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Privacy: Newsworthiness is a Strong Defense
Privacy (Embarrassing Private Facts) Disclosure of private facts about an individual, according to the Restatement (Second) of Torts, can give rise to liability if it involves information that “(a)...
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Public Forums: Protecting Demonstrations in the Streets
The underlying law on public forums is well established. Traditional public forums include such areas as streets, sidewalks and parks that have a history of dedication to political speech. Public...
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Prior Restraint: Strong Protection Against Government Censorship
Prior restraints go at least as far back as 16th century England, when invention of the printing press made it possible to spread dissent and new ideas widely. Such publications could pose a threat to...
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Hate Speech: Freedom to Express the “Thought That We Hate”
Is offensive speech, and especially hate speech, protected by the First Amendment? Some protesters use profane and scurrilous language to make their point. Others like the neo-Nazis and other white...
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Symbolic Speech: Our Inheritance from the Founding Period
What is Symbolic Speech and why is it important in our Free Speech debate? First Amendment Watch delves into this important topic. "Symbolic speech as a form of protest, like taking a knee at a...
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Emotional Distress: “Outrageousness” Has an Inherent Subjectiveness
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress A satiric attack on Jerry Falwell, a Baptist pastor and founder of the conservative group, the Moral Majority, resulted in a major Supreme Court opinion...
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Libel: Protecting Vital Political Speech
Until 1964 when the Supreme Court decided New York Times v. Sullivan, and extending back many centuries, public officials had the power to put down critics. They could easily win a libel suit because...
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Hate Speech: Fighting Words
Fighting words refer to direct, face-to-face, personal insults that would likely lead the recipient to respond with violence. The U.S. Supreme Court developed the fighting-words doctrine in Chaplinsky...
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