First Amendment News
COVID-19: Getting good information as virus crisis unfolds
In times of crisis, from natural disasters to 9/11 and more, a free press has consistently delivered the goods, saving lives and asking the necessary and often inevitable challenging questions of the public officials on whom we depend for safety and security.
Read More
Google v. Oracle: Tech battle ultimately about free speech
Current Supreme Court case between Google and Oracle could limit our ability to communicate with each other, dampening the web’s potential for increasing public engagement in debate and decision on matters that affect us all.
Read More
‘More Speech, Not Enforced Silence’
At times, it is most tempting to censor speech or to call for the censorship of speech we don’t like, but before engaging in those impulses, we should consider Justice Brandeis’s time-honored message of “more speech, not enforced silence.”
Read More
Don’t Get Stuck on Prayers in Public Schools
It’s time we stop reducing complex questions of religion and education to political debates about prayer.
Read More
Famed Sculptor Stood Up for Civil Rights
When we appreciate the beauty and artistic genius of Frederick Hart, let’s also remember his commitment to justice and civil rights.
Read More
Federal Appeals Court: Plaintiffs Lack Standing to Challenge Removal of Confederate Monuments
The Sons of Confederate Veterans and concerned individuals lacked standing to pursue their First Amendment claims over the removal of Confederate monuments in Texas.
Read More
The ‘Bedrock Principle’ of the First Amendment
The “bedrock principle” phrase from a 1989 flag-burning decision, has come to represent a cardinal principle of First Amendment law — that the First Amendment protects much offensive expression.
Read More
‘A Profound National Commitment’ to ‘Robust’ Debate
Public officials who sue for libel, must meet a high standard of proof and show that the publisher printed the statements knowing they were false or acted with “reckless disregard.”
Read More
Baby Jesus Wasn’t a Patriotic American
Religious communities should be concerned when public officials, including those in the White House, use religious holidays like Christmas to stoke nationalist sentiments among their Twitter followers.
Read More
What a Phrase: “Falsely Shouting ‘Fire’ in a Theatre”
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr produced one of the most-often quoted phrases from First Amendment jurisprudence that has transcended the Supreme Court reports into the normal cultural sphere, the “‘Fire’ in a theatre” language.
Read More