MORE ARTICLES FROM ‘Featured Post’
Graduation prayer, fighting over a lost cause
School officials in Lake City, Arkansas have come up with a novel solution to the fight over prayer at graduation: No prayer, no graduation.
The week the First Amendment was made for
This is the week the First Amendment was made for. Those of us who regularly work on freedom of expression issues are sometimes hard-pressed to convey the urgency of protecting these core freedoms. Concepts like freedom of speech, faith and assembly can seem abstract. Many view freedom of the press as just a news media issue. And few recognize the role of petition in shaping our nation.
Queer, Atheist and Interfaith Activist: A dialogue with the improbable Chris Stedman
At a time when incendiary rhetoric and personal attacks characterize culture war debates, Chris Stedman works to build bridges across some of our deepest differences. How does a self-described “queer atheist” find common ground between faith communities and the nonreligious, between gay and straight?
Find out on May 23 when Charles Haynes, director of the Religious Freedom Education Project, interviews Stedman about his efforts to promote understanding, religious liberty, compassion and pluralism in our crowded and often hostile public square.
Seizure of AP phone records: An affront to a free press
What The Associated Press calls “a massive and unprecedented intrusion by the Department of Justice”(DOJ) into its news gathering activities is more than an affront to a free press — it’s a direct challenge.
Watergate Era: ‘A’ peak in journalism
Forty years ago this week, The Washington Post – and its self-described “young and hard-digging reporters, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein” – took home a Pulitzer Prize for public service for coverage of the Watergate scandal.
Ten Commandments controversy revisited
It’s been almost 10 years since the Rutherford County, Tennessee, lost a very expensive lawsuit over the posting of the Ten Commandments in the county Courthouse. Now, Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold has posted the Ten Commandments in his department’s lobby, along with a copy of the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence.
When students protest abortion, can schools draw the line?
Students with deep religious convictions are fast turning public schools into the newest battleground over abortion – much to the dismay of beleaguered school officials.
MTSU selects former USA Today editor as journalism dean
Ken Paulson, a lawyer who combined his passions for journalism, free expression and popular music to become a national advocate for the First Amendment, will be the next dean of the College of Mass Communication at Middle Tennessee State University, officials announced Tuesday.
Remembering Al Neuharth
Allen H. Neuharth, founder of USA Today, the Freedom Forum and the Newseum, died Friday, April 19, 2013, in Cocoa Beach, Fla. He was 89.
‘Ag-gag’ bills harm free speech: Column
Concern about videos of alleged animal abuse reaching a global audience has inspired a new wave of legislation across the USA. Bills pending in at least nine states would limit videos and photographs on farms or force video-takers to immediately turn them over to the authorities.
No flowers for gay wedding: Discrimination or religious freedom?
Lawsuit against a florist who refused to do flower arrangements for a gay wedding pits rights of citizens to be free from discrimination in places of public accommodation against the rights of religious business owners to follow their conscience in matters of faith.
How not to protect religious liberty
Here’s a quick primer on a recent proposal by two North Carolina legislators to permit the state to designate a state religion.
Buying time for a free press
Colorado District Court Judge Carlos Samour Jr. has postponed a decision on whether Fox News reporter Jana Winter will be required to reveal her anonymous sources.
The First Amendment Center is an educational organization and cannot provide legal advice.
Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C. Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.
Gene Policinski, senior vice president and executive director of the First Amendment Center and president and chief operating officer of the Diversity Institute, is a veteran journalist whose career has included work in newspapers, radio, television and online.
John Seigenthaler founded the First Amendment Center in 1991 with the mission of creating national discussion, dialogue and debate about First Amendment rights and values.
Dr. Charles C. Haynes is director of the Religious Freedom Education Project at the Newseum. He writes and speaks extensively on religious liberty and religion in American public life.
David L. Hudson Jr. is an expert in First Amendment issues who writes for firstamendmentcenter.org and for other publications. Hudson teaches law and was a scholar at the First Amendment Center.
Tiffany Villager is director/First Amendment studies at the First Amendment Center, which she joined in 1993. She also served as the center’s research manager and research coordinator, and developed the center’s library.
Featured Post • First Amendment Commentary • Speech | Gene Policinski
Memo to some at IRS: Free speech is just that
The news that an office of the Internal Revenue Service had targeted for review a number of groups with names that included “patriot” or “tea party” is chilling enough to hear – but there’s even more reason to be concerned from a First Amendment perspective.