On July 21, 1990, Associate Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., announced his resignation from the nation's highest court. The judicial career of the man who Wat Hopkins considers the United States Supreme Court's premier protector of expression came to an end. Hopkins examines the body of Justice Brennan's free expression jurisprudence and shows how Justice Brennan's theory of free expression was built on the metaphor of a marketplace of ideas.
Hopkins' analysis is based primarily on an examination of the significant free expression cases during Brennan's thirty-four year term. He concludes that Brennan developed a philosophically sound First Amendment theory that was accepted by the Court, but is not being applied today with the force necessary to make it truly effective. This detailed examination of Justice Brennan's jurisprudence is a noteworthy addition to legal history and scholarship.
W. WAT HOPKINS is Assistant Professor of Communication Studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He is author of
Actual Malice: Twenty-five Years after Times v. Sullivan(Praeger, 1989). He teaches communications law and has published articles in
Journalism Quarterly,
Journalism Monographs,
West's Education Law Reporter, and
Newspaper Research Journal.
Preface
Mr. Justice Brennan
Utterly Without Redeeming Social Value
Close Analysis and Critical Judgement
A Heavy Presumption
Debate . . . Should Be Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-Open
Closely Akin to `Pure Speech'
Free Trade in Ideas in a Competitive Market
Valuable Public Debate . . . Must Be Informed
. . . And Freedom of Expression
Appendix: The Free-Expression Opinions of Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.
Bibliography
Case Index
Subject Index
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