Featured Stories

Classes Are Over But The Campus Free Speech Debate Still Rages

Classes Are Over But The Campus Free Speech Debate Still Rages

U.S. campuses have been hotbeds of political and social debate since the colonial era. By the 1960s, rising civil unrest bouyed the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley. As protests spread, universities and law enforcement cracked down leading to fatalities in separate incidents at Kent State University and Jackson State University. Today campus protests are once again eliciting an escalated police presence. Both public and private universities are struggling how to balance the free exchange of ideas, but public universities have a legal obligation to protect campus freedom of expression. What does this mean for students, campus free speech and speaker’s right to free speech when it is suppressed by the fear of disruption?

The Alarming Rise in Verbal and Physical Threats to the Press

The Alarming Rise in Verbal and Physical Threats to the Press

June 13, 2018

Many presidents have had contentious relationships with the press. President John Adams’ 1798 Sedition Act made publishing anything critical of the government illegal, President Theodore Roosevelt tried to sue the press for unfavorable coverage and other leaders have tried to control the flow of information. However, the animosity towards the press fostered by President Donald Trump many believe is unprecedented.

Authors Share Excerpts on Free Speech

Authors Share Excerpts on Free Speech

Authors Share Excerpts on Free Speech

April 5, 2018

We explore First Amendment topics with leading authors by engaging with their recent First Amendment writings: Catherine J. Ross, Amy Gajda, Erwin Chemerinsky, Howard Gillman, Floyd Abrams, Charles Slack and Thomas Healy.

History Speaks

Defending The First Amendment Through Time

Defending The First Amendment Through Time

February 2, 2018

In History Speaks, we explore the defense of our First Amendment freedoms through historical documents and precedent setting writing including letters, essays and legal opinions. Click through to see all 12 of the excerpted pieces so far.