Title

A Taste of Justice: 1st Amend. (23) Current 1st Amend. Conflicts-Students’ Position Statements 2021

Streaming Media

Document Type

Video

Publication Date

3-29-2021

Abstract

While the First amendment is short, there are many Court cases interpreting the amendment and many current debates. After taking an extended take home exam on all of the course material, my remote law students: selected a current First Amendment conflict they had a strong position about; researched the topic; and, wrote their own Student Position Statements where they applied the First Amendment to current conflicts we are now addressing as a nation in 2021. They are also making five minute presentations about their positions and responding to questions from classmates who may disagree with their positions. We cover from 5 to 7 position statements per day. For each class, I summarize the presentations in a video presentation (but I do not identify the students to protect their privacy). In our first day of presentations, the students' position presentations were about: whether speech that directly advocates for another to commit suicide should be unprotected speech; whether the Confederate flag should be banned from public areas; whether revenge porn laws should be prohibited; whether all pornographic depictions of minors should be unprotected speech; whether speech should be more heavily regulated near medical facilities that provide abortions; and, whether privacy rights should be paramount to speech rights. Applying case law to argue their own positions AND considering the positions in opposition to their own is a further path to learning for my students. Remember, learning is a path to enlightenment and enlightenment to freedom, and freedom to justice or, at least, a taste of justice.

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