Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment

From the Patriot Act to Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl show, recent events have embroiled America’s First Amendment rights in ongoing battles to maintain this country’s freedom of expression. And with the media taking an ever-more prominent role in the lifestyles of all citizens, the First Amendment continues to be one of the most hotly and dramatically contested issues in the public eye.

Now, with Speaking Freely, Floyd Abrams, the attorney on the front lines of America’s fight for uncensored expression for more than thirty years, re-creates eight of the most important cases of his career—landmark trials and Supreme Court arguments in cases involving key First Amendment protections, including the famous Pentagon Papers case. With adversaries as diverse as Richard Nixon, Wayne Newton, and Rudy Giuliani, and allies as unlikely as Kenneth Starr and Senator Mitch McConnell, Abrams takes readers behind the scenes to examine his strategies, the ramifications of each of the decisions, and the long-term significance of each case, while presenting a clear and compelling look at the law in action.

In the tradition of bestselling authors on legal issues such as F. Lee Bailey, Louis Nizer, and Alan Dershowitz, Floyd Abrams conveys the dramatic immediacy of the trials and appeals in which First Amendment law has been created—and addresses the continuing importance of upholding America’s constitutional right to free speech.