Hate Speech, Sex Speech, Free Speech

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A powerful indictment of contemporary attacks on free speech, this book argues for a vigorous First Amendment jurisprudence protecting even offensive types of speech. In recent years, political activists, academics, and legal specialists have attacked traditional notions of free speech protection as they concern hate speech, obscenity, and pornography. They have called for changes in Supreme Court doctrine in defining the First Amendment and have argued that the traditional view of free speech actually creates and perpetuates a society in which the weakwomen, minorities, the poorhave no voice. While recognizing their fears, Nicholas Wolfson argues that it is impossible to separate bad speech from good speech without fatally compromising the uniquely American concept of free speech, and that efforts to modify our concept of free speech for a greater egalitarian good can only result in undue state influence over private speech. In a keenly argued analysis, he finds that, in the end, the preservation of free and vigorous speech requires a strong First Amendment protection for even the most hateful of speech.

Reviews

"A thoughtful, closely reasoned, and accessible defense of free speech and free inquiry--an extremely valuable contribution to the debate."-Eugene Volokh Acting Professor UCLA Law School
One of the most cogent analyses of the minefield of sensitive speech was published...in the book Hate Speech, Sex Speech, Free Speech by Nicholas Wolfson.-The Hartford Courant
This volume should be required reading for all those who have been taken in by the faulty arguments of Richard Delgado, Dinesh D'Souza, Catharine MacKinnon, and their followers.... highly recommended for all academic, public, and professional collections.-Choice
"One of the most cogent analyses of the minefield of sensitive speech was published...in the book Hate Speech, Sex Speech, Free Speech by Nicholas Wolfson."-The Hartford Courant
"This volume should be required reading for all those who have been taken in by the faulty arguments of Richard Delgado, Dinesh D'Souza, Catharine MacKinnon, and their followers.... highly recommended for all academic, public, and professional collections."-Choice

Author Bio

NICHOLAS WOLFSON is the George and Helen England Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law where he teaches courses in Free Speech, Securities Regulation and Corporate Law. He has published extensively in these fields: his books include Corporate First Amendment Rights and the SEC (Quorum, 1990) and The Modern Corporation: Free Markets vs. Regulation (1984).