Free Speech

Len Niehoff is Professor from Practice at the University of Michigan Law School, where he teaches First Amendment and media law. He has practiced First Amendment law for almost forty years, representing journalists and media outlets in numerous cases. He is the author of more than 100 publications. Tom Sullivan is President Emeritus and Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of Vermont. Previously he served as Provost at the University of Minnesota and Dean at the University of Minnesota and University of Arizona law schools. He is the author of 12 books and over 75 articles and essays.

• Introduction; Part I. Core Values: 1. Instrumental value arguments for free speech; 2. Intrinsic value arguments for free speech; 3. Free expression and due process values; 4. The everyday first amendment; Part II. History: 5. The First amendment prior to 1919; 6. The first amendment from 1919-1963; 7. The first amendment from 1964–present: Free speech broadened and compartmentalized; 8. The first amendment from 1964–present: Hard cases; Part III. Basic Principles: 9. Content and viewpoint restrictions are disfavored; 10. Vagueness and overbreadth are special concerns; 11. Exceptions must be limited and narrowly crafted; Part IV. Current Controversies: 12. Hate speech; 13. Campaign finance regulation; 14. Speech in public schools; 15. Academic freedom; 16. Speech on the internet.

Niehoff and Sullivan are sure-footed and lucid guides to a legal terrain of greater scope and variety than the basic idea of free speech might suggest. The book is skillfully organized, with just the right mix of case description, historical perspective, storytelling, critique, and explanatory synthesis. It fills a need, and fills it better than I would have thought possible. Vincent Blasi, Corliss Lamont Professor of Civil Liberties, Columbia Law School