Free Speech in an Open Society

by Rodney A. Smolla

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780679742135
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/27/1993
Edition description:	1st Vintage Books ed
Pages:	444
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Rodney A. Smolla is a nationally recognized scholar, author, and teacher. He is Dean and Professor of Law at Widener University Delaware Law School and has previously held positions at the University of Georgia School of Law, the University of Richmond School of Law, Washington and Lee University School of Law, and Furman University. A graduate of Duke University and Yale University, he is the author of Jerry Falwell v. Larry Flynt, Deliberate Intent, and Free Speech in an Open Society, which won the William O. Douglas Prize.

Editorial Reviews

"A clear-headed guide through difficult terrain...Well-written, firm in its judgements, passionate about speech itself." --Washington Post Book World
"A scholarly work that goes beyond the platitudes of the debate over the First Amendment."--The Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher

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.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

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.

Kirkus Reviews

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