Free Speech in an Open Society

Overview

This grand tour of First Amendment law underlines the intimate connection between free expression and democratic values as it leads us through the most treacherous and emotionally charged cases in American jurisprudence. "Intellectually venturesome. . . ".--"The New York Times Book Review".

This grand tour of First Amendment law underlines the intimate connection between free expression and democratic values as it leads us through the most treacherous and emotionally...

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Free Speech in an Open Society

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Overview

This grand tour of First Amendment law underlines the intimate connection between free expression and democratic values as it leads us through the most treacherous and emotionally charged cases in American jurisprudence. "Intellectually venturesome. . . ".--"The New York Times Book Review".

This grand tour of First Amendment law underlines the intimate connection between free expression and democratic values as it leads us through the most treacherous and emotionally charged cases in American jurisprudence. "Intellectually venturesome. . . ."--The New York Times Book Review.

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Smolla offers an eloquent, carefully reasoned brief for society's need to protect citizens from the government's inherent proclivity to engage in censorship and secrecy. (Aug.)
Kirkus Reviews
A superb exposition of the significance of free speech and an analysis of how to preserve it in our increasingly complex society. Smolla (Law/Marshall-Wythe School of Law at William and Mary College) makes a case for an open culture—one in which free-speech values pervade and permit a robust and open exchange of ideas. Seeing the achievement of such a culture as "an aspiration of transcendent importance," he envisions a society in which free speech is seen both as a means of testing and choosing the best ideas—the "marketplace" rationale for free speech—and as an end in itself. Smolla demonstrates, however, that, in practice, society attempts to establish limits on speech that often lead to significant diminution of speech. He analyzes the possible harms of speech—to persons and property; to social, transactional, and business relationships; to individuals and to communal sensibilities—and creates a theoretical hierarchy of harms that, in his view, can create a theoretical basis for regulating speech (how his theory can be reconciled with the absolutist language of the First Amendment is not clear). After discussing this theoretical groundwork, Smolla examines the application of free- speech principles in practical situations, which he divides broadly into political speech (such as hate speech, obscenity, individual privacy, and public funding of the arts) and issues raised by newsgathering (such as censorship in the Persian Gulf War, the attempt to restrain release of tapes in the Noriega case, and the challenges posed by new technologies). Avoiding easy answers, the author demonstrates an acute sensitivity to the importance of preserving free speech whilerecognizing the practical problems faced by policy-makers. Smolla takes a scholarly—yet accessible—approach to his subject and displays a sure knowledge of recent First Amendment jurisprudence. An excellent and important work.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780679742135
  • Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 7/27/1993
  • Edition description: 1st Vintage Books ed
  • Edition number: 1
  • Pages: 444
  • Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.50 (h) x 1.00 (d)

Table of Contents

I The Meaning of Freedom of Speech in an Open Culture
1 The Case for an Open Culture 3
2 The Shortcomings of All Simple Answers 18
3 A Model for Freedom of Speech 43
II Free Speech and the Political Community
4 Patriotism, Community, and Dissent 69
5 Personal Reputation and Privacy 117
6 Hate Speech: Tolerating Intolerance 151
7 Public Funding of the Arts, Education, and Other Forms of Public Speech 170
8 Money and Politics 220
III News-Gathering in the International Marketplace
9 The Noriega Tapes and Other Lessons in Prior Restraints 243
10 The Parable of the Persian Gulf: The First Casualty of War 291
11 The Challenges of New Technologies 321
12 Toward an International Marketplace of Ideas 343
Notes 369
Index 415
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