Free Speech

An engaging guide to the most important free speech rules, rationales, and debates, including the strongest arguments for and against protecting the most controversial speech, such as hate speech and disinformation.

This concise but comprehensive book lays out specific answers to numerous topical questions about free speech law, along with general explanations of how and why the law distinguishes between protected and punishable speech. It provides the essential background for understanding and contributing to our debates about whether to protect speech with various kinds of controversial content, such as hate speech and disinformation, including the applicable legal tenets and the strongest arguments for and against them.

The book focuses on modern First Amendment law, explaining the historical factors that propelled its evolution in a more speech-protective direction, particularly the Civil Rights Movement. It highlights many cases involving multiple issues in which robust speech-protective principles aided advocates of racial justice and other human rights causes. The book also shows how these holdings reflect universal, timeless values that have been incorporated into many other legal systems and have inspired countless thinkers and activists.

Without oversimplifying the complexities of free speech law, the book's lively question-and-answer format summarizes this law in an understandable, interesting, and memorable fashion. It addresses the issues in a logical sequence, presenting colorful facts and eloquent language from landmark Supreme Court opinions. It will be illuminating to a wide range of readers, from those who know nothing about free speech law to those who have studied it but seek a well-organized summary of major doctrinal rules, as well as insights into their background, rationales, and interconnections.