The First Amendment and the Censor’s Dilemma

Adam Liptak, New York Times Supreme Court reporter, and Nadine Strossen, free speech expert and author of HATE: Why We Should Resist it with Free Speech, Not Censorship, join leading First Amendment lawyer Robert Corn-Revere to explore the efforts at censoring unpopular speech throughout American history as described in Corn-Revere’s latest book, The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.

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Robert Corn-Revere is a partner at the law firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, and the author of the new book, The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Censor's Dilemma, which we will discuss this afternoon. Corn-Revere has long been a leader in advocating for First Amendment rights, arguing cases before all the federal appellate courts in the country and before the United States Supreme Court. He also formerly served as Counsel to Federal Communications Commission officials.

Adam Liptak covers the United States Supreme Court for The New York Times, where he also writes “Sidebar,” a column on legal developments. He practiced law for 14 years before joining The New York Times' news staff in 2002 and has taught courses on the Supreme Court and the First Amendment at several law schools, including Yale and the University of Chicago. He is also the author of To Have and Uphold: The Supreme Court and the Battle for Same-Sex Marriage.

Nadine Strossen is the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School. She served as the president of the American Civil Liberties Unions from 1991 until 2008, and she currently serves on the advisory boards of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, and Heterodox Academy. Her most recent book is HATE: Why We Should Resist it with Free Speech, Not Censorship. 

Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.

Additional Resources

• Robert Corn-Revere, The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Eye of the Beholder

• Nadine Strossen, HATE: Why We Should Resist it With Free Speech, Not Censorship

• Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia

• John Stuart Mill, "On Liberty"

• Abrams v. United States (1919)

• Comstock Act of 1873

• United States v. Alvarez (2012)

• Rickert v. State Public Disclosure Commission (2007)

• Conor Friedersdorf, The Atlantic, "Banning Bad Ideas Won't Make Them Go Away"

• Robert Corn-Revere, Litigation, "'I Will Defend to the Death Your Right to Say It.' But How?"

• Nadine Strossen, Tablet, "America's Censored Speech Platforms"

• Nadine Strossem Tablet, "Disinfo v. Democracy"

• Richard Fletcher, The Reuters Institute and the University of Oxford, "The truth behind filter bubbles: Bursting some myths"

• Sabrina Tavernise, The New York Times, "‘Trump Just Used Us and Our Fear’: One Woman’s Journey Out of QAnon"

• Jonathan Rauch, The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth

• National Constitution Center, Live at the National Constitution Center, "Free Speech, Media, Truth and Lies"

• Reggie Ugwu, The New York Times, "Spotify Defends Handling of Joe Rogan Controversy Amid Uproar"

• Whitney v. California (1927)

• Adam Liptak, The New York Times, "Two Justices Say Supreme Court Should Reconsider Landmark Libel Decision"

• New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)

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