This book reflects a basic truth: First Amendment law is caselaw. It thus edits cases lightly, and presents them in the Court’s own doctrinal structure, in order to reinforce the student’s learning of the law as the Court actually developed it. Notes and questions provide guidance in working with the opinions. Non-case materials (including drafts and memoranda from the Justices’ private papers) are used to shed light on what was established by existing precedents and how a new decision changes (or does not change) the law. By giving primacy to the Justices’ won words and the Court’s own doctrinal structure, the book offers maximum flexibility for teachers to place their own imprint on the course.
Q. Why this book, and why now?
The Supreme Court decides important First Amendment cases every October Term. So we coauthors believe it is important to keep the casebook timely and up to date. This is one of the leading textbooks on the subject. Teachers and students who use it are great fans.
Q. Who should read this book?
The primary readership are students taking a First Amendment course. In a significant way, this casebook and the lengthy Teacher’s Manual makes us “teachers of teachers” – our scholarly work to select, arrange, and edit opinions and secondary materials makes it possible and efficient for law professors across the country to teach the fundamentals and the nuances of First Amendment doctrine.
Q. What is the most important takeaway you hope your readers gain from this book?
Teachers and students alike will take away an appreciation for the importance of the freedom of conscience protections – freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion, nonestablishment, and freedom of association. Those values make the United States the nation that it is – a nation that was argued into existence and a nation that has continued that political argument of self-government and individual rights.
Thomas E. Baker began teaching law in 1977 and was a founding faculty member at FIU College of Law in 2002. He previously taught at Texas Tech University, University of Florida, University of Athens, Drake University, and the College of William & Mary. Baker is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and he was elected a Life Member of the American Law Institute.