Updated for the first time since 2005, this indispensable volume includes revised interpretations of the Library Bill of Rights along with key intellectual freedom guidelines and policies, including: (1) A new chapter, "Interactivity and the Internet," and other fresh material on intellectual freedom and privacy in online social…

Discusses the implications of federal legislation and local government encroachment on cable systems, and advocates that cable television be given the editorial and journalistic discretion given to newspapers. (RBF)

The books, newspaper columns, articles, and speeches of Walter Lippmann were analyzed to determine the journalist's First Amendment viewpoints in four periods when national security was an issue in the United States. These periods were (1) after World War I, (2) after the Korean War, (3) during World War II, and (4) during the war in Vietnam. The…

This paper discusses the equal time law: Section 315 of the Communications Act of 1934. Section 315 is the major legislation governing the use of the broadcasting media in the area of politics. The underlying philosophy of the law is that people have a right to a full and complete disclosure of conflicting views of news of interest. The essence of…

Images of heretics burning at the stake or of traitors being drawn, hanged, and quartered for disloyalty to the king seem well removed from twenty-first century America. Yet the laws that defined these offenses--which included heresy and blasphemy, sedition and treason--were at the heart of some of the most significant debates defining the shape…

The growth of groups of the religious right has resulted in a major ideological division in the United States. Outlines the strength of these groups, the particulars of the secular humanism debate, and the ability such groups have to coordinate issues and join together in campaigns influencing public education. (MD)

In Smith vs. Regents of the University of California, the California Supreme Court established new constitutional limitations on use of mandatory student fees. This article examines the Court's restriction of use of funds for ideological or controversial extracurricular programs and concludes that the distinction between educational and political…

Analyzes the private school choice debate through a review of the political and judicial history of efforts to provide private schools and their patrons with forms of public aid. It is predicted that a federal tax credit or tuition plan is not likely to succeed in Congress. (SLD)

Charges of racism directed at the Administration's decision to discontinue withholding tax exemptions from "discriminatory" private schools ignored the real issue, namely that the Internal Revenue Service, lacking statutory authority on the matter, derived its authority from past court precedents. Should civil rights policymaking…

Explores issues surrounding hate crime legislation and prosecution, with emphasis on motivation and first amendment issues. Hate crime legislation attempts to import the civil rights model into criminal law, but the very existence of the hate crime label raises social and political stakes in intergroup crimes. (SLD)