Saving Our Children from the First Amendment

Kevin W. Saunders

Published by New York University Press 2003

Saving Our Children from the First Amendment

Kevin W. Saunders

Volume 38 in the series Critical America

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814739938.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

The First Amendment is vital to our political system, our cultural institutions, and our routine social interactions with others. In this provocative book, Kevin Saunders asserts that freedom of expression can be very harmful to our children, making it more likely that they will be the perpetrators or victims of violence, will grow up as racists, or will use alcohol or tobacco.
Saving Our Children from the First Amendment examines both the value and cost of free expression in America, demonstrating how an unregulated flow of information can be detrimental to youth. While the great value of the First Amendment is found in its protection of our most important political freedoms, this is far more significant for adults, who can fully grasp and benefit from the freedom of expression, than for children. Constitutional prohibitions on distributing sexual materials to children, Saunders proposes, should be expanded to include violent, vulgar, or profane materials, as well as music that contains hate speech.
Saunders offers an insightful meditation on the problem of protecting our children from the negative effects of freedom of expression without curtailing First Amendment rights for adults.

Author / Editor information

Saunders Kevin W. :

Kevin W. Saunders is Charles Clarke Chair in Constitutional Law at Michigan State University College of Law. He is the author of Violence as Obscenity: Limiting the Media's First Amendment Protection and Saving Our Children from the First Amendment (NYU Press, 2003).

Reviews

John Garvey,Boston College Law School:
This is an unusually thoughtful and sophisticated book about what freedom of speech means in the real world. Offers a clear, sensible, and rule-governed system of free speech for the younger generation.

Brave and appealing. Saunders deserves attention for challenging free-expression orthodoxy.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1 The Most Important Freedom Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2 The Costs of Free Expression Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	43
3 Relieving the Strain on the First Amendment Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	67
4 Inculcating Values Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
5 Children and Other Constitutional Rights Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
6 Obscenity Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
7 Violence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	146
8 The Internet Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	164
9 Hate Speech Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
10 The Coarsening of Society Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	202
11 Advertising Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
12 Speech in the Schools Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	228
Conclusion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	256
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	301
About the Author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	306

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

eBook

Published: December 1, 2003
ISBN: 9780814739938