Freedom of Expression
Fall, 2021

I. The Constitutional and Cultural Framework
-The Search for Truth
-Theories of Freedom of Expression
-American Ideals and American Pragmatism
-The First Amendment
-The “Incorporation” of the First Amendment into the Fourteenth Amendment

II. The History of Freedom of Expression in the United States
-The Alien and Sedition Acts Experience of the Early Period
-Freedom of Expression and Its Limits
-How Congress and the Courts Have Expanded Freedom of Expression
-Freedom of Expression and Self-Government

III. Sedition-The “Clear and Present Danger” Test
-Schenck v. United States (1919) - Introduction of the "clear and present danger" doctrine.
-Gitlow v.New York (1925) - The First Amendment held to apply to the states.
-Dennis v. United States (1952) - Introduction of the "grave and probable danger" doctrine.
-Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) - Incitement to violence is protected unless it incites unlawful action immediately.
-Texas v. Johnson (1989) - The First Amendment protects symbolic speech, including the desecration of the U. S. flag.

IV. Libel, Slander, and Fightig Words
-Near v. Minnesota (1931) - States may not enjoin publication of newspaper which was known to publish "malicious,
scandalous, and defamatory material.
-New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) - In a libel case the defense must show "actual malice" and "reckless disregard" for truth.
-Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942) - States may punish "fighting words" provoking breaches of the peace.

V. Corporate Speech
-Are Corporations “Persons”?
-Citizens United v FEC (2008) and Freedom of Expression - Campaign funding is free speech.   
-Big Tech and Freedom of Freedom of Expression

VI. Social Media Issues
-Everyone Is a Publisher
-Freedom of Expression and Prudence
-The Problem With Social Media Platforms
-Envisioning the Future of Freedom of Expression

INTERNET RESOURCES

Freedom of Expression - Search Results from Selected Websites

"Freedom of Expression" -from the ACLU

"Freedom of Expression" - from the Duck-Duck-Go Search Engine

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General Internet Resources

"Freedom of Expression: A Fundamental Human Right Underpinning All Civil Liberties" - from UNESCO

Freedom of Expression - Speech and Press - from Cornell Legal Information Institute

"Shouting Fire in a Crowded Theater" -from wikipedia.com

Georgia Voting Law - 2021

The First Amendment (Annotated) -from the Cornell Legal Information Institute

"Freedom of Expression - the Philosophical Basis" -from the Cornell Legal Information Institute

Verification Handbook -from datajournalism.com

All Sides -from allsides.com

PEW Research Center Media Studies 

Laura Meckler, "Civics Education in National Debate Over Talking About Race in Education" -from The Washington Post
May 16, 2021

"Freedom of Espression: History" -from democracyweb.org

Thomas B. Edsall, "How the Storming of the Capital Became a 'Normal Tourist Visit'" -from The New York Times, May 19, 2021

Nicholas Kristol, "Dealing With Our Segregated, Jim Crow Education System" -from The New York Times, May 21, 2021

"Fake News, Disinformation and Media Manipulation: How to Defend Against Them" -from Len Apcar, LSU Journalism Professor

Mary Landry, "The Staggering Fraud of the Election is Covered by Democrats, Media" -from The Advocate, May 31, 2021

Arelis Hernández and Griff Witte, "Texas Bill to Ban Teaching of Critical Race Theory" -from The Washington Post, June 2, 2021

 Ishaan Tharoor, "The Pandemic Is Getting Worse, Even When It Seems to Be Getting Better" - from The Washington Post, June 1, 2021

Walter D. Butler, Aloha Sargent, and Kelsey Smith, "Information Disorder, Truth, and Trust" -from  introtocollegeresearch.pressbooks.com

Fareed Zakaria, "The Decay of American Democracy is Real" -from The Washington Post, June 17, 2021

"Limits on Freedom of Expression" -from the Library of Congress, June, 2019  

The 1619 Project -from The New York Times,  August, 2019

Ex-President Trump's Executive Order Establishing His 1776 Commission, November 2, 2020

Ex-President Trump's 1776 Commission Report, 2021  

William A. Galston, "How Adherents See 'Critical Race Theory'" -from  The Wall Street Journal, July 13, 2021

"Article 10 - Freedom of Expression" -from the UK Equality and Human Rights Commission

"Fostering First Amendment Freedoms for All " - from the Freedom Forum Institute

"Freedom of Expression" -from Freedom House
   "Media Freedom - A Downward Spiral"

"United Nations Human Rights System" -from Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University

"Wikipedia: Policies and Guidelines" -from Wikipedia

Sheera Frenkel, "The Most Influential Spreader of Coronavirus Misinformation Online" -from The New York Times, July 24, 2021

Josh Funk, "States Curtail Reporting Amid Surge" -from The Advocate, July 25, 2021

Ben Shapiro, "Left Wants to Stifle Facebook, Free Speech" -from The Advocate, July 25, 2021

Transcript of Hearing of Select Committee of the House of Representatives on the Insurrection
of January 6, 2021 - Hearing of July 27, 2021 -from rev.com

Michael Barone, "Biden Administration Still Supressing Free Speech" -from The Advocate, July 28, 2021

 George Will, "Pursuing 'Equity' Over Equality Reveals the Nation's Moral Degeneration" -from The Washington Post, July 30, 2021

"Tokyo 2020: Olympic Athletes Targeted With False and Misleading Claim" -from the BBC, August 8, 2021

"Beware of False Knowledge; It is More Dangerous Than Ignorance" -from George Bernard Shaw

Blake Patterson and Emily Woodruff, "Top Official Heckled by Anti-Maskers, Anti-Vaxers As
Misinformation Spreads Amid COVID Surge," -from The Advocate, August 17, 2021

"The Freedom of Information Act" -from the U.S. Department of State

Toby Mendel, Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey -UNESCO (2008)

Eugene Volkh, "What Cheap Speech Has Done: (Greater) Equality and Its Discontents" -from U.C. Davis Law Review (June, 2021)

"Trump Sues Facebook, Twitter and Google, Claiming Censorship" -from reuters.com (July 7, 2021)

"Is Europe Attacking Freedom of Expression on the Internet" (Video) -from visualpolitik (September 21, 2021)

Robert Kagan, "Our Constitutional Crisis is Already Here" -from The Washington Post, September 23, 2021

Michael Gerson, "Future Political Violence Seems Inevitable.  Meeting it With Violence Won't Be an Answer" -from The Washington Post,
September 27, 2021

"Article 10: Freedom of Expression" -from the United Kingdom Equality and Human Rights Commission, June, 2021

Freedom of Information Act -from Wikipedia

'The Real Lord of the Flies: What Happened When Six Boys Were Shipwrecked for 15 Months" -from YouTube, May 13, 2020

"The Pandora Papers" -from The Washington Post, October 3, 2021

Donald J. Trump, Speech on January 6, 2021 -from npr.org

"Deepfakes" -from 60 Minutes, October 9, 2021 (Video has ads in it.)

Terminiello v. Chicago (1949) -from the Cornell Legal Information Institute

Joshua A. Geltzer and Neal K. Katyal, "The True Danger of the Trump Campaign's Defamation Lawsuits" -from The Atlantic, March 11, 2020

Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, 2021 -from the Nobel Foundation

Richard Hofstadter, Anti-intellectualism in American Life  - Alfred A. Knopf (1963)

David Brock, "I Was Wrong About Donald Trump," -from The New York Times, October 21, 2021

Robert Kagan, "Our Constitutional Crisis Is Here" -from The Washington Post, October 21, 2021