The Newseum Institute’s First Amendment experts, Gene Policinski and Lata Nott, originally published this commentary on the Newseum blog, and have given First Amendment Watch permission to reprint. ____________________________________________________________________________ […]
Lata Nott Podcast (with FAW Founder Stephen Solomon): Symbolic Speech
The Newseum Institute’s First Amendment expert, Lata Nott, originally published this podcast on the Newseum blog, and has given First Amendment Watch permission to reprint. In this episode of The First […]
Gene Policinski Commentary: Protect Journalists With The Same Laws That Protect All Of Us
The Newseum Institute’s First Amendment expert, Gene Policinski, originally published this commentary on the Newseum blog, and has given First Amendment Watch permission to reprint. I understand the motivation behind […]
Journalist Protection Act Introduced in Congress
February 7, 2018: Journalists Need Legislated Protection Says House Rep With attacks both verbal and physical against journalists on the rise (see our deep dive into increasing threats against the […]
State of the First Amendment Under President Trump Scores a C+
Every quarter the Newseum Institute produces a “report card” on how the current administration is faring on the five freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly and petition. 15 First Amendment experts — academics, […]
Madison-Jefferson Letters on Advisability of a Bill of Rights, 1787-1789
Although he later became the primary author of the Bill of Rights, Madison expressed serious doubts about the wisdom of amendments securing rights. Among other reasons, Madison believed that state bills of rights were little more than “parchment barriers” that were often ignored by “overbearing majorities in every State.”
John Stuart Mill, On Liberty, 1859
In his essay, On Liberty, John Stuart Mill argues that government has no right to limit the freedom of thought. He reasons that even a dissenting opinion held by a single individual has great value to society because it may turn out to be true.
Federal Farmer Number 16, 1788
An anonymous writer from the 18th century makes the case for a federal law protecting the press from official censorship–"Newspapers may sometimes be the vehicles of abuse, and of many things not true; but these are but small inconveniences, in my mind, among many advantages.”