First Amendment Foundation and Practice

This seminar will review the foundations of First Amendment Constitutional Law, and the provision of Freedom of Speech as it is currently found in the trial court and in recent decisions, including First Amendment recent cases.

This course will first review the trailblazing historical documents that permitted the foundation of the First Amendment to be established. Established legal precedents to navigate the possible implications that free speech regulations and censorship practices have on constitutional rights, specifically surrounding sedition laws, overbreadth, commercial speech, NetChoice suits, and more will be discussed. Ultimately, the course offers a holistic review of general First Amendment right infringements, as well as of non-infringements that have been found to not violate any First Amendment rights. “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.”

Attorneys from all areas of practice and levels of experience will benefit from attending this program.

Learning Objectives:

• Investigate the historical background to the first amendment, Freedom of Speech
• Identify speech laws
• Explore American sedition law
• Evaluate the overbreadth doctrine
• Distinguish private entities/government as speaker: commercial speech
• Analyze NETCHOICE