LAW 582LEC - Con Law II: First Amendment: Free Speech

The scope of and limits on First Amendment free speech rights are matters of intense current controversy. Protests, both silent and violent, often calculated to inflame and divide; hate speech; campuses roiled by controversial speakers and counter-protestors; the disparagement of traditional news media and the rise of “alternative” outlets using social media to disseminate “alternative facts;” a President calling for major changes in libel laws and a for firing private employees who speak out on current events; influxes of huge amounts of money into political campaigns: all current flashpoints in First Amendment law and its societal and political context and understandings. This course explores the speech and press clauses of the First Amendment, their history, doctrinal development and application to these and other current controversies.

Credits: 3