James Weinstein

James Weinstein, Amelia Lewis Professor of Constitutional Law at the College of Law, was quoted in an April 10 State Press article, “Panel discusses freedom of speech on campus,” by reporter Danielle Grobmeier.

The article reported on a panel of ASU faculty and staff members who discussed concerns regarding public speakers on campus after ASU received complaints from the campus community. Some of the speakers have included religious presentations, anti-abortion displays and club demonstrations, according to the article.

“People have a right guaranteed to express any idea, no matter how offensive,” Weinstein said. “A preacher on Cady Mall does have a First Amendment right to condemn homosexuality as a sin, just at an atheist has the right to condemn religion as mindless superstition.”

Weinstein said that “fighting words,” when a speaker uses language intended to directly attack and target someone near them, are not protected by the First Amendment. However, he said inflammatory speech and symbols are protected.

“Contrary to popular understanding, there in no general exception for hate speech,” Weinstein said. “It is protected as an argument. Hateful, racist ideas are protected in this country.”

To read the article, click here.

Weinstein’s areas of academic interest are constitutional law, especially free speech, as well as jurisprudence and legal history. He is co-editor of Extreme Speech and Democracy, the author of Hate Speech, Pornography and the Radical Attack on Free Speech Doctrine, and has written numerous articles in law review symposia on a variety of free speech topics, including: free speech theory, obscenity doctrine, institutional review boards, commercial speech, database protection, campaign finance reform, the relationship between free speech and constitutional rights, hate crimes, and campus speech codes.