The First Amendment Lives On
Conversations Commemorating Hugh M. Hefner's Legacy of Enduring Free Speech and Free Press Values
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- USD 26.99
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- USD 26.99
Descripción editorial
Hugh M. Hefner’s legacy of enduring free speech and free press values is embodied in the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards, established in 1979, which honor leading First Amendment scholars and advocates. Hefner also had a lifelong interest in film censorship issues and supported teaching about them at the University of Southern California for 20 years. His deep commitment to these values was confirmed when the author was granted unrestricted access to over 3,000 personal scrapbooks, which Hefner had kept in order to track free speech and press issues during his lifetime.
The format of the book is an homage to the in-depth conversational interviews Hefner pioneered as the editor and publisher of Playboy magazine. Stuart Brotman conducted in-person conversations with eight persons who in their lifetimes have come to represent a “greatest generation” of free speech and free press scholars and advocates. Notably, these conversations include:
Geoffrey R. Stone
Floyd Abrams
Nadine Strossen
Burt Neuborne
David D. Cole
Lucy A. Dalglish
Bob Corn-Revere
Rick Jewell
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brotman (Communications Law and Practice), a law and journalism professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, presents a series of enlightening interviews with "nominators, judges, and recipients" of the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards. Established in 1979, the awards "recogniz individuals whose efforts help to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for all Americans." Interview subjects—including former ACLU president Nadine Strossen; Burt Neuborne, founding legal director of the Brennan Center for Justice; and attorney Bob Corn-Revere, who represented CBS in the infamous Super Bowl "wardrobe malfunction" case—weigh in on such hot-button issues as the 2017 white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., the tension between free speech and triggering speech on college campuses, and the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling in 2010. Though Facebook and other social media platforms are discussed, there's little light shed on how the spread of misinformation might affect future interpretations of the First Amendment. Still, Brotman is an effective interviewer adept at untangling complex legal principles, and his subjects are eloquent advocates for the amendment's vital role in protecting the "marketplace of ideas." Free speech advocates will find this a valuable resource.
