First Amendment (1791)
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
“Restricting speech is like trying to waltz with a wolf. Every hate-speech code that has been challenged in court has been found unconstitutional. Some have been lifted, others disavowed. Nevertheless, a generation has come of age knowing nothing but the wolf. A new Brookings Institution study found that one out of two students believes that colleges should prohibit “certain speech or expression of viewpoints that are offensive or biased against certain groups of people.” —Jill Lepore (2017)
Political Speech Timeline
- Alien & Sedition Acts of 1798
- Ex parte Vallandigham (1864)
- Espionage & Sedition Acts of 1917
- Schenck v. US (1919)
- Debs v. US (1919)
- Abrams v. US (1919)
- Dennis v. US (1951)
- Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
- Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
1860 // Dickinson College Graduation Controversy
1956 // Dickinson, McCarthyism, and AAUP Censure
Dickinson College Confronts McCarthyism
“The [Laurent or Lawrence] La Vallee case became the locus for tensions between the faculty and administration which had been building since the Second World War, when new faculty with sophisticated professional expectations tested their powers.” —Wendy Moffat, “Political Metaphors: Teaching on a Cold War Campus”
2024 Encampment & Smerconish Cancellation
- “Free Gaza Encampment Packs Up,” Dickinsonian, May 7, 2024
- Smerconish response to cancellation as commencement speaker