Watch the keynotes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fundamentals of the First Amendment: Speech, Press, and Assembly<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The First Amendment to the US Constitution protects free speech, freedom of the press, and the freedom of assembly. (It also protects free exercise of religion and bars the establishment of religion, which will be the subject of a different presentation). Although the First Amendment allows \u201cno law\u201d infringing the rights it protects, that prohibition cannot be taken literally. While the US protects free expression to a greater extent than any other constitutional democracy, some limits are allowed. Case law deems some categories of speech (such as obscenity and so-called fighting words) unprotected, while even protected speech may be limited by content-neutral time, place, or manner restrictions. Meanwhile, despite warranting its own clause, case law gives no special protection to the institutional press. This introduction to the very large body of free expression case law provides a useful framework for analyzing classic as well as contemporary conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Religion Clauses in the Age of the Pandemic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Professor Nelson Tebbe will first give an overview of current law under the Free Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as well as under related religious freedom statutes such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. He will then apply these rules to current disputes arising under the COVID pandemic, including claims for religious exemptions from stay at home orders and the permissibility of PPP funding for houses of worship and clergy salaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n