Description
This seminar explores current issues in First Amendment law by examining institutions that play a special role in our systems of speech and religion and are accorded privileged treatment under the First Amendment. Institutions and issues examined will include the press, religious institutions, libraries, public schools, universities and academic freedom, private associations, and new media. Our examination will involve reading and discussion of cases, legal literature, professional codes and other primary documents, and social science research. By studying the special role these institutions play in the social framework, and the privileged but unsettled status they enjoy in the law, we will come to a better understanding of both general First Amendment doctrine and the role of First Amendment institutions in particular.
