Balkin– First Amendment Spring 2017 Syllabus

 
The First Amendment

Spring Semester 2017

 
Note: Unless otherwise noted, all references to page numbers refer to Stone, Seidman, Sunstein, Tushnet and Karlan, The First Amendment (5th ed. 2016).

Part I– Religious Liberty

 

1. The Establishment Clause

• Everson v. Board of Education and Notes, pp. 539-542
• Note on history of the Religion Clauses, pp. 542-549
• Note on general approaches to the Religion Clauses, pp. 549-556
• Note on Defining Religion, pp. 556-560
• Lemon v. Kurtzman, p. 561
• Notes and Lee v. Wiseman, pp. 562-574

2. School Prayer, Public Displays and De Facto Establishments

• Lynch v. Donnelly and Notes, pp. 574-582
• Note on the non-endorsement principle, pp. 582-593 (note Town of Greece v. Galloway, p. 588-590)
• Note on problems with a purpose test, pp. 593-600
• Lee, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District: Teaching Intelligent Design in Public Schools

3. Government Aid to Religious Institutions

• Notes and Muller v. Allen, pp. 600-607
• Note on cases from Aguillar to Mitchell, pp. 607-613
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris and Notes, pp. 613-622

4. The Free Exercise Clause

• Note and Reynolds v. U.S. pp. 623-624
• Braunfeld v. Brown, pp. 624-625
• Sherbert v. Verner, pp. 625-626
• Wisconsin v. Yoder, pp. 626-627
• Cases on mandatory accommodation, pp. 628-631
• Employment Division v. Smith and Notes, pp. 631-643
• Locke v. Davey, p. 617
• Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, pp. 658-659
• Stormans v. Wiesman
• Scotusblog Symposium on Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Pauley

5. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act

• Burwell v. Hobby Lobby
• Holt v. Hobbs
• Zubik v. Burwell
• Marty Lederman, What to Expect from the Zubik Remand
• Interview with Doug Laycock on State RFRA’s and same-sex marriage

6. Permissible Accommodations of Religion

• Note and Corporation of Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos, pp. 645-651
• Texas Monthly v. Bullock and Notes, pp. 651-652
• Board of Education of Kiryas Joel School District v. Grumet and Notes pp. 652-654
• Notes on accommodation of religion, pp. 654-658
• Note on Free Exercise, Free Speech, and the Right of Expressive Association, pp. 659-664
• Robin Wilson, Summary of the Utah Compromise
• Text of Proposed First Amendment Defense Act
• Senator Mike Lee Testimony in favor of FADA
• Katherine Franke Testimony in opposition to FADA

Part II– Freedom of Speech– Content Regulation

7. Introduction to Freedom of Speech; Seditious Advocacy

A. Theories of Freedom of Expression

• Brandenburg v. Ohio and Notes, pp. 56-61

• Notes on the history of the first amendment, pp. 3-8
• Notes on the philosophy of free expression, pp. 8-16
• Abrams v. United States and Notes, pp. 29-35
• Gitlow v. New York and Notes, pp. 35-39
• Whitney v. California and Notes, pp. 40-46
• Dennis v. United States and Notes, pp. 46-56
• Note on the Brandenburg formulation, pp. 59-61
• Balkin, Cultural Democracy and the First Amendment

8. Seditious Advocacy and Terrorism

• Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, pp. 61-63
• Note on Abridgement of Speech Other Than by Direct Criminal Prohibition, pp. 63-69
• Kathleen Ann Ruane, Congressional Research Service, The Advocacy of Terrorism on the Internet
• Marty Lederman, The Begolly Indictment and the First Amendment
• Benjamin Wittes, David Cole and Peter Margulies: An Exchange on Tarek Mehanna
• Benjamin Wittes and Zoe Bedell, Tweeting Terrorists, Part I, Part II, and Part III
• Matthew Weybracht, Free Speech in an Era of Self-Radicalization

 9. Fighting Words and Threats

A. Fighting Words and the Hostile Audience

• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire and Notes, pp. 78-80
• Notes on Fighting Words, pp. 81-84
• Terminello v. Chicago, pp. 69-70
• Cantwell v. Connecticut and Notes, pp. 70-71
• Feiner v. New York and Notes, pp. 72-74
• Note on Mechanisms of Control, pp. 74-78
• Note on the Skokie Controversy, pp. 84-87
• Snyder v. Phelps, pp. 87-90

B. Threats

• Note and Bridges v. California, pp. 165-167
• Watts v. United States, p. 167
• Planned Parenthood v. ACLA, pp. 167-170
• Elonis v. United States, pp. 170-171

10. Defamation and False Speech

• Note on “Low Value Speech”, pp. 133-134
• New York Times v. Sullivan and Notes, pp. 135-145
• Curtis Publishing Co. v. Butts and Notes, pp. 145-146
• Gertz v. Robert Welch and Notes, pp. 146-148
• Note on public and private figures, public and private speech, pp. 149-150
• Dun and Bradstreet v. Greenmoss Builders and Notes, p. 151
• Internet Service Provider Liability Exception 47 USC section 230
• Eugene Volokh on The Neutral Reportage Principle and Section 230
• Note on other false statements of fact, pp. 151-152
• United States v. Alavarez, pp 152-156.
• Hustler Magazine v. Falwell and Notes, pp. 156-158

11. Vagueness, Overbreadth, and Prior Restraint

• Notes and Gooding v. Wilson, pp. 111-115
• Note on Overbreadth, pp.115-119
• Note on Vagueness, pp. 119-121
• Note on Prior Restraint, p. 121-122
• Lovell v. Griffin and Notes, pp. 122-127
• Near v. Minnesota and Notes, pp. 127-129
• Note on injunctions as prior restraints, pp. 129-132
• New York Times Co. v. United States and Notes, pp. 90-99
• Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart and Notes, p. 159

Additional Reading

• Balkin, Old School/New School Speech Regulation

12. Disclosure of Classified, Sensitive, and Dangerous Information

• Landmark Communications, Inc. v. Virginia and Notes, pp. 158-159
• Note on The Pentagon Papers Controversy, pp 99-105 (note Snepp v. United States, p. 102)
• Note on The Progressive Controversy, pp. 105-108
• Note on The Wikileaks Controversy, pp. 108-109
• In Re National Security Letters (N.D. Cal. 2016)
• Boehner v. McDermott
• United States v. Rosen
• Jack Goldsmith, Seven Thoughts on Wikileaks
• Statement of Abbe Lowell before House Judiciary Hearing on Wikileaks
• Statement of Geoffrey R. Stone before House Judiciary Hearing on Wikileaks
• 18 USC Section 231
• 18 USC Section 2339A
• 18 USC Section 2339B

13. Pornography and Obscenity

A. Obscenity and Pornography

• Note on Obscenity, pp. 193-194
• Roth v. United States and Notes, pp. 194-203
• Miller v. California, pp. 203-206
• Paris Adult Theatre I v. Slaton and Notes, pp. 206-214
• Note on Pornography and the Victimization of Women, pp. 280-285

B. Child Pornography

• New York v. Ferber and Notes, pp. 214-216
• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coallition, pp. 216-220
• Note on Child Pornography, p. 220

C. Cruelty to Animals

• United States v. Stevens, pp. 220-224

14. Offensive and Indecent Speech

A. Captive Audiences

• Cohen v. California and Notes, pp. 229-237
• Erznoznick v. City of Jacksonville, pp. 237-238

B. Protection of Children

• FCC v. Pacifica Foundation and Notes, pp. 238-240
• Note on Fleeting Expletives, p. 241
• Sable Communications v. FCC and Notes, pp. 241-242
• Action for Children’s Television v. FCC (ACT III)
• Reno v. ACLU, pp. 242-243
• Ashcroft v. ACLU, pp. 243-246
• Note on Indecent Expression, pp. 246-250

C. Violence

• Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, pp. 224-228

D. Secondary Effects and Zoning of Sexually Explicit Expression

• Note on Zoning Theaters with Adult Movies and Bars with Nude Dancing, pp. 250-254

15. Racist Speech and Harassment

A. Racist Speech

• Beauharnais v. Illinois and Notes, pp. 255-257
• Note on Group Defamation and Hate Speech, pp. 257-263
• Note on the Skokie Controversy, pp. 84-87
• R.A.V. v. St. Paul, pp. 263-268
• Wisconsin v. Mitchell and Notes, pp. 268-271
• Virginia v. Black and Notes, pp. 271-280
• Note on Pornography and the Victimization of Women, pp. 280-285

B. Harassment

• Danielle Keats Citron, Addressing Cyber Harassment
• Balkin, Free Speech and Hostile Environments

16. What is Speech?

• Notes and United States v. O’Brien, pp. 383-396
• Note on flag desecration and misuse, pp. 396-402
• Barnes v. Glen Theatre, pp. 402-405
• City of Erie v. Pap’s A.M., pp. 405-406
• Note on other forms of symbolic speech, pp. 406-409
• Village of Schaumberg v. Citizens For A Better Environment
• Universal Studios v. Corley (2d Cir.)
• Defense Distributed v. Department of State (5th Cir.)
• Note on Wollschlaeger v. Florida and the Regulation of Professional Speech
• Wollschlaeger v. Florida (en banc 2017)

17. Commercial Speech

• Virginia State Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Council, pp. 171-179
• Note on Virginia Pharmacy and “the Free Flow of Commercial Information,” pp. 179-183
• Central Hudson Gas v. Public Service Commission of New York, pp. 183-184
• Note on Truthful, Nondeceptive Commercial Advertising, pp. 184-189
• Note on Other Regulations of Commercial Advertising, pp. 189-193
• United States v. Caronia
• Note on American Meat Institute v. USDA
• Ronald Mann, Argument Preview for Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman [Scotusblog]
• Transcript of Oral Argument in Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman
• Ronald Mann, Argument Analysis of Expressions Hair Design v. Schneiderman

18. Privacy

• Cox Broadcasting v. Cohn and Notes, pp. 158-162
• Note on invasion of privacy and the first amendment, pp. 162-165
• Jeffrey Toobin, Gawker’s Demise
• Cohen v. Cowles Media Co., p. 506
• Sorrell v. IMS Health, Inc., pp. 188-189
• Balkin, Information Fiduciaries and the First Amendment
• Girl’s Suicide Video Sparks Outrage Online

Additional Reading

• Margot Kaminski, Privacy and the Right to Record
• Richards, The Dangers of Surveillance

Part III– Regulation of Time, Place, and Manner

 
19. Time, Place and Manner Regulation

A. What is Content Neutrality?

• Reed v. Town of Gilbert
• C. Edwin Baker, The Independent Significance of the Press Clause

B. Content Neutral Regulation

• Notes and Schneider v. State, pp. 287-288
• Martin v. City of Struthers, p. 289
• Kovacs v. Cooper, p. 290
• Metromedia, Inc. v. San Diego and Notes, pp. 290-292
• City of Ladue v. Gilleo, pp. 292-293
• Bartnicki v. Vopper, pp. 293-294
• Note on The Search for Principles, pp. 295-296
• Note on the meaning of content neutrality, pp. 296-301
• Packingham v. North Carolina [Scotusblog]

20. Public, Limited and Non-Public Forums

A. The Public Forum

• Note and Commonwealth v. Davis, pp. 301-303
• Hague v. CIO and Notes, pp. 303-304
• Schneider v. State and Notes, pp. 304-305
• Notes on regulating the public forum, pp. 305-313
• Note on devices for regulating the public forum, pp. 313-317

B. Limited Public Forums and Non-Public Forums

• Adderley v. Florida and Notes, pp. 317-323
• International Society for Krishna Consciousness v. Lee, and Notes pp. 323-326
• Note on modern public forum doctrine, pp. 326-327
• Police Department of Chicago v. Mosley and Notes, pp. 330-335
• Lehman v. City of Shaker Heights and Notes, pp. 335-341
• Perry Educators’ Association v. Perry Local Educator’s Association and Notes, pp. 341-343
• Note on quintessential, designated, and non-public forums, pp. 343-347
• Note on religious expression and the meaning of “viewpoint neutrality”, pp. 347-351
• Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, pp. 351-355

C. Privately Owned Online Forums

• Kate Klonick, You’ll Never Guess This One Crazy Thing Governs Online Speech
• Note on the right to a private forum, pp. 327-330

Part IV– The First Amendment in the Welfare State

21. Government Speech and Government Subsidies to Speech

• Note and Southeastern Promotions v. Conrad, pp. 355-357
• Board of Education v. Pico and Notes, pp. 357-359
• Regan v. Taxation with Representation and Notes, pp. 359-360
• Rust v. Sullivan and Notes, pp. 360-366
• NEA v. Finley, pp. 366-369
• Legal Services Corporation v. Velazquez, pp. 369-373
• Note on the reach of government speech, pp. 373-379 (note Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans, pp. 345, 375)
• Agency for International Development v. Alliance for Open Society International, pp. 379-383
• Lee v. Tam [Scotusblog] (read the Symposium essays)

22. Freedom of Association

A. Associational Formation

• NAACP v. Button and Notes, pp. 476-477
• Note on Litigation and the First Amendment, pp. 478-479
• NAACP v. Alabama and Notes, pp. 479-480
• Talley v. California (discussion note 3), p. 315-317
• Roberts v. U.S. Jaycees and Notes, pp. 480-481
• Note on Association and the First Amendment, pp. 481-483
• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, and Notes, pp. 483-487

B. Compelled Affirmation of Belief

• Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins, p. 487-488
• Note on Compelled Affirmation of Belief, pp. 488-494
• Elane Photography v. Willock
• State of Washington v. Arlene’s Flowers
• Masterpiece Cake Shop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission
• Jack v. Azucar Bakery

C. Government Employment

• Note on Regulating the Political Activities of Public Employees, pp. 471-476
• Note on Abridgement of Speech Other Than by Direct Criminal Prohibition (including regulation of speech and association by government employees), pp. 63-69

23. Campaign Finance

• Buckley v. Valeo and Notes, pp. 409-422
• Note on subsidy and disclosure, pp. 423-426
• Note on contributions, PAC’s, and political parties, pp. 426-428
• McConnell v. FEC (soft money issues), pp 428-431
• Davis v. FEC, pp, 431-432
• Arizona Free Enterprise Club’s Freedom Club Pac v. Bennett, pp. 432-435
• Note on corporate contributions and expenditures, pp. 435-441
• Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, pp. 441-459
• McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, pp. 459-468
• Note on Additional Regulation of the Political Process, pp. 468-471

24. Freedom of the Press and Telecommunications Regulation

A. Regulation of Newsgathering and Access to Information

• Notes and Branzburg v. Hayes, pp. 497-503
• Note on rights to gather news, pp. 503-507 (including Zurcher v. Stanford Daily and Cohen v. Cowles Media)
• Note on press rights of access to government information, pp. 507-509
• Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia, pp. 509-512
• Globe Newspaper Co. v. Superior Court and Notes, pp. 512-513
• Minneapolis Star & Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue and Notes, pp. 513-518
• Simon & Schuster, Inc. v. New York State Crime Victims Board

B. Telecommunications Regulation

• Miami Herald v. Tornillo and Notes, pp. 518-520
• Red Lion v. FCC and Notes, pp. 520-526
• Turner Broadcasting System v. FCC (Turner I) and Notes, pp. 527-530
• United States Telecom Association v. FCC

C. Algorithmic Speech

• Massaro, Norton, and Kaminski, Siriously 2.0: What Artificial Intelligence Reveals about the First Amendment