“Be nice” — two words not found anywhere among the 45 words of the First Amendment.
Can Religious Freedom Survive COVID-19?
As a child, I attended weekend classes at our local synagogue to learn about Judaism. I remember one lesson above all from those years: past Jewish experience of pogroms and the Holocaust demands that Jews speak out against authoritarianism in the present and future.
In crisis times, balancing safety and freedom
In times of crisis, safety and freedom may seem like they’re at odds with each other. A society that respects individual liberty can’t implement the same kinds of drastic laws and policies that a more authoritarian one can.
COVID-19: Getting good information as virus crisis unfolds
Let’s add one more list to the various check-offs from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), employers and others on how to deal with COVID-19: Tools and tips for getting good information about dealing with the virus from sources you trust.
Conditions of Possibility for Religious Freedom
Americans sometimes assume they are equipped with everything they need — laws, policies and cultural norms — to exercise their right to religious freedom. But is that true? What circumstances need to exist for religious freedom to be possible? What conditions must already be in place if Americans are to exercise their right to believe […]
The First Amendment protects activities adjacent to voting, but stops short of voting itself
The First Amendment protects your right to express yourself freely. While you can do a lot of different things with that freedom, its highest purpose, and the reason that the Constitution’s framers wanted you to have it, is to express yourself politically.
Google v. Oracle: Tech battle ultimately about free speech
In what we can quaintly sometimes call “normal times,” copyright disputes are not regularly considered pressing concerns for the First Amendment.
Lifting Every Voice in Religious Freedom
Why do African American perspectives matter when discussing religious freedom?
Focus on when the First Amendment protects – and doesn’t
Online platforms and social media sites are free to set their own practices and rules on what we do see or post, but a proposed Arizona House bill ” related to access to online content” could change that.
‘Getting It Right’ — on Kobe Bryant and Everything Else
“Getting it right” is one reliable defense for a free press in today’s media world against critics who often base objections and critiques more on political differences than factual error.