First Amendment, First Principles: Verbal Acts and Freedom of Speech

The First Amendment, which guarantees our rights of expression, has come to epitomise the meaning of freedom in the United States. Yet as the ability to express ourselves expands into boundless opportunities with the advent of electronic media in the twenty-first century, new threats of censorship arise. In First Amendment, First Principles , attorney John F. Wirenius explores these and other challenges to freedom of speech and examines the evolution of how the First Amendment has come to the meaning it bears today. In his bold rethinking of the concept of freedom of speech, Wirenius writes a thorough, scholarly discussion of the body of law surrounding free speech and a passionate defence of his convictions regarding the First Amendment. He reminds us that we must protect the First Amendment in order for it to protect us. In this revised edition, the author has added a chapter that explores liability for copycat crimes: What is the media's responsibility for violence committed in the aftermath of graphic depictions of murder and other violent acts? He also examines the laws surrounding the exercise of free speech during wartime and cites the latest cases dealing with such subjects as pornography, hate speech, and the Internet.