The Supreme Court will determine whether a Texas law requiring age verification for adult websites violates the First Amendment. Nadine Strossen of New York Law School and Adam Candeub of Michigan State University join Jeffrey Rosen to preview oral arguments in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton, examine the text, history, and tradition of the First Amendment, and debate whether the Texas law is constitutional.
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Today’s episode was produced by Samson Mostashari and Bill Pollock. It was engineered by Bill Pollock. Research was provided by Yara Daraiseh, Gyuha Lee, and Samson Mostashari.
Participants
Nadine Strossen is the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita at New York Law School. She served as president of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1991-2008. She is a senior fellow with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and she serves on the advisory boards of the ACLU, Academic Freedom Alliance, Heterodox Academy, National Coalition Against Censorship, and the University of Austin. She authored the 1995 book Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights, which was republished in 2024. She joined a brief in support of the petitioners in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.
Adam Candeub is a professor of law at Michigan State University, where he directs the Intellectual Property, Information, and Communications Law Program. He previously served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Telecommunications and Information and Deputy Associate Attorney General. Prior to entering academia, Candeub served as a law clerk to J. Clifford Wallace, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a recognized national authority on telecommunications, internet, and antitrust law. He authored a brief in support of the respondent in Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton.
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:
- Nadine Strossen, Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights (1995, republished 2024)
- Nadine Strossen, Brief of Amici Curiae First Amendment Scholars in Support of Petitioners, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
- Adam Candeub, Amicus Curiae Brief of Scholars in Support of Respondent, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
- Adam Candeub, “How the Supreme Court Can Protect Digital Childhood,” Law & Liberty (Jan. 9, 2025)
- Free Speech Coalition, Brief for Petitioners, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
- Attorney General Ken Paxton, Brief for Respondent, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
- Judge Jerry Smith, Opinion of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton
- Ginsberg v. New York (1968)
- Sable v. FCC (1989)
- Reno v. ACLU (1997)
- Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004)
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