The Free Speech Century, ed. by Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey R. Stone

When sovereignty resides in the citizenry, then there can be no place for the State to tell the people what they can and cannot say or hear. The process of self-government must be insulated from the intrusion of official censorship, and it is the proper role of the judicial branch to provide that insulation. 

~p. 6, from "Dialogue" in Advance Reader Copy of The Free Speech Century (some changes may have been made to the final print copy)

The Free Speech Century, edited by Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey R. Stone, is a book of writings on the topic of free speech published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Supreme Court decision interpreting the speech clause of the First Amendment. The book opens with a dialogue between the two editors and then dives into the writings, which are divided into three parts:

1. The Nature of First Amendment Jurisprudence
2. Major Critiques and Controversial Areas of First Amendment Jurisprudence
3. The International Implications of the First Amendment

The simplest way to look at those three sections is probably to say that the earlier writings lay the foundation for the modern interpretation of the First Amendment, while the second section goes into the disputes and problems with current interpretation, and the third section (the shortest) observes how the U.S.'s First Amendment has influenced the writing of constitutions in other democracies throughout the world and examines new and coming challenges, with focus on free speech on the internet and the responsibility of social media platforms.

Up front, I have to say that I have a limited understanding of law and had to look up a lot of legal terminology. The Free Speech Century's collection of writings, though, is varied enough that I found some of them breezy and straightforward, as a layman, while others were difficult to read. But, those that were more challenging were worth the effort involved in reading and parsing. And, much like reading something like a Georgette Heyer novel, the farther you get into the reading, the easier it is to understand as you become accustomed to the language.

Among the topics are the original purpose of the amendment (to allow citizens to keep the government in check), why the amendment was considered less important till WWI upon the decision in Schenck v. the United States (written by Oliver Wendell Holmes) that the book commemorates, the judges who made important decisions and how they changed how we view free speech, America's influence on the constitutions of other democracies, current problems with the First Amendment and challenges going forward.

I marked up the book so thoroughly with flags that I ended up intimidating myself with the sheer number of quotes I found flag-worthy. Flipping through all those quotes, though, has served as a reminder of the depth of free speech topics that are covered in The Free Speech Century. I found some topics more interesting than others, of course. One that I was particularly interested in was, "The Classic First Amendment Tradition under Stress: Freedom of Speech and the University" by Robert C. Post, about the concept of speech sanctioned by a university and whether or not state schools have the right to ban speakers. That was a topic I've wondered about, since some speakers (particularly those with radical right-wing views) have recently been banned from speaking on campuses, prompting some conservatives to claim that free speech is being throttled by the universities that have banned them.

The purpose of classic First Amendment principles is to protect the process of self-government. But speech within universities does not serve this purpose. It serves the purpose of education, which requires an entirely different framework of speech regulation and protection. Speech within campus is ordinarily protected according to principles of academic freedom, as distinct from freedom of speech. [...] The plain implication is that [students'] speech may be regulated in ways that facilitate their education. [...] No competent teacher would conduct a class on the premise that all ideas were equal. 

~p. 112, from "Freedom of Speech and the University"

"Keeping Secrets" by David A. Strauss is worth a read if you have a strong opinion about recent leakers of government information because it compares the Pentagon Papers to recent leaks and explains recent leaks, like that of Edward Snowden, in a way that has been glossed over by the press. Like the argument about free speech on university campuses, it's a topic I've wondered about.

Snowden leaked because he was concerned about government surveillance programs. But Snowden, unlike Ellsberg [leaker of the Pentagon Papers], was not deeply knowledgeable about the materials he was leaking. He had no particular background or training that would enable him to evaluate either whether the government was acting wrongly or how damaging the release of the information might be. He had access to all that information not because he was an expert but because he was an IT guy.

~p. 128, from "Keeping Secrets"

Highly recommended - While the reading can be challenging, at times, The Free Speech Century is an excellent book. I learned a great deal about such things as the meaning of "clear and present danger" in relation to free speech (words first used in the Schenck decision), how Canada is getting the problem of porn as free speech right but the U.S. allows for exploitation of women and children, why free speech rights have nothing to do with what kind of speech a business considers acceptable and can forbid on its platform or from its employees, why the ACLU "features prominently, if not centrally, in most histories of the modern First Amendment," when leaked government information has been punishable or not and why, and many other topics.

Notably, I just yesterday read an article by an artist who claimed that her right to free speech was being quashed by Facebook because her art — which contains controversial images in protest of their recent usage — has led to her being banned completely from Facebook and losing not just years' of posts but, more importantly, the list of followers that help her maintain an income. I already knew that how a business chooses to regulate speech is not covered by the First Amendment, as she suggests, but I definitely gained a deeper understanding of why that's true and the historical purpose of the amendment from The Free Speech Century.

Ugh, it's hard to shut up about this book. It was definitely a terrific learning experience. I won my Advance Reader Copy of The Free Speech Century from Oxford University Press via a Shelf Awareness Drawing and I feel privileged to have read it.


©2019 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Three I loved - The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt, 1963: The Year of Revolution by Morgan and Leve and Entertaining Judgment by Greg Garrett

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt is so crammed with little flags that I could quote from it all day, but instead I'm going to skip quotes entirely and just tell you about it, although I may eventually do a post filled with quotes so I can remove those markers.

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt is apparently a compact version of Mrs. Roosevelt's memoirs (which were originally published in several volumes). Although it's edited down to a single book, Mrs. Roosevelt's autobiography is crammed with wonderful anecdotes and gives the reader an excellent inside view of her life. Especially interesting, of course, are the tumultuous Depression and WWII years, during which her husband Franklin served as President of the United States.

I have long been an admirer of Eleanor Roosevelt but wow . . . she's my hero, now. She was indefatigable in her efforts to make the lives of everyday people, especially women, better. She traveled the world at her husband's request numerous times to comfort soldiers and was relentlessly picked on by the press, though the soldiers deeply appreciated her. She wrote personal letters and columns, hosted dignitaries at her home and the White House, represented the U.S. in the early years of the United Nations. She was a woman of strong character who made an indelible imprint on our nation's direction.

I think The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt would make an exceptional school resource. Although some of the characters are unfamiliar because they were prominent at the time and have now faded into history, those occasional bits that have lost their impact tend to be brief enough that they don't interfere with the reading. Annotations wouldn't be a lost cause, in my humble opinion, but for teaching purposes it would work to use selected excerpts. The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt was one of those rare books that I found so exciting I occasionally read anecdotes to my husband. He enjoyed the portions I read. Highly recommended.


1963: The Year of the Revolution by Robin Morgan and Ariel Leve is an absorbing read, in spite of the fact that I don't like the way it's organized. An introduction is followed by chapters that begin with a quotation and then consist of first-person viewpoints by the people who were a part of the "youth-quake" that took place in 1963 in fashion, art and music on both sides of the Atlantic.

Each chapter contains a number of first-person accounts from musicians, artists, and other people involved in the changing events. Some were familiar to me, like Eric Clapton, Mary Quant and Sir Alan Parker, but many were not and therein the problem lies. While I enjoyed looking up various music groups, artists, fashion leaders and their work (particularly the music), it was a bit frustrating having to keep flipping back to remind myself who this or that person was. It might be a less chaotic-feeling read to those who lived it.

However, I grew up with a lot of the music that was mentioned without actually realizing who sang songs that were still playing on the radio during my childhood. So, it was loads of fun looking up music videos. And, in spite of the fact that I disliked the manner in which this oral history was presented, I really did enjoy the reading and came out of the experience feeling like I'd learned a great deal. I even have a new favorite old song. Definitely recommended, but do be aware that the book is focused on the arts and fashion, not generalities. It's worth mentioning that even though I disliked the organization of the book and having to look things up slowed down the reading, I was never tempted to set it aside. I found 1963: The Year of Revolution utterly fascinating.

The Autobiography of Eleanor Roosevelt and 1963: The Year of Revolution were both sent to me by HarperCollins (the former a Harper Perennial imprint, the latter from Dey Street).

Entertaining Judgment by Greg Garrett is a book I purchased because I love the author's writing. I pre-ordered it when he talked about it on Facebook and didn't wait long after it arrived before indulging. Subtitled "The Afterlife in Popular Imagination", Entertaining Judgment is about how Heaven, Hell and purgatory are portrayed in books, films, video games and music. Garrett talks a bit about angels, the devil and ghosts, as well.

Entertaining Judgment is as informative as it is captivating. Garrett describes how minimal the descriptions of Heaven and Hell are in religious writings and how strongly popular opinion of what exactly may await us in the afterlife has been dictated by fiction. I loved the fact that the author doesn't let his Christianity interfere with the presentation of the material, examining how the afterlife is portrayed in various religious texts without ever saying one is superior to another.

Entertaining Judgment is not all-encompassing. I thought the portions about ghosts focused a little too heavily on fear when ghosts often are portrayed as entities that help people move on. One of my favorite ghost movies, Always, is not mentioned, for example. But, there are plenty of excellent examples that I knew little about and I came out of the reading of Entertaining Judgment with a strong desire to catch up on films and literature that I've missed. It's probably worth noting that I don't play video games at all but I found the descriptions of video games every bit as absorbing as those about film, books and music. Highly recommended. I don't recall ever reading anything quite like Entertaining Judgment and particularly enjoyed it for the change of pace.

©2015 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.