Free Speech Revisited: Provocative Views of the First Amendment

Duration 01:12:55

Yale Law School

Robert Post is the former Dean (2017) and Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Before coming to Yale, he taught at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law. Dean Post’s subject areas are constitutional law, First Amendment, legal history, and equal protection. He has written and edited numerous books, including “Citizens Divided: A Constitutional Theory of Campaign Finance Reform.” He publishes regularly in legal journals and other publications. Professor Post is a member of the American Philosophical Society and the American Law Institute and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a former member of the Board of Directors of the American Constitution Society.

Overview

The course will offer a general theory of the First Amendment, which prohibits government from abridging the freedom of speech. Everyone speaks about the First Amendment, but few understand actually how it works and what it is meant to protect. The course will offer a quick history of First Amendment jurisprudence, a summary of essential First Amendment doctrines, and some examples of contemporary First Amendment puzzles, ranging from free speech in the university to the regulation of commercial speech.