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The First Amendment

Contemporary Documents

On Liberty, John Stuart Mill, 1859

Major Supreme Court Cases

Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of freedom of speech cases. It is intended only as a brief guide to some of the most significant decisions.

Schenck v. United States, 249 U.S. 47 (1919)

Abrams v. United States, 250 U.S. 616 (1919)

Gitlow v. New York, 268 U.S. 62 (1925)

Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, 315 U.S. 568 (1942)

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943)

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, 393 U.S. 503 (1969)

Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)

Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973)

Island Trees Union Free School District No. 26 v. Pico, 457 U.S. 853 (1982)

Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser, 478 U.S. 675 (1986)

Hazelwood Schol District v. Kuhlmeier, 484 U.S. 260 (1988)

McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, 514 U.S. 334 (1995)

Reno v. ACLU, 521 U.S. 844 (1997)

McConnell v. Federal Election Commission, 540 U.S. 93 (2003)

Ashcroft v. ACLU, 542 U.S. 656 (2004)

Morse v. Frederick, 551 U.S. 393 (2007)

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. __ (2010)

Other Resources

Online Resources

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Free Expression Policy Project

Free Speech, American Civil Liberties Union

Freedom of Speech Research Articles and Overview, First Amendment Center

Freedom to Read Foundation

National Coalition Against Censorship

Books

This is a very small sampling of the library's holdings on freedom of the press. To find more books and ebooks, just search the library catalog using the subject term "freedom of speech", or ask a reference librarian for help.

Ackerman, Alan L., Just words: Lillian Hellman, Mary McCarthy, and the failure of public conversation in America, Yale University Press (2011)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF228 .H45 A25 2011

Collins, Ronald K., We must not be afraid to be free: stories of free expression in America, Oxford University Press (2011)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4772 .C64 2011

DelFattore, Joan, Knowledge in the making: academic freedom and free speech in America's schools and universities, Yale University Press (2010)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4124.5 .D44 2010

Foster, James C., BONG HiTS 4 JESUS: a perfect constitutional storm in Alaska's capital, University of Alaska Press (2010)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF229 .M67 F68 2010

Healy, Thomas, The great dissent: how Oliver Wendell Holmes changed his mind--and changed the history of free speech in America, Henry Holt & Co. (2013)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF224 .A34 H42 2013

Lewis, Anthony, Freedom for the thought that we hate: a biography of the First Amendment, Basic Books (2007)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4770 .L49 2007

Maitra, Ishani, Speech and harm: controversies over free speech, Oxford University Press (2012)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number JC591 .S643 2012

O'Brien, David M., Congress shall make no law: the First Amendment, unprotected expression, and the Supreme Court, Rowman & Littlefield (2010)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4772 .O27 2010

Piety, Tamara R., Brandishing the First Amendment: commercial expression in America, University of Michigan Press (2012)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4772 .P53 2012

Pinaire, Brian K., The constitution of electoral speech law: the Supreme Court and freedom of expression in campaigns and elections, Stanford Law Books (2008)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4770 .P55 2008

Post, Robert, Democracy, expertise, and academic freedom: a First Amendment jurisprudence for the modern state, Yale University Press (2012)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4772 .P68 2012

Powers, Elizabeth, Freedom of speech: the history of an idea, Bucknell University Press (2011)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number K3254 .F74 2011

Redish, Martin H., The adversary First Amendment: free expression and the foundations of American democracy, Stanford Law Books (2013)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4770 .R435 2013

Rudanko, Martti Juhani, Discourses of freedom of speech: from the enactment of the Bill of Rights to the Sedition Act of 1918, Palgrave MacMillan (2012)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4772 .R8335 2012

Zick, Timothy, Speech out of doors: preserving First Amendment liberties in public places, Cambridge University Press (2009)

  • Available in the Dee J. Kelly Law Library at call number KF4772 .Z52 2009