The Fight for Free Speech
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The Fight for Free Speech

Ten Cases That Define Our First Amendment Freedoms

Ian Rosenberg
NYU Press, 2023
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9

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Media lawyer Ian Rosenberg offers a timely exploration of the legal history of free speech in the United States. Through the stories of 10 Supreme Court cases, Rosenberg illuminates the evolution of Americans’ First Amendment rights to speak, write, protest, criticize, satirize, offend and even remain silent. In engaging prose that is free of legal jargon, Rosenberg captures the drama of these cases and the intense emotions that often played out alongside the legal proceedings. Carefully researched, humane and relevant, Rosenberg’s account brings valuable clarity to a subject of vital importance.

Summary

US law protects speech that promotes illegal activities, unless imminent harm would result.

Speech that advocates illegal action but is unlikely to cause imminent harm is protected. The reason traces back to the 1919 Supreme Court case Abrams v. United States. In 1918, Jacob Abrams, Mollie Steimer and four fellow anarchists published leaflets calling for a general strike to protest the United States sending troops to Russia – an effort, the anarchists believed, to quash the Bolshevik revolution there. Although they issued the material anonymously, they were eventually caught, arrested and charged with publishing material critical of the US government and meant to cause resistance to the war.They lost the initial trial – Steimer was given 15 years in jail; Abrams and the other men, 20 years – but they took their case to the US Supreme Court.

The Court still ruled in favor of the United States, upholding the convictions.However, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. wrote a famous dissent that profoundly shaped free speech rights. Holmes argued that the government should only restrict the...

About the Author

Ian Rosenberg is a media lawyer and professor who provides ABC News clients with pre-broadcast counsel on issues such as libel, intellectual property rights, FCC regulations and more. 

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