Eternally Vigilant: Free Speech in the Modern Era

Abstract

Eternally Vigilant: Free Speech in Modern Era. Lee C. Bollinger and Geoffrey R. Stone, eds. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2003. 330 pages. $19 pbk. Long before he became known for his efforts to upgrade (or devastate) journalism program at Columbia University, President Lee Bollinger had established a reputation as a noted Amendment scholar. This volume, edited with Geoffrey R. Stone, an editor of Supreme Court Review, demonstrates that President Bollinger's influence in that discipline is intact. In Eternally Vigilant, Professors Bollinger and Stone collect an impressive array of scholars who address Amendment, for most part, in a refreshing and provocative way. Each of ten essays is loosely built upon theme proposed by editors that the Amendment-as we know it today-is an invention of Twentieth Century. Each essay, then, launches into an area of Amendment jurisprudence that both calls upon foundational case of Schenck v. United States and discusses where law is going, or should be going. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, marketplace of ideas theory, clear and present danger test, and self-governing theory are at center of these essays, implicitly if not explicitly. But they also, for most part, present insightful discussions of topics as varied as common law, broadcasting, and Internet. The essays are framed by what Professors Bollinger and Stone call a dialogue, initially establishing theme that will run through volume, and finally addressing path free speech law might be taking. This framework is helpful, particularly if book is to be used as a reader for a graduate seminar in freedom of expression. It provides a balance that can bring reader back to fundamentals after authors take their various and diverse paths. As with any collection like this, there are gong to be some disappointments. It is a bit surprising who provides disappointments in Eternally Vigilant, however. Vincent Blasi, Richard Posner, and Frederick Schauer, for example, seem more interested in personal musings than genuine explorations of Amendment jurisprudence or doctrine. Blasi explores a character philosophy behind Amendment, Posner proposes an economic formula for determining when deciphering regulations on speech might be appropriate, and Schauer explores two philosophical visions of what he calls First Amendment opportunism. …