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"A whole host of fears may motivate calls to restrict First Amendment rights, prioritizing one fear over another. Fear and the First Amendment unveils these negotiations of various fears and related protections as they appear in the contemporary Supreme Court, showing that fear is significant and rhetorical in First Amendment conflicts"-- Provided by publisher.

"Fear has a complicated role in the history of First Amendment rights for American citizens. The First Amendment and the Bill of Rights were written as responses to our collective fear that the government may become too involved in regulating our lives. Yet, a whole host of fears may motivate calls to restrict these First Amendment rights, prioritizing one fear over another. In Fear and the First Amendment, Kevin A. Johnson and Craig R. Smith unveil these negotiations of various fears and related protections as they appear in the contemporary Supreme Court, showing that fear is significant and rhetorical in First Amendment conflicts. Johnson and Smith focus on the current Roberts Court, and its rulings constitute a crucial era of almost twenty years of precedents that will shape future Supreme Court eras. Americans have confronted the Roberts Court with a host of challenges that lie at the intersection of fear and the First Amendment. Each chapter in this book analyzes at least one significant First Amendment case and a variety of fears-whether evidentiary or not-that pertain to the given case. Johnson and Smith examine fears related to student speech in the case Morse v. Frederick, including the competing fears of school administrators' loss of authority and students' loss of free speech rights. The authors then look at the theme of corporate funding in candidate elections, analyzing fears involved in the controversy that developed around Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission, from the fear of corporate influence on electoral politics to corporate fears of alienating their consumers by backing political candidates. Turning to a case on religious freedom, Johnson and Smith explore fears of the cooptation of student organizations by outsiders, fears about the future of legal education in America, and fears of homosexuality involved in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez. Taking a second look at the fears of homosexuality and religious freedom in Snyder v. Phelps, the authors delve further into fears of God, death, emotional distress, failing as a parent, and losing one's reputation. Next, they investigate the role of fear in a case on violence in video games, Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, including fears of violent children, lack of parental involvement in children's lives, and predatory relationships between corporations and children. Finally, Johnson and Smith examine the role of fear in indecent, obscene, and graphic communication in three cases: FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Ashcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union, and United States v. Stevens. Together, the recent cases in this book show that whether the fears are real or imagined, or whether some fears are thought to be more significant or realistic than other fears, or whether the fears are ephemeral or enduring-fear is endemic as a factor in the rhetoric of First Amendment cases, which anyone arguing before the Supreme Court must take into account. Johnson and Smith's project makes an original contribution to research by bringing together literature on theories of fear in rhetorical and philosophical traditions. It will appeal to current legal practitioners and students of law, rhetoric, philosophy, and the First Amendment"-- Provided by publisher.

Rhetoric, law, and the humanities

Fear as a recurring theme in First Amendment conflicts

Fear and student speech : Morse v. Frederick

Fear and unlimited spending in election campaigns : Citizens United v. Fedaral Elections Commission

Fear and religious freedom : Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby and Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

Fear at the burial of a soldier : Snyder v. Phelps

Fear and protecting depictions of violence in video games : Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association

Fear and indecent, obscene, and graphic speech: FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Aschcroft v. American Civil Liberties Union, and United States v. Stevens

Themes and implications of fear and the First Amendment.

United States. Constitution. 1st Amendment > Cases.

Conservatism > United States.

Fear > Social aspects.

Political questions and judicial power > United States.

Fear > Political aspects.

Civil rights > United States.

Freedom of speech > United States.