First Amendment

First Amendment Law in a Nutshell: Constitutional Law (Nutshell Series)
$30.00
"Congress shall make no law...," but on this subject at least, the Supreme Court gets to do pretty much whatever it wants. First Amendment doctrine is notoriously serpentine and challenging. While this nutshell doesn't change that, it does explain the law in a crisp, well-organized fashion, with a good balance of case summary and explanation/analysis. The authors are concise without dumbing down the law. While there are big treatises out there for practitioners or for in-depth reference use (e.g., Smolla and Nimmer), there aren't very many First Amendment study aids out there. I think this one is the best.

Martin Lawrence's First Amendment: Season 2
$19.97
Martin Lawrence is an original in the world of comedy, he is completely different then most of his predeccessor in the very good way's. Season 2 of First Amendment is very good and has the same appeal as season 1.

The First Amendment Project
$26.95
The First Amendment Project is the product of a joint project between the Sundance Channel and Court TV. In spite this being a rather strange union, the end product is excellent. It consists of three short (23 minutes each) videos by different, well-known directors dealing with various aspects of threats to the First Amendment here in the USA. The three videos are:
1. Fox v Franken--This is the most entertaining of the three. Franken simply tells of Fox News suing him over his use of the term "Fair and Balanced" on the cover of his book LIES AND THE LYING LIARS WHO TELL THEM. Fox claimed that he was violating what they considered their "trade-mark" term "fair and balanced." Not much of a case here but the film makers have fun taking us to TV shows where Franken and O'Riley, who was especially angry over the book, were interviewed. The judge for the case also shares his own very frank observations on the case and Franken's lawyer can't help but smirk over the ease of defending Franken in this case. This is only indirectly a First Amendment case. Does a big corporation like Fox have the right to suppress a book which satirizes them in ways that they think are unfair? The case was really framed as a trade-mark law case. But the larger issue of free speech is behind it.
2. Poetic License also deals with the right of free speech. In this case does the controversial poet Amiri Baraka have the right to perform what is a deeply disturbing poem about 9/11 when he is the poet laureate of New Jersey and therefore a kind of public representative of the state? The poem argues that the real terrorists are here in the USA and they include a lot of really prominent people. The poem is quite long and we do not hear it in its entirety in the video itself. The entire poem as performed most movingly by Amiri Baraka is included in the DVD features, however, and it is well worth listening to. This film ably raises questions about how far an artist can offend the majority and still be protected by our first amendment.
3. Some Assembly Required deals with the right of assembly which is also a part of our First Amendment. It does this by showing the strong armed tactics of the New York City police used against the massive political demonstrations during the 2004 Republican National Convention. The filmmaker chooses some interesting protestors to focus on including a church organist from a quite conservative background.

All three of these films are certainly worth seeing and talking about with others. We need this kind of creative documentary work to keep us a free people.

Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
$25.00
Studying the First Amendment can be a daunting task for those who wonder where to get on. This book is the answer. Written in a lucid, straightforward and engaging style (Lewis covered the Supreme Court for the NY Times for many years, winning a Pulitzer in the process, and then wrote a Times column for years after that), it presents not only the history of freedom of speech and the press, but also its current controversies: should we crack down on free speech to combat terrorism? Where do we draw the line on press disclosures of national security issues? What are the values we need to preserve in the 21st century? A thoroughly expert, educational and thoughtful work by a first-class writer.