Religious Freedom V. Equal Protection : Clashing American Rights

This book examines significant clashes in First and Fourteenth Amendment issues in America. Any course in America that studies constitutional issues may benefit from focusing on a variety of issues raised in this book, including child torture and access to mandatory reporters, placing children into adoptive homes, prayer in public schools, religious tax exemptions, roadside memorials, military draft exemptions, access to contraceptive and family planning services, regulation of broadcast media, business exercises of religious freedom, issues in immigration detention, tribal sovereignty, and issues of political correctness and conspiracy theories. Whether you are studying these particular issues, reading the book in a legal studies course, or teaching a course in the First and/or Fourteenth Amendments, this book offers a way to dig into some of the most pressing issues in clashes between the rights as they are defined and negotiated in contemporary American life. The stakes are high as we navigate these clashes in doing the tough labor of democracy, both now and into the future.

Kevin A. Johnson (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is Professor of Communication Studies and Director of the Center for First Amendment Studies at California State University, Long Beach. He is Editor of the National Communication Association’s (NCA) Communication and Democracy journal and served as Editor of NCA’s First Amendment Studies journal.

Jennifer J. Asenas (Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin) is Chair and Professor of Communication Studies and Director of Rhetorical Research for the Center for First Amendment Studies at California State University, Long Beach. She is Book Review Editor of NCA’s Communication and Democracy journal and served as Book Review Editor of NCA’s First Amendment Studies journal.