Akhil Reed Amar: “The Words that Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation, 1760-1840”

In his newest book, The Words that Made Us: America’s Constitutional Conversation 1760-1840, Yale law professor and constitutional historian Akhil Reed Amar tells the story of the first 80 years of democratic debate in the United States. This excerpt focuses on the origins of America’s newspaper culture and the central role it played in forming our democracy.

Government Corruption, Public Employees’ Speech, and the First Amendment

Law Professor Helen Norton explains how a case currently pending for Supreme Court review could potentially expand First Amendment protection for public employees who report on government corruption and or speak as a public "citizen."

Are Political Robocalls Protected Under the First Amendment?

Regulating robocalls based on the content of their messaging presents a more severe threat to First Amendment freedoms than regulating their time, place, and manner," the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled in a case involving Montana's robocall laws.

Cincinnatus to James Wilson, 1787

Why was the Bill of Rights necessary to protect freedom of the press? An 18th-century writer argues that the Constitution did not adequately ensure that the government would not try to regulate the country's newspapers.