Jewish Champions of First Amendment

[Volokh, Eugene]

	David's point, which strikes me as correct, is that "supportive
of free speech" (which is what "champions of First Amendment" tends to
mean, at least as to the Free Speech Clause) is different from "enhanced
our notion of speech by actually using it."  The former focuses on
purpose, the latter on effect:  One can help bring about increased
speech protection even if one would like to bring about a regime that
will dramatically suppress free speech (such as Communism), or for that
matter even if one is largely unconcerned about free speech.  It would
be odd to call either such person, though, a "champion of [the] First
Amendment," it seems to me.

	Eugene 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu 
> [mailto:conlawprof-bounces at lists.ucla.edu] On Behalf Of Paul Finkelman
> Sent: Monday, September 11, 2006 5:49 AM
> To: DavidEBernstein at aol.com; fred.shapiro at yale.edu
> Cc: Conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu; SFeldman at uwyo.edu
> Subject: Re: Jewish Champions of First Amendment
> 
> To a great extent the some of the "communists" were indeed 
> supportive of free speech and in fact enhanced our notion of 
> speech by actually using it.  Besides a "champion" need not 
> support those he champions.  
> 
> Paul Finkelman
> President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law
>      and Public Policy
> Albany Law School
> 80 New Scotland Avenue
> Albany, New York   12208-3494
> 
> 518-445-3386
> pfink at albanylaw.edu
> 
> >>> Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at yale.edu> 9/11/2006 6:55:03 AM >>>
> On Sun, 10 Sep 2006, DavidEBernstein at aol.com wrote:
> 
> > None of the folks Paul listed who were members of the 
> Communist Party
> or were
> > otherwise adherents of totalitarian ideologies could reasonably be
> called
> > "champions of the First Amendment," though they were certainly
> willing to use (or
> > abuse, in some cases, by making claims about themselves and the
> motives for
> > prosecution that they knew to be false) the First Amendment to their
> advantage
> > when it suited their interests.  But by that standard, many Grand
> Wizards of
> > the KKK, not to mention the head of the American Nazi Party during
> the Skokie
> > case, were "champions of the First Amendment."
> 
> I share David's lack of admiration of the Communist Party, 
> the KKK and the American Nazi Party.  But if we define as 
> "champions of the First Amendment" litigants who, through 
> their active efforts or through just
> 
> being the occasion for lawyers and judges to expand or 
> preserve Bill of
> 
> Rights protections, figured in landmark cases, then some 
> unappealing types will fit the definition.  The standard 
> explanation, of course, is Felix
> 
> Frankfurter's "It is a fair summary of history to say that 
> the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in 
> controversies involving not very nice people."
> 
> Speaking of Frankfurter, did Cardozo, Goldberg, or Fortas 
> qualify as champions of the First Amendment in any way?
> 
> > Also, I'm not sure of what Felix Frankfurter's specific views on the
> First
> > Amendment were, but if "champion of the First Amendment" means
> "someone who care
> > deeply that the First Amendment, as he understood it, was properly
> applied,"
> > he would likely qualify.  If it means, "someone who thought the
> First
> > Amendment should be interpreted expansively in ways that please
> modern liberal
> > sensibilities," then I think the definition doesn't quite match the
> phrase.
> 
> The nature of civil liberties is such that people who 
> interpret the Bill of Rights expansively get regarded as 
> champions of the Bill of Rights,
> 
> whereas conservatives who care deeply about applying the Bill 
> of Rights in more restrictive ways tend not to be 
> characterized in that way.  I don't think the original 
> questioner was looking for that kind of "champion."
> 
> Fred Shapiro
> 
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------
> Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
> Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
>    Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
> Yale Law School                             forthcoming
> e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu              
> http://quotationdictionary.com
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> ------------
> _______________________________________________
> To post, send message to Conlawprof at lists.ucla.edu To 
> subscribe, unsubscribe, change options, or get password, see 
> http://lists.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/conlawprof
> 
> Please note that messages sent to this large list cannot be 
> viewed as private.  Anyone can subscribe to the list and read 
> messages that are posted; people can read the Web archives; 
> and list members can (rightly or wrongly) forward the 
> messages to others.
>