Journal of Free Speech Law: "The Lost Cause of Free Speech," by Prof. Mary Anne Franks (Miami)
journalspeech.substack.com
Just published as part of the "Non-Governmental Restrictions on Free Speech" symposium; here's the start of the Introduction (the article is here): Contemporary free speech law and policy in the United States teems with contradictions that cannot be explained by any principled doctrine. The key to understanding the current legal and cultural landscape of free speech is not some enduring constitutional value or method of interpretation, but rather the ascendance of a very specific political ideology that is best described as neo-Confederate. Neo-Confederate ideology is a constellation of values that includes investment in racial hierarchy, attachment to traditional gender roles and gender conformity, idealization of the pre-Civil War South, belief that the U.S. is a Christian nation, and hostility to democracy. The neo-Confederate agenda renders coherent what otherwise appear to be chaotic free speech positions: the condemnation of "cancel culture" by promoters of censorship; the conflation of speech
Journal of Free Speech Law: "The Lost Cause of Free Speech," by Prof. Mary Anne Franks (Miami)
Journal of Free Speech Law: "The Lost Cause…
Journal of Free Speech Law: "The Lost Cause of Free Speech," by Prof. Mary Anne Franks (Miami)
Just published as part of the "Non-Governmental Restrictions on Free Speech" symposium; here's the start of the Introduction (the article is here): Contemporary free speech law and policy in the United States teems with contradictions that cannot be explained by any principled doctrine. The key to understanding the current legal and cultural landscape of free speech is not some enduring constitutional value or method of interpretation, but rather the ascendance of a very specific political ideology that is best described as neo-Confederate. Neo-Confederate ideology is a constellation of values that includes investment in racial hierarchy, attachment to traditional gender roles and gender conformity, idealization of the pre-Civil War South, belief that the U.S. is a Christian nation, and hostility to democracy. The neo-Confederate agenda renders coherent what otherwise appear to be chaotic free speech positions: the condemnation of "cancel culture" by promoters of censorship; the conflation of speech