Speech, Crime, and the Uses of Language / Edition 1

by Kent Greenawalt

Overview

In this book Greenawalt explores the three-way relationship between the idea of freedom of speech, the law of crimes, and the many uses of language. He begins by considering free speech as a political principle, and after a thorough and incisive analysis of the justifications commonly advanced for freedom of speech, looks at the kinds of communications to which the principle of free speech applies. He then turns to an examination of communications for which criminal liability is fixed. Focusing on threats and solicitations to crime, Greenawalt attempts to determine whether liability for such communications seriously conflicts with freedom of speech. In the second half of the book he goes on to develop the significance of his conclusions for American constitutional law, addressing such questions as what should be considered "speech" within the meaning of the First Amendment, and what tests the courts should employ in deciding whether particular criminal statutes should be held constitutional. He concludes that the issues are too complex to yield simple solutions, and insists that the protection of the First Amendment can be reduced neither to one justification nor to one all-purpose test of coverage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195077117
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	09/17/1992
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.06(w) x 9.31(h) x 1.02(d)

About the Author

Columbia University Law School

Table of Contents

I	Communicative Acts and Freedom of Speech
1.	Speech, Communication, and Crime	3
2.	Rationales for Freedom of Speech	9
3.	The Boundaries of Speech: What Actions and Restraints Are Significantly Reached by Justifications for Free Speech?	40
II	Crimes and Communications
4.	Agreements, Offers, Orders, and Criminal Implementation	79
5.	Threats	90
6.	Encouragements to Crime	110
7.	Fraud and Falsehood	130
8.	Offensiveness and Diffuse Harms	141
9.	Regulation of Expressive Activities for Reasons Unrelated to Content and Regulation of Activities That Are Not Inherently Expressive	158
III	Constitutional Limits on Prohibiting Speech
10.	The First Amendment and Its Interpretation	165
11.	The Developing Law of the Free Speech and Free Press Clauses	186
12.	General Approaches to First Amendment Interpretation	219
13.	Agreements, Offers, Orders, Implementation, and Training	239
14.	Conditional Threats and Offered Inducements	249
15.	Encouragements of Crime	260
16.	Reckless and Negligent Risk That One's Communications Will Cause Criminal Harms	281
17.	Offensiveness, Emotional Distress, and Diffuse Harms	287
18.	Falsity	314
19.	Prohibition Not Ostensibly Directed at the Content of Communications	328
20.	Agreement to Communicate	335
21.	Conclusion	339
	Index	343

Editorial Reviews

"The topics Greenawalt presents are interesting and have much relevance in today's times....The ideas are good and refreshing."—The Annals of the American Academy of Political Science

"So long as someone like Kent Greenawalt is at the scales there is no reason to fear that free speech will be balanced lightly away; Greenawalt's earnest concern for free speech shines through in every case he considers."—Constitutional Commentary

From the Publisher