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Title: When Freedom Speaks: The Boundaries and the Boundlessness of Our First Amendment Right
Published by: Brandeis University Press
Release Date: May 2022
Pages: 248
ISBN13: 978-1684580934

 
Overview

The freedom to speak belongs to the wealthy and influential, who celebrate their power and use their amplified voices to persuade the reluctant to follow their lead. It also belongs to the poor, the weak, the vulnerable, and the despised to buttress their protests and ensure they, too, will be heard. The constitutional protections of the First Amendment belong to presidents, to politicians, to corporate CEOs, to factory workers, and to the homeless. First Amendment constitutional history is about real people with real lives and real families speaking their minds. Using the characters and drama embedded in legal cases When Freedom Speaks chronicles the stories and makes First Amendment concepts easier to understand and clearly applicable to our lives. With a wide range of examples and accessible language, this book is the perfect overview of the First Amendment.

 

**If you would like to consider adopting WHEN FREEDOM SPEAKS for your course, you may request an examination copy from Brandeis University Press.** 

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Praise

"The freedom of speech in America has been forged by an unlikely group: war protesters, abortion rights and right to life advocates, Ku Klux Klan members and civil rights activists, pornographers and artists, labor unions and corporations. Lynn Greenky offers a spirited and engaging examination of the individuals, groups, and movements that have advanced free speech protections by standing up and speaking out. When Freedom Speaks is an accessible guide to the past, present, and future of free speech in the United States."
—David Cole, National Legal Director, ACLU and George Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University

"It's easy to forget the First Amendment wasn't magically written with a perfect, fixed definition that would cover all matters of speech, forever. When Freedom Speaks serves as a reminder that the First Amendment is a living, breathing structure that continues to both challenge and reinforce our country's definition of free speech. And Lynn Greenky takes us on a thorough journey through all the trials and tribulations it has faced. Anyone with any opinion will benefit from reading this timely road map on the cornerstone of our Constitution."
—Lauren Tousignant, Associate Digital Editor, New York Post

"Lynn Greenky's new book is a tour de force on the importance of free speech to all individuals and groups in America - right, left, center and anyone who doesn't conform to the prevailing wisdom of the day. …Greenky reminds us that free speech means tolerating one another - instead of silencing or jailing one another. And that's worth fighting for."
—Jonathan Collegio, Former Communications Director, American Crossroads; Current Senior Vice President Public Affairs at National Automobile Dealers Association; Executive Director, NADA Foundation

"Complete with a glossary of legal terms, Greenky’s easy-to-read primer offers general readers and students a telling history and framework for understanding the basic assumptions, ways of thinking, and methodologies courts commonly use to negotiate clashing and competing constitutional values and individual rights to free speech."
—Library Journal

"When Freedom Speaks by Lynn Greenky is an excellent introduction and exploration of the contentious field of First Amendment jurisprudence. Both entertaining and educational, it provides the knowledge necessary for an informed electorate."
—New York Journal of Books

"A superb, concise, yet comprehensive volume that equips undergraduate students with the intellectual toolkit necessary to understand the key legal components that make up the US's First Amendment free-speech case law."
—Choice Reviews

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