Contemplating Media & the First Amendment
Last Thursday, the country stood in stand still mesmerized by the Kavanaugh hearings. After the hearings the country went wild over Kavanaugh's testimony, the Republicans forcefulness over desperately trying to confirm the judge and the decision for a limited scope FBI investigation. Today, the American Civil Liberties Union denounced Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court... Continue Reading →
On Monday, October 1, President Trump held a press conference in the rose garden. This was his second press conference within the week - the first being held in New York on Wednesday, September 26 - and both were equally freewheeling and genuine to the Trump we saw campaign before the 2016 election. An entirely... Continue Reading →
Senator Lindsey Graham just couldn’t seem to bite his tongue during Thursday’s Kavanaugh hearing as #StopKavanaugh became the mantra well into the weekend on every social media outlet. South Carolina’s Republican senator has earned himself a remarkable number of retweets and shares coupled with enough media attention to last us into next year. Highlighted on... Continue Reading →
As Near v. Minnesota--the case we’ve all been studying--made clear, prior restraints on publication infringe on the freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment. Despite the fact that the Near case set this legal precedent nearly 90 years ago, that hasn’t stopped the issue of prior restraint from making headlines or from threatening... Continue Reading →
Access to truthful information allows people to be active participants in our democracy. Freedom of the press plays a crucial role in this process. This includes the right to criticize government officials and public figures. In Freedom for the Though That We Hate, author Anthony Lewis describes cases that have had a lasting impact... Continue Reading →
It’s 2018. We have Donald Trump in the highest office of power in this country, a man who has a myriad of sexual misconduct allegations against him. His behavior, excused by his voter and congressional base as false allegations and empty words, did not stop him from assuming the role of President of the United States. Through... Continue Reading →
While lying in bed checking my twitter feed, to my surprise, I saw a tweet of a campaign ad video. The headline of the video said “Family that defends it honor. The video seemed interesting, so I clicked on it. In the video were six siblings endorsing their brothers opponent. I watched it again... Continue Reading →
When it comes to porn and vulgarities, the large majority of our society is used to seeing tumultuous conduct widespread throughout the internet, TV and in publications. Even when you aren’t expecting it, it appears. Culture has made us immune to a flash of boobs, a love scene or a well-screamed “fuck” within parameters. While... Continue Reading →
There’s been a great debate for decades over what The Constitution’s distinguished First Amendment protects. Sure, you have your freedoms: freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and of course the freedom to redress grievances with the government. But, what about the freedom of expression? In February of 1971, the Supreme Court convicted Paul Robert Cohen... Continue Reading →
Who gets to decide what is “appropriate” to say? For much of the 20th century, the answer to that question was the Supreme Court. Freedom for the Thought that we Hate by Anthony Lewis details several Supreme Court cases that ruled on cases of obscenity, profanity, and pornography as they related to free speech. Cases... Continue Reading →
Free Press Free Speech 