First Amendment Watch

SCOTUS Revives First Amendment Challenge to Mandatory Bar Membership Post-Janus

December 4, 2018: Case Sent Back for Reconsideration After Janus Ruling The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider a North Dakota lawyer’s First Amendment challenge to a nearly 30-year-old North Dakota law that obligates lawyers to to become members of a state bar association. Currently, 37 jurisdictions require bar membership as a condition to practice,[Read More…]

Authors Share Excerpts on Free Speech: Marjorie Heins on Some of its Ironies and Complications

Ironies and Complications of Free Speech, a collection of the best writing from the Free Expression Policy Project (2001-2017), covers topics that range from loyalty oaths, the Mohammed cartoons, and junk science to the FCC’s censorship of “indecency” on the airwaves, Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction” at the 2004 Super Bowl, and copyright battles involving James Joyce, Tennessee Williams, and Google’s attempt to ban the use of its name as a verb. Through its stories of events and controversies, the book provides a primer on a range of tricky First Amendment issues.

First Amendment Watch Teacher Guide: Why is James Madison’s Defense of Freedom of the Press Critical Today?

The press is under attack from many public officials as well as private citizens writing on their blogs and Twitter accounts. President Donald Trump, for one, has accused some news organizations of publishing “fake news” about his administration. Although he may be unusually vociferous in attacking journalists, public officials of all political stripes throughout American history have complained about the press when they are targets of criticism.

This is an opportune time for educators to reach back to James Madison for what may be the most powerful defense of freedom of the press written by any American.