Douglas C. Dow, has a Ph.D. in political science and is a clinical associate professor in the honors college at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is also the associate director of Collegium V there. He specializes in political theory, public law, legal theory and history and American politics. He is the author of Liberality: The Politics of Recognition and Redistribution in Eighteenth Century and Contemporary Liberal Thought.
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Debs v. United States (1919)
In Debs v. United States (1919), a low point in the protection of free speech during wartime, the Court sustained a socialist leader's conviction under the Sedition Act of 1918.
Declaration of Independence
The Declaration of Independence shows a vigorous exercise of future First Amendment freedoms of speech and press, and paved the way for recognition of the right of petition.
Ecstasy
Ecstasy (1933) was the first film blocked by the U.S. Customs Service from entering the U.S. Court battles over the film pitted indecency laws against the First Amendment.
Motion Picture Ratings
The First Amendment limits the degree to which governments can censor movies. The Motion Picture Association of America uses a voluntary system of movie ratings to inform parents.
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)
In Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the Court ruled that a school policy of beginning football games with student-led prayer violated the First Amendment.
Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798
The Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions of 1798 were Democratic-Republican responses to the Alien and Sedition Acts passed earlier that same year by a Federalist-dominated Congress.