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Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment

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This book is a history of the First Amendment and the twisting, torturous road taken to get from 1791 when the amendment was added to the Constitution to the freedoms we now enjoy due to the inclusion of the amendment. It has been a long bumpy road and getting to the point we are at now was not easy.

The author looks at various portions of the First Amendment, and details various laws and Supreme Court decisions that have affected and changed the way the amendment is interpreted. Along the way, the author looks at what is free speech, how that was determined and many of the attitudes of various Supreme Court Justices. In addition, libel laws are examined as is the concept of freedom of the press.

This book is a well written history, and one that all Americans should read. Not only do many of us take our rights for granted, but we also don't understand the process by which laws develop and are interpreted. The term "activist judge" will have a whole new meaning following the reading of this book. In addition, you will have a much better understanding of how the Constitution works, how the Supreme Court works and how we can all be better citizens.

Anthony Lewis, the longtime columnist and onetime Supreme Court reporter for the New York Times, inspired many children of the 60s and 70s to go to law school with his classic book, Gideon's Trumpet. Freedom for the Thought That We Hate doesn't have the dramatic flair of that book, but it is a highly readable, sprightly account of more than 200 years of First Amendment history.

Lewis is, of course, a champion of the First Amendment, and his discussions of the libel case New York Times v. Sullivan, the post-World War I sedition cases, and the McCarthy era show why the First Amendment and its guarantees of free expression are so necessary to a free society. He goes further, holding back nothing in expressing his contempt for President George W. Bush and what Lewis views as the president's incessant efforts to destroy liberty in the name of fighting terrorism.

But Lewis is no First Amendment absolutist. On campaign finance, on judicial elections, and even on advocacy of violence (where Lewis would permit the criminalization of some statements that the Supreme Court evidently would not), he stays away from dogmatism and calls each case as he sees it. It's clear, as well, that Lewis is not thrilled with many aspects of today's popular culture in the wake of the practical abolition of any limitations on expression on obscenity grounds. But on this issue, he's speaking as a bit of a cultural conservative, not as someone who wishes to overturn a whole line of Supreme Court decisions.

As always, Lewis cuts through the legalese and brings dusty Supreme Court cases to life. Highly recommended.

Anthony Lewis's new book, "Freedom for the Thought That We Hate" is a terrific compendium regarding the First Amendment...America's unique codification of freedom of speech. Citing a number of Supreme Court cases, Lewis weaves a narrative with respect to two hundred years of debate about this important amendment to the Constitution, how it evolved and its relevance today. Along the way, we are reminded how, at many times during our nation's history, certain aspects of free speech were abridged, only to be saved by the courts, the Congress and public opinion. Anthony Lewis has presented all of this in a succinct and engrossing way.

Although this is a work about our own nation, Lewis does some short comparisons to the British system of "openness" and finds theirs (unsurprisingly) not as free as ours, especially when it comes to cases of libel. A surprise to many reading "Freedom" is how only comparatively recently the First Amendment has been put to the test. Lewis delves into areas of interest including privacy, libel, the press and pornography. But perhaps his greatest chapter is one on fear...how governments have sought to use fear to suppress public demonstration and thought, while insulating themselves from reality. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant", Justice Louis Brandeis stated years ago, and the author is quick to cite the Bush administration for not adhering to this idea. Indeed, I wish Lewis had taken on Bush even more in this book, but perhaps he has another offering in the works.

"Freedom for the Thought That We Hate" is simply terrific. The author's look into certain Supreme Court Justices... Brandeis, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Felix Frankfurter, (to name just three) is superb. To top it all off, Anthony Lewis is deeply reflective and writes in a well-paced manner. I highly recommend "Freedom" for anyone who is serious about how the First Amendment continues to be a guiding light for the United States.

Mr. Lewis has written a concise, entertaining and informative history of the First Amendment. I, for one, was surprised to learn that the broad First Amendment protections we enjoy today--protections that allow us to vilify our elected officials, burn the flag and insult our neighbor without fear of government prosecution--are largely the product of Supreme Court decisions handed down during the last 50 years of the 20th Century. (Did you know, for example, that prior to 1965, the Supreme Court had never struck down a federal statute on First Amendment grounds? Who knew?)

The author is also careful to balance the protections afforded by the First Amendment against competing governmental and societal interests. Although I do not share all of his views (I'm a bit more inclined than he is to err on the side of protecting offensive, libelous, and seditious speech, even when there are compelling public interests supporting its suppression), I admire his objectivity and his refusal to approach these issues in a dogmatic fashion.

If I have one quibble with the book it's Mr. Lewis' willingness to gloss over the damage done to the First Amendment by the so-called liberal academics who seek to censor thoughts and ideas that conflict with their own under the guise of political correctness. That this has occurred on the campuses of our universities (vanguards of academic freedom?) and that it has been fomented by individuals many of whom took to the streets in the 1960s in a collective assertion of their right to say and do whatever they please, renders it all the more reprehensible and hypocritical. Think I am exaggerating? Read the books written by Nat Henthoff ("Free Speech for Me, but not for Thee"), David Berstein ('You Can't Say That!"), and Arthur Schlesinger ("The Disuniting of America). This, however, is a minor criticism. Mr. Lewis has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the First Amendment. And if we wish to preserve the freedoms it guarantees, we would do well to read books such as these.

Unless a person goes to law school, it is unlikely that he or she will learn the 200 year old history of the First Amendment...yet is is a fascinating and necessary history to learn. The thesis of the book is that our common notion of what "freedom of speech and press" means in America is not self evident law. In fact, the author explains, our right to criticise the government and its leaders was developed and protected by "activist judges."

Think about the role of activist judges - many of whom are criticised today in certain political circles. Anthony Lewis reminds us that American activist judges used the language that all persons are born free and equal to issue rulings that slavery was against the law as early as 1783. 150 years later it was again activist judges and lawyers who struck down the Espionage Act of World War I which punished speech against the war. So it was only in the twentieth century that the First Amendment was used to protect free speech and condemn a statute that infringed this liberty.

Author Anthony Lewis takes us on a historical journey through First Amendment cases from its beginnings in the constitutional convention to its interpretation by the Jeffersonians and the Federalists to Woodrow Wilson's oppressive statutes, and finally to the more recent cases of flag desecration and the Patriot Act. Mr. Lewis is clear headed and forceful in his history and arguments. As I see it, this volume is one of the top 10 books on the law that I have ever read. I suggest it as a gift to your sons and daughters, to your high school or college students who care about what America means. Highly recommended.

"Freedom For the Thought We Hate" is a non-technical overview of the Supreme Court's main First Amendment cases in the 20th century. One chapter deals with press freedoms, another with privacy, another with freedom of association, and so forth. The writing is clear, the book is short, and pre-law students or other undergrads looking for an introduction to this area of law couldn't find a better place to start. But the book isn't "Gideon's Trumpet" or "Make No Law," outstanding books where Lewis picked apart a single epochal Supreme Court case. Here, no case gets more than 4 or 5 paragraphs of text. Doctrinal subtlties get short shrift, as do historical and biographical details. At its best, the book is a stirring defense of free speech. At its worst, it reads like potted summaries of court opinions.

As CS Lewis made "righteousness readable", Anthony Lewis makes legal history readable. It may well be that law originates in the mind of God, but the law we live by is made on earth by courts explaining what legislatures mean. Tony Lewis finds a golden thread running through American history: The First Amendment.As he tells us about the cases in which its meaning has been evolving,and about the lives of the legal giants who have expounded it, we get a firmer grip on what makes America distinct. For those who genuinely enjoy history, this is a page turner.

This book is one sweet read. It goes quickly and provides a wonderful reminder of the importance of the First Amendment in our nation's history. Lewis tells the story of our freedom to THINK --- note that he realizes it's not just about the press, or about speech, but about what we will be able to THINK. He knows that telling the story as one of real people, the plaintiffs, the defendants, the judges and the lawyers makes the whole tale almost jump off the page....too much fun to pass up for anyone who cares about this issue at all.

Studying the First Amendment can be a daunting task for those who wonder where to get on. This book is the answer. Written in a lucid, straightforward and engaging style (Lewis covered the Supreme Court for the NY Times for many years, winning a Pulitzer in the process, and then wrote a Times column for years after that), it presents not only the history of freedom of speech and the press, but also its current controversies: should we crack down on free speech to combat terrorism? Where do we draw the line on press disclosures of national security issues? What are the values we need to preserve in the 21st century? A thoroughly expert, educational and thoughtful work by a first-class writer.

Read this book(!) if you care about the freedoms we enjoy in America or wonder about the limits that have been placed on them. It is history.., but the book reads like a set of short stories. It is enlightening, insightful, surprising, engaging, and down right scary in parts (the whos and whys of many court decisions) . Whether your interests are in freedoms related to speech, the press, or privacy, or all of the above; this is your primer.

In this brief history of the First Amendment one sees the array of interests that have so decisively shaped the interpretation of the First Amendment. Racism, religion, history, and politics are just a few of the more obvious forces that have shaped and reshaped the laws governing our freedoms. Less obvious forces that Lewis highlights are just as intriguing. Experiencing, through Lewis' non academic writing style, the chronology of events and court decisions, from Dred Scott to Guantanamo related (habeas corpus) decisions, this is a great read.

The fact that a book like this is even being written for the layman is very encouraging. It demonstrates that there is an emerging interest in what our freedoms are, how they evolved to this point, and by extension, how they can continually be refined to satisfy our ever changing needs as a "liberal democracy".

If you know the "enemies" of the First Amendment, you will be better prepared to fight them. If you know the effects of excesses in freedoms, you will be more likely to avoid them. Lewis gives you both, along with his humble thoughts on the major issues addressed in his book.