Sara L. Zeigler is provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and a professor at Eastern Kentucky University. She earned her bachelor’s degree at Reed College and her master’s degree and Ph.D. at the University of California-Los Angeles, all in political science. At Eastern Kentucky University, she served as director of Women’s Studies, chair of the Department of Government, and dean of University Programs for UCLA before becoming the founding dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences in 2016. Zeigler’s research focuses on gender politics and equality jurisprudence. Her work has appeared in the Journal of Political Science, Feminist Formations and the Journal of Political Science Education, among others.

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Anti-Discrimination Laws

Laws that protect individuals from discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity, age, religion, or sexual orientation often have First Amendment implications.

Communications Decency Act and Section 230 (1996)

Congress enacted the Communications Decency Act as part of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 in an attempt to prevent minors from gaining access to sexually explicit materials on the internet.   It prohibited any individual from transmitting “obscene or indecent” messages to a recipient under 18 and outlawed the knowing display of “patently offensive” materials in a […]

Confederate Flag

The Supreme Court, while allowing the removal of the Confederate flag to stop disruption, has declined to find that flag infringes upon the rights of those who find it repugnant.

Feminist Theory

Feminist theory, which argues that women should enjoy the same rights as men, can challenge First Amendment doctrine by emphasizing equality over free expression.

Sunday Blue Laws

The Supreme Court ruled in 1961 that while Sunday blue laws may have religious origins, they do not violate the First Amendment’s establishment clause.

William Blackstone

William Blackstone's treatise on English law outlined principles of liberty that were later the foundations of the First Amendment. However, his views on press freedom were more limited than viewed in America.