Speech
Why First Amendment News Exists
A new publication devoted to the five freedoms—speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition—and the cases and controversies that test them.
The First Amendment is forty-five words long. It has generated two centuries of litigation, and the questions it raises are no closer to settled today than they were when the ink dried.
This publication covers those questions as they move through courtrooms, legislatures, campuses, and newsrooms. We are interested in the doctrine and in the people on either side of it—the plaintiff who refuses to take down a sign, the reporter denied access to a proceeding, the student group told it cannot meet.
What we cover
Our reporting is organized around the five freedoms the Amendment names. Each carries its own body of law and its own live disputes: the reach of public-forum doctrine, the limits of prior restraint, the boundary between establishment and free exercise, the right to gather, and the right to ask the government for redress.
We write for readers who want more than a headline—lawyers, students, journalists, and citizens who follow these fights closely. Coverage is plain about the law without flattening it.
How to read us
New reporting appears on the front page. Each piece is filed under one of the five freedoms so you can follow a single thread over time. We correct errors openly and promptly.
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