This authoritative annotated document collection surveys and explains efforts to censor, intimidate, suppress—and reform and improve—news organizations and journalism in America, from the newspapers of colonial times to the social media that saturates the present day. This primary source collection will help readers to understand how the press has been vilified (usually by powerful political or corporate interests) over the course of American history, with a special focus on current events and how these efforts to censor or influence news coverage often flout First Amendment protections concerning freedom of the press. Selected documents highlight efforts to intimidate, silence, condemn, marginalize, and otherwise undercut the credibility and influence of American journalism from the colonial era through the Trump presidency. Most of the featured documents focus on efforts borne out of self-interested attempts to shape or conceal news for political or economic gain or personal fame, but coverage also includes instances in which press actions, attitudes, or priorities deserved censure. All told, the collection will be a valuable resource for understanding the importance of a free press to American life (and the constitutional basis for preserving such), the motivations (both selfish and altruistic) of critics of American journalism from the earliest days of the Republic to today, and the impact of all of the above on American society.

For some, he was "America's leading smut king," hauled into court repeatedly over thirty years for peddling obscene publications through the mail. But when Samuel Roth appealed a 1956 conviction, he forced the Supreme Court to finally come to grips with a problem that had plagued both American society and constitutional law for longer than he had been in business. For while the facts of "Roth v. United States" were unexceptional, its constitutional issues would define the relationship of obscenity to the First Amendment.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in "Roth" for the first time tried to definitively rule on the issue of obscenity in American life and law--and failed. In this first book-length examination of the case, Whitney Strub lays out the history of obscenity's meaning as a legal concept, highlights the influence of antivice crusaders like Anthony Comstock and John Sumner, and chronicles the shadowy career that led Roth to spend nearly a decade of his life imprisoned for the allegedly obscene materials that he sent through the mails. Strub then unwraps the events that produced "Roth v. United States," placing the trial in the context of its times--the Kinsey Reports, the Kefauver hearings, free speech debates--by using Roth's own private papers along with the records of the various prosecutions and the memos of the justices.

The significance of "Roth," as Strub reveals, lay in the two faces of Justice William Brennan's majority opinion--which on the one hand reflected the liberalizing attitude toward sexual matters in mid-century America, but on the other kept "obscene" expressions beyond First Amendment protection. Because that ruling points up the contradictions of a society where the prurient and repressive commingle uncomfortably, Strub shows how Roth says much more about American sexual values than Brennan's written words necessarily acknowledged.

In our era of internet pornography and "Fifty Shades of Grey," it may be difficult to imagine a time when obscenity was a matter for the courts. As Strub tracks the legacy of "Roth" and obscenity law through the ongoing policing of acceptable sexuality into the twenty-first century, his riveting narrative brings those times to life and helps readers navigate the fine line between what is socially acceptable and what is criminally obscene.

Is academic freedom threatened? The book examines current challenges to academic freedom in Europe, focusing mainly on Italy and Germany. The cases discussed demonstrate that research and teaching are under pressure in European democracies: in Hungary and Poland due to political constraints, in other countries due to societal expectations. Considering different interrelated aspects, the four parts of the book explore many real and potential threats to universities, scientific institutions and researchers, ranging from the European dimension of freedom of the arts and sciences to comparative analysis of emerging challenges to academic freedom against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. They highlight threats to university autonomy from the economic orientation of university governance, which emphasizes efficiency, competition, and external evaluation, and from new rules concerning trigger warnings, speech restrictions, and ethics commissions. Detailed study of these complex threats is intended to stimulate scholarly reflection and elicit serious discussion at European and national level. The volume contributes to the search for a new role of universities and scientific institutions and is addressed to academics and political stakeholders.

This book lays out the foundation of a privacy doctrine suitable to the cyber age. It limits the volume, sensitivity, and secondary analysis that can be carried out. In studying these matters, the book examines the privacy issues raised by the NSA, publication of state secrets, and DNA usage.

This title presents a critical examination of the contemporary debates in Europe and the international community over 'incitement to religious hatred' and the 'defamation of religions'. Today, a new notion of blasphemy has arrived on the international political scene in the form of United Nations resolutions condemning the "defamation of religions" and national laws restricting religiously offensive speech. In the days of Moses, God defended His own honour. In the biblical worldview, blasphemy was the direct verbal abuse of the divine person, punishable by death. For the medievals, it was taken as a threat to civil order. Unlike the biblical and medieval discourse, however, this new debate turns on the feelings of the believers themselves. Meanwhile, artists and public figures face trial for "inciting religious hatred". What is the proper balance between freedom and equal respect for persons? When, if ever, is religious offense not only legally permissible but morally appropriate in a pluralistic democracy? "The Future of Blasphemy" goes beyond the headlines to critically examine the contemporary debates in the international community. It advances a balanced defence of freedom of expression that gives full consideration to the value of equality along with freedom of conscience and religion.

How far does the idea of academic freedom extend to professors in an era of racial reckoning? The protests of summer 2020, which were ignited by the murder of George Floyd, led to long-overdue reassessments of the legacy of racism and white supremacy in both American academe and cultural life more generally. But while universities have been willing to rename some buildings and schools or grapple with their role in the slave trade, no one has yet asked the most uncomfortable question: Does academic freedom extend to racist professors? It's Not Free Speech considers the ideal of academic freedom in the wake of the activism inspired by outrageous police brutality, white supremacy, and the #MeToo movement. Arguing that academic freedom must be rigorously distinguished from freedom of speech, Michael Berube and Jennifer Ruth take aim at explicit defenses of colonialism and theories of white supremacy-theories that have no intellectual legitimacy whatsoever. Approaching this question from two angles-one, the question of when a professor's intramural or extramural speech calls into question his or her fitness to serve, and two, the question of how to manage the simmering tension between the academic freedom of faculty and the antidiscrimination initiatives of campus offices of diversity, equity, and inclusion-they argue that the democracy-destroying potential of social media makes it very difficult to uphold the traditional liberal view that the best remedy for hate speech is more speech. In recent years, those with traditional liberal ideals have had very limited effectiveness in responding to the resurgence of white supremacism in American life. It is time, Berube and Ruth write, to ask whether that resurgence requires us to rethink the parameters and practices of academic freedom. Touching as well on contingent faculty, whose speech is often inadequately protected, It's Not Free Speech insists that we reimagine shared governance to augment both academic freedom and antidiscrimination initiatives on campuses. Faculty across the nation can develop protocols that account for both the new realities-from the rise of social media to the decline of tenure-and the old realities of long-standing inequities and abuses that the classic liberal conception of academic freedom did nothing to address. This book will resonate for anyone who has followed debates over #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Critical Race Theory, and "cancel culture"; more specifically, it should have a major impact on many facets of academic life, from the classroom to faculty senates to the office of the general counsel.

"Religion, Law, and Freedom: A Global Perspective" introduces readers to diverse perspectives on the interplay of religion, law, and communications freedom in different cultures around the world. Through discussion and analysis of the religious mores and cultural values that a nation adheres to, a greater understanding of that nation, its laws, and its freedoms can be cultivated. Rather than suggesting that harmony can be achieved without conflict, the essays in this volume seek to present the reader with a variety of perspectives from which to view and understand the relationships among religion, law, and freedom in various cultures. This multifaceted analysis, therefore, helps readers draw their own conclusions as to the best way to resolve cultural conflict brought about by the growing global community.

The book consists of fifteen chapters, authored or coauthored by 17 international scholars representing China, Germany, Israel, Iran, Japan, Latvia, Nigeria, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The chapters are organized into four parts: "Perspectives on Eastern and Western Religions; Press Freedom in Religious and Secular Societies; Journalism, Advertising, and Ethical Issues;" and "Religion, Politics, Media, and Human Rights." This important contribution will especially appeal to researchers and students in such fields as mass communications, legal studies, cultural studies, political science, religion, intercultural communications, international communications, and journalism.

This resounding defence of the principles of free expression revisits the 'Satanic Verses' uproar of 1989, as well as subsequent incidents such as the Danish cartoons controversy, to argue that the human right of free speech is by no means so secure that it can be taken for granted.

How do we know when one person or society is `freer' than another? Can freedom be measured? Is more freedom better than less? This book provides the first full-length treatment of these fundamental yet neglected issues, throwing new light both on the notion of freedom and on contemporary liberalism.

This book is a must-read for anyone studying and researching the rise and fall of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy and McCarthyism in American political life. Intolerance in America that targets alleged internal subversives controlled by external agents has a storied history that stretches hundreds of years. While the post-World War II "Red Scare" and the emergence of McCarthyism during the 1950s is the era commonly associated with American anticommunism, there was also a "First Red Scare" that occurred in 1919-1920. In both time periods, many Americans feared the radicalism of the left, and some of the most outspoken-like McCarthy-used slander to denounce their political enemies. The result was an atmosphere in which individual rights and liberties were at risk and hysteria prevailed. McCarthyism and the Red Scare: A Reference Guide tracks the rise and fall of Senator Joe McCarthy and the broad pursuit of domestic "Red" subversives in the post-World War II years, and focuses on how American society responded to real and perceived threats from the left during the first decade of the Cold War. Provides an overview of McCarthyism and the postwar Red Scare, relating these mindsets to other waves of domestic persecution Includes 12 relevant historic documents such as the Truman Loyalty Oaths; a transcript of McCarthy's speech in Wheeling, West Virginia; McCarthy's attacks on Acheson and Marshall; Margaret Chase Smith's Statement on Conscience; and the Senate's censure of McCarthy Provides information on the First Red Scare and the emergence of the American fear of the Left and the potential for a revolution Includes 11 short biographies of primary individuals associated with McCarthyism and the Red Scare Presents a chronology of events that threatened or weakened individual rights throughout the 20th century, with a specific focus on the Red Scare periods of 1919-21 and 1945-57 An annotated bibliography includes primary and secondary sources representing the most significant contemporary and scholarly works on the topic

Although Americans tend to take the concept and protection of free expression for granted, free press and free speech are at best only tentatively established in some nations of the world. Covering prehistoric times to mid-1998, this book provides a year-by-year report of the efforts to free the press throughout the world. Since the American concept of free speech came from England, the early chapters place a heavy emphasis on events in England, while later chapters include other nations throughout the world. Ingelhart provides a thorough overview of free press and free speech principles and the continuing effort to extend those freedoms almost everywhere.

Rather than abstract philosophical discussion or yet another analysis of legal doctrine, Speech and Silence in American Law seeks to situate speech and silence, locating them in particular circumstances and contexts and asking how context matters in facilitating speech or demanding silence. To understand speech and silence we have to inquire into their social life and examine the occasions and practices that call them forth and that give them meaning. Among the questions addressed in this book are, Who is authorized to speak? And what are the conditions that should be attached to the speaking subject? Are there occasions that call for speech and others that demand silence? What is the relationship between the speech act and the speaker? Taking these questions into account helps readers understand what compels speakers and what problems accompany speech without a known speaker, allowing us to assess how silence speaks and how speech renders the silent more knowable.

This book offers a new theoretical framework for free speech by critically analyzing the major justifications for free speech. Unlike most theories that justify free speech on single grounds, this book argues for a justification; namely the double grounded principled approach; that combines and revises the arguments of equal autonomy and democratic participation at the same time. It claims that a revised and critical blending of these two justifications can serve free speech to be grounded on strong principled arguments. The book has both a theoretical and practical focus: first, it discusses the conceptual circumstances of free speech and major theoretical justifications for free speech and then, it applies the developed theoretical framework to the cases of academic freedom, media freedom and hate speech separately. This volume will appeal to readers who are interested in general free speech theories as well as readers who look for an alternative view on specific topics such as academic freedom, media freedom and hate speech.

This annotated document collection surveys the history and evolution of laws and attitudes regarding free speech and censorship in the United States, with a special emphasis on contemporary events and controversies related to the First Amendment. The United States' collective understanding of First Amendment freedoms was formed by more than 200 years of tensions between the power of word and the power of the government. During that time, major laws and legal decisions defined the circumstances and degree to which personal expression could be rightfully expressed-and rightfully limited. This struggle to define the parameters of free speech continues today. Vibrant and passionate debates about First Amendment limitations once inspired by the dissemination of birth control information now address such issues as kneeling during the national anthem, removing controversial books from public libraries, attempts by the Trump administration to discredit the press, and disseminating false or hateful information through social media platforms. By exploring diverse examples of censorship victories and triumphs of free expression, readers will better understand the enormous impact of First Amendment freedoms on American society. Chronological history of important milestones, documents, and events that have shaped the nation's understanding of freedom of speech/press and censorship, as well as the limitations of each Primary source selection that illuminates the importance of First Amendment freedoms as critical elements of democracy in the United States Informative, authoritative, and balanced introductory headnotes for each primary source to help readers understand the context in which they were created Readers Guide to Related Documents and sidebars

Tracking the relationship between the theory of press control and the realities of practicing daily press censorship prior to publication, this volume on the suppression of dissent in early modern Europe tackles a topic with many elusive and under-researched characteristics. Pre-publication censorship was common in absolutist regimes in Catholic and Protestant countries alike, but how effective it was in practice remains open to debate. The Netherlands and England, where critical content segued into outright lampoonery, were unusual for hard-wired press freedoms that arose, respectively, from a highly competitive publishing industry and highly decentralized political institutions. These nations remained extraordinary exceptions to a rule that, for example in France, did not end until the revolution of 1789. Here, the author's European perspective provides a survey of the varying censorship regulations in European nations, as well as the shifting meanings of 'freedom of the press'. The analysis opens up fascinating insights, afforded by careful reading of primary archival sources, into the reactions of censors confronted with manuscripts by authors seeking permission to publish. Tortarolo sets the opinions on censorship of well-known writers, including Voltaire and Montesquieu, alongside the commentary of anonymous censors, allowing us to revisit some common views of eighteenth-century history. How far did these writers, their reasoning stiffened by Enlightenment values, promote dissident views of absolutist monarchies in Europe, and what insights did governments gain from censors' reports into the social tensions brewing under their rule? These questions will excite dedicated researchers, graduate students, and discerning lay readers alike.

Freedom of speech is a tradition distinctive to American political culture, and this book focuses on the major debates and discourses that shaped this tradition. Today the American Bill of Rights, with its famous First Amendment, is generally taken for granted, but when James Madison proposed a Bill of Rights in 1789, the reaction among his colleagues in the first Congress was hostile. The book examines how Madison was able to prevail in spite of such opposition. It focuses on discourses connected to the Sedition Act of 1798, which represented a serious threat to freedom of speech and the first Amendment. The author sheds fresh light on key Congressional debates on the Bill of Rights and the Sedition Act by developing and applying an approach to fallacy theory that is suitable to the study of political discourse. He further focuses on criticism of the Madison administration in Federalist newspapers during the War of 1812, arguing that Madison's toleration of such criticism was important in shaping a tradition of free expression in the United States. Efforts to suppress free expression during the Wilson administration represented a serious challenge to this tradition, and the author goes on to employ fallacy theory in examining Congressional discourses for and against Wilson's policy of repression.

The Soviet collapse of 1991 - the Great August liberation - demonstrated the total exhaustion of Marxist Leninist agitation and propaganda. It was no longer possible to live on slogans. The failure of Soviet agitprop is also the failure of Soviet censorship the latter being a unique institution in anti-thought. This volume analyzes the consequences of censorship, before tackling the media legislation of the Russian Federation and the dangers to the free flow of information emerging both within and outside the Russian Federation.

This book addresses the question: "What should be the appropriate limits to free speech?" The author claims that it is the state, rather than abstract principles, that must provide the answer. The book defends a version of Hobbesian absolutism and rejects the dominant liberal idea that there is a right (human or civil) setting the boundaries of free speech. This liberal view can be known as the "principled defence of free speech", in which speech is established as a constitutional principle that has priority over the state. The author instead offers an "unprincipled approach to free speech", suggesting that the boundaries of speech must necessarily be set by the state, which in liberal democracies means through social and political contestation. The final chapter applies the argument to the topic of hate speech and argues that it is appropriate to limit such speech when it causes harm and offense. The book will be of use to students and scholars across political theory, political science, sociology, philosophy and law.

This book is a plea for scientific openness and free access to information. It demonstrates the futility of scientific secrecy and the weakness of national arguments against open communication. From the restriction of technologically advanced exports, to the classification of research as restricted or secret, to the monitoring (and censoring) of scientific publications and library collections, to the pre-emption by the Pentagon of scientific and technological research, the U.S. federal government has achieved a state of unprecedented control over American science and technology. This, despite the end of the Cold War. Foerstel examines this continuing trend toward the state as chief sponsor, promoter, and supervisor of scientific research and its unsettling ramifications.

Foerstel concludes that scientific secrecy is counterproductive to American interests, particularly in an era when economics has come to define national security. His controversial analysis will be of interest to scientists, historians, and students of government alike.

Freedom of speech is a foundational principle of the American Constitutional system. This collection of over 100 primary documents from a variety of sources will help students understand exactly what is meant by "free speech," and how it has evolved since the founding of our country. Court cases, opinion pieces, and many other documents bring to life the tension between America's constitutional commitment to robust and unrestrained discourse and recurring efforts to suppress expression deemed dangerous, degrading or obscene. Explanatory introductions to each document aid users in understanding the various arguments put forth in debates over exactly how to define the Constitution to encourage readers to consider all sides when drawing their own conclusions. Relying heavily on Supreme Court precedents that have shaped First Amendment law, the volume also provides plenty of carefully selected source materials chosen to reflect the culture of the times, allowing the reader to better understand the climate giving rise to each controversy. The introductory and explanatory text help readers understand the nature of the conflicts, the issues being litigated, the social and cultural pressures that shaped each debate, and the manner in which the composition of the Supreme Court and the passions of the individual Justices affected the development of the law. This welcome resource will provide students with the opportunity to explore the philosophy of the First Amendment's Free Speech provisions and to understand how our historic commitment to freedom of expression has fared at various times in our history.

This book uniquely depicts the preeminent role that African trade unions played in ousting dictatorships and bringing democracy to many African countries in the 1990s. In the analytical introduction and case studies of major African countries, leading scholars relate how democratic trade unions were critical in launching and sustaining democratization. Working with other societal groups and parties, unions continue to represent the popular classes and invigorate democratic life in these otherwise elite-dominated countries.

"A very readable book containing the best arguments thus far opposing campaign finance reform."
-- "Choice"

"Martin Redish's accomplishment is that he not only has written a strong critique of te proposals to extend governmental regulation of free speech, but he has also given First Amendment defenders a base from which to attack existing restrictions on communication. Money Talks illustrates and upholds why the Founders prohibited Congress from making any law thta abridges the freedom of speech."--"Regulation"

Many have argued that soft money and special interests are destroying the American electoral system. And yet the clarion call for campaign finance reform only touches on the more general belief that money and economic power have a disastrous impact on both free expression and American democracy. The nation's primary sources of communication, the argument goes, are increasingly controlled by vast corporate empires whose primary, or even exclusive motive is the maximization of profit. And these conglomerates should simply not be granted the same constitutional protection as, say, an individual protester.

And yet neither the expenditure of money for expressive purposes nor an underlying motive of profit maximization detracts from the values fostered by such activity, claims Martin H. Redish. In fact, given the modern economic realities that dictate that effective expression virtually requires the expenditure of capital, any restriction of such capital for expressive purposes will necessarily reduce the sum total of available expression. Further, Redish here illustrates, the underlying motive of those who wish to restrict corporate expression is disagreement with thenature of the views they express.

Confronting head-on one of the sacred cows of American reformist politics, Martin H. Redish here once again lives up to his reputation as one of America's most original and counterintuitive legal minds.

"The Aesthetics of Free Speech: Rethinking the Public Sphere" is one of the first books to theoretically explore the relationship between free speech and the public sphere. By drawing upon Marxist theory the author, John Michael Roberts, demonstrates how liberal theorists frequently construct an abstract aesthetic of "rational," "cultivated" and "competent" discussion which then serves as a norm through which certain utterances can be humiliated and excluded from participating fully within the public sphere. However, the author also shows how excluded utterances develop their own aesthetic of free speech and how this aesthetic then comes back to haunt the bourgeois public sphere.