The First Amendment, Democracy, and Romance

If an organizing symbol makes sense in First Amendment jurisprudence, it is not the image of a content-neutral government, argues Steven Shiffrin, nor is it a town-hall meeting or even a robust marketplace of ideas. If the First Amendment is to have an organizing symbol, let it be an Emersonian symbol: let it be the image of the dissenter.

Originally published in 1993.

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"A lucid and original contribution to the literature of free speech. [Shiffrin's] work should be read by every serious student of our culture and of the First Amendment's role in American life."--Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School