Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend More than any other people on earth, Americans are free to say and write what they think. The media can air the secrets of the White House, the boardroom, or the bedroom with little fear of punishment or penalty. The reason for this extraordinary freedom is not a superior culture of tolerance, but just fourteen words in our most fundamental legal document: the free expression clauses of the First Amendment to the… Product details and pricing info |
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12 Customer Reviews Posted
- Outstanding
- This book is an outstanding read. Concise, to the point and loaded with facts pertaining to the issue at hand make this a refresher course to bring the layman up to speed on his First Amendment knowledge and what it does and does not cover.
- 2008-10-05, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Freedom? You Want Some of This..
- Read this book(!) if you care about the freedoms we enjoy in America or wonder about the limits that have been placed on them. It is history.., but the book reads like a set of short stories. It is enlightening, insightful, surprising, engaging, and down right scary in parts (the whos and whys of many court decisions) . Whether your interests are in freedoms related to speech, the press, or privacy, or all of the above; this is your primer.
In this brief history of the First Amendment one sees the array of interests that have so decisively shaped the interpretation of the First Amendment. Racism, religion, history, and politics are just a few of the more obvious forces that have shaped and reshaped the laws governing our freedoms. Less obvious forces that Lewis highlights are just as intriguing. Experiencing, through Lewis' non academic writing style, the chronology of events and court decisions, from Dred Scott to Guantanamo related (habeas corpus) decisions, this is a great read.
The fact that a book like this is even being written for the layman is very encouraging. It demonstrates that there is an emerging interest in what our freedoms are, how they evolved to this point, and by extension, how they can continually be refined to satisfy our ever changing needs as a "liberal democracy".
If you know the "enemies" of the First Amendment, you will be better prepared to fight them. If you know the effects of excesses in freedoms, you will be more likely to avoid them. Lewis gives you both, along with his humble thoughts on the major issues addressed in his book. - 2008-07-07, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Great perspective: Understanding how tenuous the right can be makes us more likely to protect it
- One of my favorite things about reading history is getting a perspective on how new some ideas are even when they feel like they've been around forever. This book absolutely has that effect... and it's a really healthy thing.
Lewis does a nice job of laying out the history of free speech. He starts before the founding of the United States, but spends most of his time exploring the development of the right since the United States founding. What you see is how, even in two short centuries, the understanding of freedom of speech has evolved into what we take for granted today.
Starting with the Alien and Sedition Acts during John Adams presidency and working his way forward, you really come to understand that the freedom of speech we enjoy today is far in excess of what citizens of the very same country enjoyed 200, 100, or even 50 years back. It's truly fascinating to get that perspective and it helps you to understand that rights can go as easily as they can come if they aren't defended vigilantly and vigorously.
Highly recommended for fans of history or for anyone who wants to understand a little more about where one of America's fundamental rights came from. Lewis has written a clear, concise history of an idea and a right. - 2008-06-09, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Let Every American Read This
- Unless a person goes to law school, it is unlikely that he or she will learn the 200 year old history of the First Amendment...yet is is a fascinating and necessary history to learn. The thesis of the book is that our common notion of what "freedom of speech and press" means in America is not self evident law. In fact, the author explains, our right to criticise the government and its leaders was developed and protected by "activist judges."
Think about the role of activist judges - many of whom are criticised today in certain political circles. Anthony Lewis reminds us that American activist judges used the language that all persons are born free and equal to issue rulings that slavery was against the law as early as 1783. 150 years later it was again activist judges and lawyers who struck down the Espionage Act of World War I which punished speech against the war. So it was only in the twentieth century that the First Amendment was used to protect free speech and condemn a statute that infringed this liberty.
Author Anthony Lewis takes us on a historical journey through First Amendment cases from its beginnings in the constitutional convention to its interpretation by the Jeffersonians and the Federalists to Woodrow Wilson's oppressive statutes, and finally to the more recent cases of flag desecration and the Patriot Act. Mr. Lewis is clear headed and forceful in his history and arguments. As I see it, this volume is one of the top 10 books on the law that I have ever read. I suggest it as a gift to your sons and daughters, to your high school or college students who care about what America means. Highly recommended. - 2008-05-05, 3 of 3 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- The "Right" that we all take for granted!
- Thank you Mr. Lewis for taking the time to write this book. I cannot stop talking to friends, colleagues, and strangers about how it has brought to my attention just how recent our "freedom of speech" really is. Although our founding fathers might have written the text over 200 years ago, men and women were still being jailed under the libel laws and Sedition Acts. Current and future reporters please read this book and use it as a reminder of the importance of your role in our democracy, by keeping our leaders honest with your thorough research and candid accounts. Every American should read this book!
- 2008-03-22, 0 of 0 people found this review helpful, Rated:
