Speaking Freely

I’ve been paying closer attention to The Constitution lately. It’s an amazing document that sits at the core of our Democracy and the rights that distinguish us as Americans. Yet at the same time it is a political football, under constant threat of revision to score political points (Help, my marriage is being threatened by gays, please alter the Constitution to defend it!), and subject to interpretation by a changing and fallible judiciary. But through it all, the essentials endure. Or so I thought until last year, when I discovered that my home-buying decision had required me to sign away a Constitutionally protected right.

Floyd Abrams‘ career has taken place in the legal trenches where the grand ideas of Constitutional protections come face to face with the more complicated circumstances of real life. In his book, Speaking Freely, Abrams describes in fascinating detail a variety of 1st Amendment related cases he has argued in court; from The Pentagon Papers case early in his career, a number of media-related libel cases, then-Mayor Guiliani’s attempt to shut down a Brooklyn Museum of Art over an exhibit, to the fight against Campaign Finance Reform.

Somewhere inside me there’s a frustrated lawyer wanting to get out. I am fascinated by the law, its use, abuse, and those who practice it. Even I was a little surprised how much I enjoyed reading these tales of sometimes arcane details of various lawsuits related to free speech. Let’s face it, this doesn’t have the sensationalism of an O.J. Simpson trial. But the the consequences to all Americans on how these fights are settled can be profound. I expect most Americans would say that the Freedom of Speech is a good thing, and rightly so. But things can get sticky when some test that right by actually using it.