DOCSLIB.ORG

Mcpherson June 2020 16

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Mcpherson June 2020 16 6/1/2020 Congress Shall Make No Law . The Constitutional, Historical, and Current Meaning of the First Amendment 2 What We’ll Do In This Course • Day 1: Philosophical origins of the First Amendment • Day 2: 200+ years of Supreme Court Cases • Day 3: Current First Amendment Issues 14 14 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; of abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceable to assembly, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 15 15 1 6/1/2020 What Did These Words Mean to the People Who Wrote Them? 16 Karen McPherson June 2020 16 The Origins of the First Amendment – The European Enlightenment – English and Colonial Common Law and Statutes – How it came to be included in the Bill of Rights appended to the Constitution of 1787 17 17 18 Origins of the First Amendment: The European Enlightenment Karen McPherson June 2020 18 2 6/1/2020 The Enlightenment – The “Age of Reason” –“Long” 18th century (1688-1815) –Reason, liberty, progress, religious tolerance 19 19 Link to Enlightenment Video that I couldn’t play today –https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= J0B28_gwj0M –This a You-Tube link. The video clip is about 15 minutes long. 20 20 21 21 3 6/1/2020 22 22 23 23 24 24 4 6/1/2020 Religious Tolerance “Separation of Church and State” 25 25 26 26 Bacon Newton Locke 27 27 5 6/1/2020 Francis Bacon (1521-1626) – The Advancement of Learning (1605) – Novum Organum Scientiarum (1620) – Father of the Scientific method 28 28 Isaac Newton (1642-1727 –Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica – Newton’s 3 laws of motion – Father of Calculus (with Gottfried Leibniz) 29 29 John Locke (1632-1704) – Two Treatises of Government (1689) – A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689) – Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) – Reason, Empiricism, “Tabula rasa” – Father of Modern liberalism 30 30 6 6/1/2020 Liberty Separation of Church and State Reason 31 31 The City Flag of Williamsburg, VA. –Adopted on October 17, 1976 –Derived from 1699 Coat of Arms of Francis Nicholson 32 32 Artisan Orderly Town Plan 33and Public Sun of the Man Enlightenment Three Pillars of the Virtute Et Labore town – Florent Respublicae“ Hospital, College, (States flourish Government through virtue and toil.) Surrounding Plantations Karen McPherson June 2020 33 7 6/1/2020 36 Precursors to the First Amendment: English and Colonial Common Law and Statutes Karen McPherson June 2020 36 Karen McPherson June 2020 37 37 Year Event 1215 Magna Carta 1606 Virginia Charter (Protects English Liberties) 1628 English Petition of Right 1639 Maryland Act for English Liberties 1641 Massachusetts Body of Liberties 1649 Maryland Toleration Act 1676 Fundamental Laws of New Jersey 1682 William Penn’s Frame of Government for Pennsylvania 1683 New York Charter of Liberties and Privileges 1683 Pennsylvania Frame of Government 1689 English Bill of Rights 1691 New York Declaration of Rights 1701 Pennsylvania Charter of Privileges 1735 John Peter Zenger Case 38 38 8 6/1/2020 Year Event 1765 Declaration of Rights and Grievance of Stamp Act Congress 1772 Boston’s Rights of the Colonies and A List of Infringements and Violations of Rights 1774 Declaration of Resolves of First Continental Congress 1776 Declaration of Independence 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights 1776 Bill of Rights of Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and Vermont 1780 Massachusetts Declaration of Rights 1787 Northwest Ordinance 1788 Alexander Hamilton writes Federalist 84 and 85 1789 Constitution Ratified 1791 Bill of Rights Ratified 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts 1798 Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 39 39 Karen McPherson June 2020 40 40 41 Precursors to the First Amendment: Its Inclusion in the Constitution Karen McPherson June 2020 41 9 6/1/2020 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; of abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceable to assembly, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. 42 42 STATE RATIFICATION VOTE YAY/NAY Delaware December 7, 1787 30-0 Pennsylvania December 12, 1787 46-23 New Jersey December 18, 1787 38-0 Georgia December 31, 1787 26-0 Connecticut January 8, 1788 128-40 Massachusetts February 6, 1788 187-168* Maryland April 26, 1788 63-11 South Carolina May 26, 1788 149-73 New Hampshire June 21, 1788 47-47* Virginia June 29, 1788 89-79* New York July 26, 1788 30-27* North Carolina November 21, 1788 194-77* * With Rhode Island May 29, 1790 34-32* Amendments43 43 What Was the “Original Intent” of the Framers? – Are rights pre- – Or are they existing, created by a universal, specific set of fundamental circumstances? propositions waiting to be identified? Karen McPherson June 2020 44 44 10 6/1/2020 45 What was the “Original Intent” of the Framers? – The Framers had many disagreements about the content of the rights they were examining. – The rights that are at the center of modern American law and politics are more the products of the 19th and 20th centuries that of the 18th century 45 What was the “Original Intent” of the Framers? – We know little about what the state legislatures thought about the meaning of the various amendments – Freedom of religion was probably the most important of First Amendment rights to the Framers of the Constitution – At the Constitutional Convention, the only real focus on speech and the press was on the “Speech and Debate” freedoms of legislators 46 46 What Did the Framers Mean By “Freedom of Religion?” – Madison’s original draft of the First Amendment said that no one’s civil rights should be abridged “on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.” – His original draft of the First amendment religion clauses was clearer than final draft 47 47 11 6/1/2020 What Did the Framers Mean By “Freedom of Religion?” –“The [religion] clauses of the First Amendment cannot be taken literally. They do not mean what they say nor say what the Framers meant.” –Leonard Levy (20th century First Amendment scholar) 48 48 What Did the Framers Mean By “Freedom of Religion?” – Madison’s concern was not whether religion was a good thing but whether establishments of religion were good for religions, and “he decidedly thought not.” He did not believe that religion needed government support any more than government needed religious support. 49 49 States that went for States with the the GOP in 2016 strongest religious base 50 50 12 6/1/2020 What Did the Framers Mean By “Freedom of Religion?” (continued) – In “Memorial and Remonstrance against Religious Assessments” (1785) Madison argued that religion was not an “engine of civil society,’ that the establishment contemplated by the bill differed from the Inquisition “only in degree,” not in principle. Karen McPherson June 2020 51 51 What Did the Framers mean by “Freedom of Religion?” – Madison thought that establishment violated freedom of religion, injured religion, corrupted government, and threatened public liberty – Madison never wrote or talked about “establishment of religion” but rather he spoke of “religious establishments” – as in institutions – a church, a church school. – The “no preference” arguments over government’s relationship with religion did not mean that government could aid all sects; they meant government could not aid religion at all 52 52 What Did the Framers mean by “Freedom of Religion?” –The states ratified the Bill of Rights but left nothing to clarify the meaning of an establishment of religion. We have no debates, newspaper coverage, tracts, or personal correspondence that provide clues 53 53 13 6/1/2020 What Did the Framers Mean by Freedom of the Press? –The printing press (late 15th century) created the first opportunity for information to be widespread –English common law sought to minimize the risk that the printing press might be used for purposes at odds with the states’ objectives 55 55 What Did the Framers Mean by Freedom of the Press? –John Milton (1640s) – Advocated competition of ideas for discernment of truth – “Let Truth and falsehood grapple” 56 56 What Did the Framers Mean by Freedom of the Press? – To the Framers, a free press involved only an absence of previous restraint – not a freedom from the consequences of what you printed – They did not embrace the 1735 Zenger principle that truth was a defense to charges of libel 57 57 14 6/1/2020 What Did the Framers Mean by Freedom of the Press? – None of the first nine states to ratify the Constitution recommended an amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech or press. – 1792 - Virginia passed an “Act Against Divulgers of False News” 58 58 What Did the Framers Mean by Freedom of the Press? – Leonard Levy: – “If the objective of the Revolution was to repudiate Blackstone’s exposition of the common-law restrictions on freedom on expression, – “how very strange that Americans of the revolutionary generation did not say so.” 59 59 What Did the Framers Mean by Freedom of the Press? – During the debate over the Bill of rights, Madison described freedom of the press as one of the “choicest” of the “great rights of mankind”. – But he said nothing in 1789 or earlier that revealed what he meant by a free press clause. – There is no evidence to prove for certain what the Framers had in mind about free press freedom. – There is no certainty about whether the Framers themselves knew what they had in mind.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • FIRST AMENDMENT FREEDOM of PRESS LESSON PLAN Interactive Constitution: the First Amendment Project FREEDOM of PRESS 2
    LESSON PLAN FIRST AMENDMENT FREEDOM OF PRESS LESSON PLAN Interactive Constitution: The First Amendment Project FREEDOM OF PRESS 2 First Amendment: Freedom of Press Lesson Plan GRADE LEVELS: 11th and 12th NUMBER OF CLASS PERIODS: 1 (approximately 55 minutes) AUTHOR: Staci Garber, National Constitution Center Teacher Advisory Board Member Staci Garber is a a 20-year veteran of the classroom. She holds a master’s degree in political science, another in economic education and entrepreneurship, and a third in international relations and global governance. Staci currently teaches global studies and psychology at a small private school in Bear, DE. INTRODUCTION/LESSON OVERVIEW: Many Americans struggle to understand the Constitution, especially the rights included in the First Amendment. While many Americans, like many in the Founding generation, can agree that freedom of the press should be protected, there are disagreements over when, why, and how freedom of the press may be limited. This lesson encourages students to examine their own assumptions and to deepen their understanding of current accepted interpretation of freedom of the press under the First Amendment. Constitutional Questions: • How does freedom of the press relate to freedom of speech? • Why was the protection of the press so important to the Founding generation? • Why does freedom of the press remain important to American democracy today? Objectives: • Students will be able to explain why the Constitution protects freedom of the press. • Students will be able to analyze controversies involving the First Amendment provision protecting freedom of press. • Students will be able to apply varying interpretations of the First Amendment provision protecting freedom of press to controversial issues involving speech.
    [Show full text]
  • Press Rights and Government Power to Structure the Press
    University of Miami Law Review Volume 34 Number 4 Fifth Annual Baron de Hirsh Meyer Article 5 Lecture Series 7-1-1980 Press Rights and Government Power to Structure the Press C. Edwin Baker Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr Part of the First Amendment Commons Recommended Citation C. Edwin Baker, Press Rights and Government Power to Structure the Press, 34 U. Miami L. Rev. 819 (1980) Available at: https://repository.law.miami.edu/umlr/vol34/iss4/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Miami Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Miami School of Law Institutional Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Press Rights and Government Power to Structure the Press C. EDWIN BAKER* First, Professor Baker explores an instrumentalist argu- ment for special press rights going beyond those protected by a liberty theory of freedom of speech. Then, in Part II, he exam- ines the threats of -government power and private economic power to freedom of the "press" and considers the permissible extent of government intervention to structure the press or to protect it from private threats. I. CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS OF THE PRESS .................................... 822 A. Rationale for a Separate Interpretation of the Press Clause ........... 822 B. Defensive, Offensive, and Speech Rights ............................. 837 1. DEFENSIVE RIGHTS ............................................... 840 2. OFFENSIVE RIGHTS ............................................... 841 3. SPECIAL SPEECH RIGHTS ........................................... 845 C. The Form of Protection ...........................................
    [Show full text]
  • An Analysis of US and South Korean Journalists' Discourse About An
    International Journal of Communication 13(2019), 2575–2595 1932–8036/20190005 Unpublishing the News: An Analysis of U.S. and South Korean Journalists’ Discourse About an Emerging Practice HYE SOO NAH STEPHANIE CRAFT University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, USA One axiom of the digital age is that online is forever. Such imperishability of information has led an increasing number of news subjects and sources to request that stories containing outdated or negative personal information be “unpublished.” These requests confront news practices and ethical guidelines related to privacy, accuracy, harm, and autonomy, which complicates newsroom responses. U.S. and South Korean journalists’ discourses about unpublishing demonstrate that those in a more individualistic culture (U.S.) highlight obligations related to accuracy and autonomy, while those in a more collectivistic culture (South Korea) highlight obligations related to individual privacy and avoidance of harm. Keywords: journalistic routines, ethics, privacy, corrections, autonomy, comparative research The life span of news on the Web can be both very brief, thanks to the ease with which news can be updated, and very long, given the Web’s seemingly limitless storage capacity. That news is both fleeting and (virtually) permanent has complicated how news organizations understand and align journalistic norms and practices regarding accuracy, privacy, and accountability. On the “fleeting” side, the speed and ease of correcting and updating digital news has highlighted news organizations’ ongoing struggle to negotiate the tension between publishing information first and publishing accurate information. On the “permanent” side, the ability to store and easily access published news—records previously maintained in relatively obscure file cabinets and videotape libraries—has generated a surge of requests from news sources and subjects to delete, or “unpublish,” information, often in the name of privacy.
    [Show full text]
  • From Seemly Subjects to Enlightened Citizens Censorship and Press Freedom from the Middle Ages to the 18Th Century
    From seemly subjects to enlightened citizens Censorship and press freedom from the Middle Ages to the 18th century Jonas Nordin His Majesty’s Gracious Ordinance Regarding the Freedom of Writing and Printing (Kongl. Maj:ts Nådige Förordning, Angående Skrif- och Tryck- fri heten), issued on 2 December 1766, would never have seen the light of day had it not been for the particular political circumstances that pre- vailed in Sweden during the Age of Liberty (‘frihetstiden’). This is the pe- riod in Swedish history between the death of Charles XII in 1718 and the coup d’état by Gustav III in 1772. Over almost two generations, Sweden enjoyed a peculiar republican form of government while at the same time experiencing sweeping changes to the social climate, ideas about consti- tutional law and political culture. At the beginning of the Age of Liberty, Sweden was characterised in religious, political and cultural matters by traditions established many centuries earlier. By the time the period ended with Gustav III’s reactionary revolution, the intellectual atmosphere had been changed in fundamental ways and Sweden had taken the first step towards a modern conception of society. This transformation could only be temporarily slowed by the new, anachronistic form of government. Developments during the Age of Liberty reflected currents of think- ing which were moving across the western world, but at the same time were firmly rooted in Swedish domestic politics. The Riksdag system, with its comparatively open political debate and – for its time – a considerable readiness for radical reform, has paradoxically led historians to obscure the radical ideas that emerged.
    [Show full text]
  • The Original Understanding of the Freedom of the Press Provision of the First Amendment
    University of Chicago Law School Chicago Unbound Journal Articles Faculty Scholarship 1985 The Original Understanding of the Freedom of the Press Provision of the First Amendment Philip B. Kurland Follow this and additional works at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/journal_articles Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Philip B. Kurland, "The Original Understanding of the Freedom of the Press Provision of the First Amendment," 55 Mississippi Law Journal 225 (1985). This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Scholarship at Chicago Unbound. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal Articles by an authorized administrator of Chicago Unbound. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE ORIGINAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE FREEDOM OF THE PRESS PROVISION OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT* Philip B. Kurland** I. THE CONSTITUTION, LIKE THE COMMON LAW, Is BASED ON EXPERIENCE One of the most quoted phrases in legal literature is Oliver Wendell Holmes's proposition that "The life of the law has not been logic: it has been experience."' Like many of Holmes's well- known aphorisms, it is usually quoted out of context. He was not saying, as some would have it, that law reflects only feelings or ideology rather than reason.' He was rejecting the rigidity of the syllogism, which tells us how to derive a conclusion from a major and minor premise, but tells us not how to discover those prem- ises. There are always more than major and minor premises in- * Copyright 1984 by Philip B. Kurland. This article was originally presented as the Tenth Annual Law Memorial Lecture at the University of Mississippi School of Law in March of 1984.
    [Show full text]
  • Information Libertarianism
    Information Libertarianism Jane R. Bambauer & Derek E. Bambauer* Legal scholarship has attacked recent First Amendment jurisprudence as unprincipled: a deregulatory judicial agenda disguised as free speech protection. This scholarly trend is mistaken. Descriptively, free speech protections scrutinize only information regulation, usefully pushing government to employ more direct regulations with fewer collateral consequences. Even an expansive First Amendment is compatible with the regulatory state, rather than being inherently libertarian. Normatively, courts should be skeptical when the state tries to design socially beneficial censorship. This Article advances a structural theory that complements classic First Amendment rationales, arguing that information libertarianism has virtues that transcend political ideology. Regulating information is peculiarly difficult to do well. Cognitive biases cause regulators to systematically overstate risks of speech and to discount its benefits. Speech is strong in its capacity to change behavior, yet politically weak. It is a popular scapegoat for larger societal problems and its regulation is an attractive option for interest groups seeking an advantage. Collective action, public choice, and government entrenchment problems arise frequently. First Amendment safeguards provide a vital counterpressure. Information libertarianism encourages government to regulate conduct directly because when the state censors communication, the results are often DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.15779/Z38Z31NN40 Copyright
    [Show full text]
  • The Fragility of the Free American Press
    Copyright 2017 by RonNell Andersen Jones and Sonja R. West Vol. 112 Northwestern University Law Review THE FRAGILITY OF THE FREE AMERICAN PRESS RonNell Andersen Jones & Sonja R. West ABSTRACT—President Donald Trump has faced criticism for attacking the press and for abandoning longstanding traditions of accommodating and respecting it. This Essay argues that the national discussion spurred by Trump’s treatment of the press has fallen short of capturing the true seriousness of the situation. Trump’s assault on the custom of press accommodation follows a generation-long collapse of other major press protections. In order to fully understand the critical juncture at which American press freedom now stands, we must expand the discussion beyond talk of a rogue president’s aberrant attacks on the press and consider the increasingly fragile edifice on which the American free press sits. This is because the kind of press we value and need in the United States—one that is free, independent, and democracy-enhancing—does not just occur naturally. Nor is it protected by a single, robust constitutional right. Rather, it is supported by a number of legal and nonlegal pillars, such as the institutional media’s relative financial strength, the goodwill of the public, a mutually dependent relationship with government officials, and the backing of sympathetic judges. Each of these supports has weakened substantially in recent years, leaving the one remaining pillar of tradition and custom to bear more of the weight. Contrary to widespread belief, our concern should not be that Trump might be taking the first step toward crippling the power of the free press, but rather that he might be taking the final step in a process that has long been underway.
    [Show full text]
  • FREEDOM of EXPRESSION and the ENLIGHTENMENT by Alison
    FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND THE ENLIGHTENMENT by Alison Guider A thesis submitted to the faculty of The University of Mississippi in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Oxford May 2015 Approved by _________________________________ Adviser: Professor Jeffrey Watt _________________________________ Reader: Professor Marc Lerner _________________________________ Reader: Professor Molly Pasco-Pranger ©2015 Alison Guider ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT ALISON GUIDER: Freedom of Expression and the Enlightenment (Under the direction of Jeffrey Watt) This thesis concerns Enlightenment and pre-Enlightenment views of freedom of expression, including topics such as toleration, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press. It then looks at how these views shaped some of the ideas that emerged from the American and French Revolution. The conclusions drawn here are drawn from document-based research, both primary and secondary sources. The Enlightenment, although primarily concentrated in the eighteenth century, actually had what one might call precursors in the seventeenth century, including John Locke, Benedict de Spinoza, and Pierre Bayle. These thinkers helped set the stage for Enlightenment thinkers such as Voltaire, Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, and Karl Friedrich Bahrdt. All of these thinkers wrote on freedom of expression, but they did not always agree on how far this freedom should be extended, which represented a division between moderate and Radical Enlightenment. Both strains of the Enlightenment, however, were read by both the American and French Revolutionaries and shaped the ideas of freedom of expression that came out of these two revolutions, including protections of free press. Although the Enlightenment does have a bit of a complicated legacy, modern day protections of freedom of expression would not exist without it; therefore, an in-depth study of the origins of these protections is worthwhile.
    [Show full text]
  • Freedom of the Press and Public Access: Toward a Theory of Partial Regulation of the Mass Media
    Michigan Law Review Volume 75 Issue 1 1976 Freedom of the Press and Public Access: Toward a Theory of Partial Regulation of the Mass Media Lee C. Bollinger Jr. University of Michigan Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr Part of the Communications Law Commons, First Amendment Commons, and the Supreme Court of the United States Commons Recommended Citation Lee C. Bollinger Jr., Freedom of the Press and Public Access: Toward a Theory of Partial Regulation of the Mass Media, 75 MICH. L. REV. 1 (1976). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol75/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Law Review at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. FREEDOM OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC ACCESS: TOWARD A THEORY OF PARTIAL REGULATION OF THE MASS MEDIA Lee C. Bollinger, Jr. *t During the past half century there have existed in this country two opposing constitutional traditions regarding the press. On the one hand, the Supreme Court has accorded the print media virtually complete constitutional protection from attempts by government to impose affirmative controls such as access regulation. On the other hand, the Court has held affirmative regulation of the broadcast media to be constitutionally permissible, and has even suggested that it may
    [Show full text]
  • Liberalism and the Discipline of Power
    046508186X 01.qxd 12/27/06 9:40 AM Page 15 1 Liberalism and the Discipline of Power The charge used to be leveled by fascists and communists; now it comes chiefly from conservatives. Liberalism, they say, is a kind of weakness. If the charge were true—if liberal institutions and political leaders were unequal to the demands of national defense and personal security—it would have been a catastrophe for liberal democracy dur- ing the great crises of the twentieth century, and the world would look altogether different today. But this has not been the historical experi- ence: liberal government has repeatedly proved stronger and more durable than its adversaries expected. And therein lies a critical lesson about liberalism, at least liberalism rightly understood. The core principles of liberalism provide not only a theory of freedom, equality, and the public good, but also a discipline of power—the means of creating power as well as controlling it. This discipline has been a sin- gular achievement of constitutional liberalism, dating from the late sev- enteenth and eighteenth centuries, and of modern, democratic liberalism as it has evolved roughly since the late nineteenth century. Liberal constitutions impose constraints on the power of any single public official or branch of government as well as the state as a whole. The constraints protect citizens from tyranny, but that is not all they do. They also serve to protect the state itself from capricious, impulsive, or overreaching decisions. A central insight of liberalism is that power 15 046508186X 01.qxd 12/27/06 9:40 AM Page 16 16 FREEDOM’S POWER arbitrarily exercised is destructive not only of individual liberty but also of the rule of law.
    [Show full text]
  • The First Amendment and Freedom of the Press: a Revised Approach to the Marketplace of Ideas Concept, 72 Marq
    Marquette Law Review Volume 72 Article 4 Issue 2 Winter (January) 1989 The irsF t Amendment and Freedom of the Press: A Revised Approach to the Marketplace of Ideas Concept Patrick Garry Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr Part of the Law Commons Repository Citation Patrick Garry, The First Amendment and Freedom of the Press: A Revised Approach to the Marketplace of Ideas Concept, 72 Marq. L. Rev. 187 (1989). Available at: http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/mulr/vol72/iss2/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Marquette Law Review by an authorized administrator of Marquette Law Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE FIRST AMENDMENT AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS: A REVISED APPROACH TO THE MARKETPLACE OF IDEAS CONCEPT PATRICK GARRY* I. INTRODUCTION Despite a long tradition of and a general belief in a free press, the courts have not developed a comprehensive theory of freedom of the press and its protection under the first amendment.' Freedom of the press cases have only recently come before the United States Supreme Court.2 The diverse doctrinal patterns of the Court's decisions illustrate a lack of consensus about the meaning, scope and application of the free press clause of the first amendment.3 Several Supreme Court cases decided in the 1970's demon- strate the Court's confusion concerning the relation between the freedom of the press clause and the freedom of speech clause.4 The first area of confu- sion is whether or not each clause provides a separate and distinct protec- tion from the other.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction--Is Freedom of the Press a Redundancy: What Does It Add to Freedom of Speech Melville B
    Hastings Law Journal Volume 26 | Issue 3 Article 2 1-1975 Introduction--Is Freedom of the Press a Redundancy: What Does it Add to Freedom of Speech Melville B. Nimmer Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Melville B. Nimmer, Introduction--Is Freedom of the Press a Redundancy: What Does it Add to Freedom of Speech, 26 Hastings L.J. 639 (1975). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol26/iss3/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. Introduction-Is Freedom of the Press A Redundancy: What Does it Add To Freedom of Speech? By MELVILLE B. NIMMER* BEFORE turning to the provocative issues posed in this sympo- sium on the First Amendment and the Media, it may be well to pause by way of introduction to consider a preliminary constitutional issue. In the voluminous discussions, judicial and otherwise, of the rights of the media, one issue appears to have been virtually ignored.1 That the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of expression, whatever its scope, may be claimed not just for newspapers and other printed publi- cations, but also for motion pictures,2 and radio and television broad- casts8 is clear enough. Freedom of the press amounts to freedom of "the media.' 4 But the constitutional text protects against "abridging
    [Show full text]