ComS 152--Freedom of Speech

"Each generation must reaffirm the guarantee of the First Amendment with the hard cases." Edward Cleary

Prof. Nick Burnett, MND 5006, nburnett@csus.edu, 278-6508

Website: www.csus.edu/indiv/b/burnettn

Course Objectives
This class is designed to provide students with a thorough introduction to issues related to censorship and the freedom of speech in a democratic society. After a survey of the historical roots of free speech, the course proceeds to discussions of sedition, libel and slander, privacy issues, obscenity and pornography, symbolic speech, hate speech, and the impact of technology on First Amendment freedoms. Throughout the course, the special relationship between communication studies and the study of free speech will be explored.

Required Texts
Douglas Fraleigh and Joseph Tuman, Freedom of Speech in the Marketplace of Ideas, New York: St. Martins Press, 1997

Catherine MacKinnon, Only Words, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996


Course Format
This is a lecture/discussion class in which students are expected to contribute to discussions, challenging both the instructor and each other. Students are strongly encouraged to bring to class reports from the media regarding new developments in issues relevant to the class.

Assignments and Grading

Assignment
Weighting
Mid Term #1
20%
Mid Term #2
20%
Final Exam
20%
Case Summary
5%
Current Controversy Paper
20%
Attendance, Participation, and Exercises
15%

All exams will consist of a mix of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. The case synopsis exercise asks students to review a recent Supreme Court cases dealing with freedom of speech. The Supreme Court simulation is a group project in which students deal with a hypothetical court case involving free speech issues. Acting as a collegial body, each group attempts to decide the case on existing principles of First Amendment law. Each group member will be responsible for writing the appropriate majority or minority opinion supporting their decision. The Current Controversy paper is an analytical paper about an unresolved area of free speech.

Attendance and Participation
This class depends on your participation and input. Simply put, you can't do that when you're not here. While I am not a fanatic about this, I do reserve the right to lower your grade for excessive absences. The semester-ending Supreme Court simulation will be an important consideration in this grade as well.

Day by Day Syllabus

ComS 152 Freedom of Speech
Date Topic Reading Assignment
9/3 Class Intro   Be on time!
9/5 Basic Terms and Principles T + F, Chap 1  
9/10 Why Value Free Speech?    
9/12 History--England and America T + F, Chap 2,3  
9/17 History--America T + F, Chap 2,3 In Class Exercise?
9/19 Sedition T + F, Chap 4  
9/24 Sedition    
9/26 Incitement and Brandenburg    
10/1 National Security T + F, Chap 5  
10/3 National Security/War on Terror    
10/8 Defamation T + F, Chap 8 Case Summary due
10/10 Defamation/Sullivan + Progeny    
10/15 Mid Term Exam #1   Study like crazy!
10/17 Obscenity T + F, Chap 9  
10/22 Obscenity/Miller MacKinnon book  
10/24 Obscenity   In class exercise
10/29 Fighting Words/ Chaplinsky T + F, Chap 6  
10/31 Hate Speech T + F, Chap 7 CC Memo Due
11/5 Hate Speech/R.A.V.    
11/7 TPM Restrictions T + F, Chap 10  
11/12 TPM/Nazis and Soliciting Cases    
11/14 Exam Review   Study even harder!
11/19 Symbolic Speech T + F, Chap 11  
11/21 Flag Burning/Johnson Case    
11/26 Free Speech in Schools + Univ. Dean David Wagner CC Drafts Due (optional)
12/3 Free Speech and New Tech. T + F, pp.338-59  
12/5 ACLU v Reno, Ashcroft v FSC    
12/10 Supreme Court Simulation    
12/12 Supreme Court Simulation   CC Paper Due