Free Speech Handbook. A Practical Framework for Understanding Our Free Speech Protections - Ian Rosenberg;Mike Cavallaro

In the face of a rising tide of censorship and suppression, this paperback edition of Free Speech Handbook equips readers with a practical framework for appreciating the history—and future—of our free speech protections.

Freedom of speech is perhaps the most American of virtues. In a nation where everyone wants to speak and be heard, this First Amendment right is vital to our identity and our democracy. These rights have been advanced by people who spoke out and fought in our nation’s highest court, with each decision refining and reshaping what exactly “free speech” means.

In Free Speech Handbook, Ian Rosenberg and Mike Cavallaro brilliantly trace this turbulent history across ten seminal Supreme Court cases while drawing parallels with more recent controversies. Rosenberg’s straightforward language combines with Cavallaro’s bold and bright art to create an accessible and engaging crash course on the meaning, reach, and limits of our free speech protections.

Ian Rosenberg has worked as a media lawyer for over twenty-five years, specializing in First Amendment, libel, and intellectual property law. A graduate of Cornell Law School, he is an adjunct associate professor at Brooklyn College, and an Emmy-nominated documentary filmmaker. He is the author of The Fight for Free Speech: Ten Cases That Define Our First Amendment Freedoms and Terrible Stuff Damaging Everybody: Dominion v. Fox and the Future of Democracy.

Mike Cavallaro is from New Jersey and has worked in comics and animation since the early 1990s. His comics include Eisner Award–nominated Parade (with Fireworks), The Life and Times of Savior 28 (written by J. M. DeMatteis), Foiled and Curses! Foiled Again (written by Jane Yolen), Decelerate Blue (written by Adam Rapp), and the Nico Bravo and Eowulf series.

“A captivating read for any engaged citizen in today’s turbulent marketplace of ideas.”
—Juju Chang, Emmy Award–winning co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline

“This remarkable book is a joy. It celebrates the First Amendment in a manner that readers young and old can savor and learn from.”
—Floyd Abrams, First Amendment lawyer and author of The Soul of the First Amendment

“This informative and inspiring guide looks past free-speech clichés to home in on how such rights are not chiseled in stone but fought over on an ever-shifting battlefield.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Traces the evolution of the First Amendment as it has been interpreted in American society and through various free speech laws.” —New York Times, a “What to Read” selection