First Amendment Commons^™

Copyright Law And Pornography, Ann Bartow

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Sex-for-hire is usually illegal, unless it is being filmed. Debates about pornography tread uneasily into legal terrain that implicates freedom of expression under the First Amendment, the specter of censorship, and genuine concerns about the function and role of pornography in persistent gender inequality. It is less common for conversations about pornography to include a discussion of copyright law. Yet copyright law is a powerful tool that operates to protect the financial interests of pornographers. Owners of copyrighted pornography frequently threaten public exposure of an alleged infringer’s consumption habits in order to force a financial settlement. Thus copyright law operates …

Saving The Press Clause From Ruin: The Customary Origins Of A 'Free Press' As Interface To The Present And Future, Kevin F. O'Neill, Patrick J. Charles

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

Based on a close reading of original sources dating back to America's early colonial period, this article offers a fresh look at the origins of the Press Clause. Then, applying those historical findings, the article critiques recent scholarship in the field and reassesses the Press Clause jurisprudence of the Supreme Court. Finally, the article describes the likely impact of its historical findings if ever employed by the Court in interpreting the Press Clause.

Employee 2.0, Pranay Samdani

Student Works

No abstract provided.

When Bad Speech Does Good, Mary Anne Franks

Articles

No abstract provided.

Not A Free Press Court?, Lyrissa Barnett Lidsky

UF Law Faculty Publications

The last decade has been tumultuous for print and broadcast media. Daily newspaper circulation continues to fall precipitously, magazines struggle to survive, and network television audiences keep shrinking. In the meanwhile, cable news is prospering, mobile devices are contributing to increased news consumption, and many new media outlets appear to be thriving. Despite the dynamism in the media industry, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts has taken up relatively few First Amendment cases directly involving the media. The Court has addressed a number of important free speech cases since 2005, but thus far the only Roberts Court decisions …

Nonbelievers And Government Speech, Caroline Mala Corbin

Articles

In the past few years, nonbelievers have become much more prominent in the United States. But while their visibility has increased, they are still a small minority, and they remain disliked, distrusted, and not truly American in the eyes of many. As a result, many nonbelievers are hesitant about disclosing their views, and those who do often face hostility and discrimination.

This Article argues that government religious speech such as "In God We Trust" or a Latin cross war memorial violates the Establishment Clause in part because it exacerbates the precarious position of nonbelievers in this country. One of the …

Government Speech: An Introduction To A Constitutional Dialogue, David Day

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Good Intentions, Bad Consequences: How Congress’S Efforts To Eradicate Hiv/Aids Stifle The Speech Of Humanitarian Organizations, Garima Malhotra

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Reach Of The Schoolhouse Gate: The Fate Of Tinker In The Age Of Digital Social Media, Mickey Lee Jett

Catholic University Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Speech Act Defends The First Amendment: A Visible And Targeted Response To Libel Tourism, Marissa Gerny

Student Works

No abstract provided.

The End Of Forgetting And "Administrative Rights" To Our Online Personas, Jamie R. Lund

IP Theory

No abstract provided.

Between Semiotic Democracy And Disobedience: Two Views Of Branding, Culture And Intellectualproperty, Sonia K. Katyal

Faculty Scholarship

Even though most scholars and judges treat intellectual property law as a predominantly content-neutral phenomenon, trademark law contains a statutory provision, section 2(a), that provides for the cancellation of marks that are “disparaging,” “immoral,” or “scandalous.” This provision has raised intrinsically powerful constitutional concerns, which invariably affect two central metaphors that are at war within trademark law: the marketplace of goods, which premises itself on the fixedness of intellectual properties, and the marketplace of ideas, which is premised on the very fluidity of language itself. Since the architecture of trademark law focuses only on how marks communicate information about a …

Can Students Be Disciplined For Off-Campus Cyberspeech: The Reach Of The First Amendment In The Age Of Technology, Charles J. Russo, Allan G. Osborne Jr.

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

The widespread use of technology in today's schools has ushered in a host of legal issues that educators and parents could not have contemplated just a few years ago. Within the past decade, students have had the unprecedented ability to send text messages and instant messages, create websites, post blogs, construct Internet profiles, and post messages on burgeoning social networking sites, most notably Facebook. Even when students engage in such speech-related activity off campus using their personal computers, their actions and posts on such social networking sites as MySpace and Facebook can have carryover effects into school and classroom environments. …

Foia The First Amendment: Representative Democracy And The People’S Exclusive “Right To Know”, Barry Sullivan

Faculty Publications & Other Works

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Water Cooler: Speech And The Workplace In An Era Of Social Media, Ann C. Mcginley

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Citizens, United And Citizens United: The Future Of Labor Speech Rights?, Charlotte Garden

Faculty Articles

Within hours of its announcement, the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. FEC came under attack from progressive groups. Among these groups were some of America's largest labor unions-even though the decision applies equally to unions and for-profit corporations. The reason is clear: there exist both practical and structural impediments that will prevent unions from benefitting from Citizens United to the same extent as corporations. Therefore, Citizens United stands to unleash a torrent of corporate electioneering that could drown out the countervailing voice of organized labor.

This article, however, takes a broader view of Citizens United to explore a …

The Crazy Horse Malt Liquor Case: From Tradition To Modernity And Halfway Back (Part Iii Of South Dakota Law Review Trilogy), Frank Pommersheim

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Secrets, Lies, And Disclosure, Helen Norton

Publications

This symposium essay suggests that we can sometimes understand those who resist campaign disclosure or disclaimer requirements as interested in keeping a secret and occasionally even in telling a sort of lie about the source or intensity of support for a particular candidate or cause. Such secrets and lies threaten listeners’ autonomy interests when the speaker seeks to keep such secrets (and sometimes seeks to tell such lies) to enhance her ability to influence her listeners’ decisions. For these reasons, I suggest greater attention to the reasons speakers seek to keep secrets (or occasionally tell such lies) in assessing the …

A Look At The Establishment Clause Through The Prism Of Religious Perspectives: Religious Majorities, Religious Minorities, And Nonbelievers, Samuel J. Levine

Scholarly Works

This article traces the Court’s Establishment Clause jurisprudence through several decades, examining a number of landmark cases through the prism of religious minority perspectives. In so doing, the Article aims to demonstrate the significance of religious perspectives in the development of both the doctrine and rhetoric of the Establishment Clause. The Article then turns to the current state of the Establishment Clause, expanding upon these themes through a close look at the 2004 and 2005 cases Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow, Van Orden v. Perry, and McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky. The article concludes …

Decoding First Amendment Coverage Of Computer Source Code In The Age Of Youtube, Facebook And The Arab Spring, Jorge Roig

Scholarly Works

Computer source code is the lifeblood of the Internet. It is also the brick and mortar of cyberspace. As such, it has been argued that the degree of control that a government can wield over code can be a powerful tool for controlling new technologies. With the advent and proliferation in the Internet of social networking media and platforms for the publication and sharing of user-generated content, the ability of individuals across the world to communicate with each other has reached truly revolutionary dimensions. The influence of Facebook in the popular revolutions of the Arab Spring has been well documented. …