The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder

Robert Corn-Revere is a leading First Amendment lawyer whose career has spanned over thirty-five years. He has argued cases in the Supreme Court, defeated the FCC in the Super Bowl 'wardrobe malfunction' case, and obtained a posthumous pardon for the late comedian Lenny Bruce from the Governor of New York.

• 1. The censor's dilemma; 2. Anthony Comstock: professional anti-vice crusader; 3. Comstock's legacy: a dilemma is born; 4. The Comstock playbook; 5. Seduction of the innocent: the comic book menace; 6. Ya got trouble: censorship and popular music; 7. The vast wasteland; 8. New age Comstockery: the indecency wars; 9. The anti-free speech movement; 10. Freedom of speech and the spirit of liberty.

'Corn-Revere's extraordinary The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder offers a riveting review and astute analysis of the evolution of free expression - and censorship of free speech - in the US through the eras of Anthony Comstock, 'offensive' comic books, porn rock, the FCC's regulation of the 'vast wasteland,' fleeting expletives, and the indecency wars of the twenty-first century. Corn-Revere brings to life the absurdities of censorship and the dangers such views pose to American liberty and democracy. This original work is informative, insightful, and often wildly entertaining.' Geoffrey R. Stone, Professor of Law, University of Chicago and author of Sex and the Constitution (2017)