On the evolution and definition of ‘First Amendment studies’: Do we all engage in First Amendment studies?

Abstract

When I began my academic study of the First Amendment about 20 years ago, the topics seemed pretty straightforward. The journal was then named Free Speech Yearbook, and took on some of the most conventional First Amendment issues. The early essays of the journal were written by scholars like Franklyn Haiman and Robert O’Neill and included topics like reviewing the year’s legal rulings in the courts about free speech, the practice of free speech on college campuses, bibliographies of First Amendment research, and what I would consider to be core First Amendment issues like censorship in the broadcasting medium, political protests including controversies like flag burning, and the examination of specific jurists on First Amendment issues. Over time, we have seen the nature of First Amendment studies proliferate as more and more subject areas that were not traditionally associated with the First Amendment have become First Amendment issues. This has also meant that scholars who may have never thought about themselves as First Amendment scholars are now finding themselves studying the First Amendment. For example, scholars that are interested in the study of agriculture may have never envisioned themselves becoming First Amendment scholars in cases about food libel. Gun rights scholars may not have envisioned themselves being First Amendment scholars in the study of cases involving the freedom to print and share 3D blueprints of guns. Technology experts may never have envisioned themselves making arguments about the extent to which First Amendment rights apply to artificial intelligence (like Amazon’s Alexa), or of the advancement of deep fakes. Scientists may not have envisioned themselves studying the First Amendment freedom to experiment with human cloning (i.e., the experiment as the expression of the idea of cloning). The list goes on and on. Scholars in these different areas are increasingly finding themselves bumping into First Amendment considerations. I think it is conceivable that, if we are not already, all of us will study the First Amendment in at least some small way at some point in our academic careers. Therefore, it has become increasingly important for the First Amendment Studies journal to serve as a place to centrally converse about the nature and scope of First Amendment issues in our evolving landscape. As Editor, I find it noteworthy to highlight two important features of the journal. Each of these features, I believe, will provide a clear way of addressing the evolution of First Amendment Studies in order to continue studying the core First Amendment areas found in the history of the journal, while also