and ultimately won by plaintiffs.

Report Of The Coalition For A New America: Platform Section On Communications Policy, Rodney A. Smolla

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Silence And The Word, Paul Campos

Publications

No abstract provided.

Advocacy And Scholarship, Paul F. Campos

Publications

The apex of American legal thought is embodied in two types of writings: the federal appellate opinion and the law review article. In this Article, the author criticizes the whole enterprise of doctrinal constitutional law scholarship, using a recent U.S. Supreme Court case and a Harvard Law Review article as quintessential examples of the dominant genre. In a rhetorical tour de force, the author argues that most of modern constitutional scholarship is really advocacy in the guise of scholarship. Such an approach to legal scholarship may have some merit as a strategic move towards a political end; however, it has …

Progressive Free Speech And The Uneasy Case For Campus Hate Codes, Robert F. Nagel

Publications

No abstract provided.

Girls Should Bring Lawsuits Everywhere . . . Nothing Will Be Corrupted: Pornography As Speech And Product, Marianne Wesson

Publications

No abstract provided.

Information, Imagery, And The First Amendment: A Case For Expansive Protection Of Commercial Speech, Rodney A. Smolla

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Native American Inmates And Prison Grooming Regulations: Today's Justified Scalps: Iron Eyes V. Henry, William Norman

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

The First Americans And The "Free" Exercise Of Religion, Martin C. Loesch

American Indian Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Psychology Of First Amendment Scholarship: A Reply, David Skover, Ronald Collins

Faculty Articles

This essay was written as an afterword to the Colloquy entitled The First Amendment in a Commercial Culture, as a reply to commentaries on "Commerce & Communication" authored by Leo Bogart (advertising expert), Sut Jhally (professor of communications), Alex Kozinski (federal appellate judge) & Stuart Banner (attorney), and Rodney Smolla (law professor). The authors, Professors Skover and Collins, had hoped that Commerce & Communication would prompt new debate and discussion about certain First Amendment issues. However, judging from thier colleagues' reactions, there may well be more of the former than the latter. But in the scheme of things, who's to …