Category Archives: About

Remarks on the occasion of RU Constitution Day 2011 

Thank you for coming out this afternoon for a special panel considering the US constitution.

It’s particularly fitting for Radford University since, across the mall, the RU library houses some of the archives of US Supreme Court Justice Arthur J. Goldberg, who during his term on the court in the 1960s was an outstanding champion of the First Amendment. In Goldberg’s view the right of free speech was that of “an absolute, unconditional privilege” despite any harm that may flow from excesses and abuses”

Justice Goldberg often reminded us that historically, as a nation, we have a bedrock commitment to the principle of free speech. Continue reading →

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“No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press.” — Thomas Jefferson

Welcome to communications law and ethics, a class that is required for  communication students and that is also recommended for anyone interested in how freedom of speech and press is balanced with the responsibilities of  public communication. Continue reading →