Browsing by Subject "Free speech"

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    Free Speech and Antisemitism: Collin v. Smith Today
    (Elsevier, 2021-09-08) Wright, R. George; Robert H. McKinney School of Law
    The Skokie-based Collin v. Smith litigation resulted in our law's most significant constitutional response to antisemitic hate speech. The Skokie case opinions shed light on how antisemitism was thought of at the time and place in question. More importantly, how we choose now to understand the Collin v. Smith cases tells us much about how we conceive of antisemitism and of antisemitic injury today. The argument herein is that our understanding of freedom of speech, and of its value and limits, has significantly evolved over the decades since Collin v. Smith. Relatedly, our collective understanding of the harms and injuries inflicted by antisemitic speech has, at the deepest level, been significantly changing as well. In both of these respects, the Collin v. Smith litigation has only increased in importance over time.
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    Sharpening the Focus of Free Speech Law: The Crucial Role of Government Intent
    (Elsevier, 2021-08-29) Wright, R. George; Robert H. McKinney School of Law
    Contemporary free speech law is typically misfocused. This misfocus serves neither the purposes underlying the institution of free speech nor any broader social rights and interests in conflict with freedom of speech. As a general matter, the adjudication of free speech claims should properly focus, centrally, on the intent of the regulating government. More specifically, courts should focus crucially on whether the government has, in enacting or enforcing its speech regulation, intended to suppress or disadvantage a presumed or actual idea or its expression. This sharpened focus would allow the courts to responsibly address a surprisingly broad range of free speech cases, with a substantially diminished need for attention to a number of artificial, if not unnecessary, judicial doctrines that have gradually been incorporated into the free speech case law.