Lesson 2 Overview

 

Introduction

Welcome to Lesson 2 of Communications 403. In this lesson, we will begin to build the foundation of your knowledge of First Amendment law. We will look at how courts decide cases that raise First Amendment challenges. We also will examine the constitutional doctrines and tests that courts apply in handling these challenges. We will look at some current cases that address a particular subset of the population—minors—to see how the rights of the younger population of society differ from those of adults. Those cases also provide us with an illustration of how constitutional tests and doctrines apply in practice.

And speaking of cases, in this lesson (and subsequent lessons) you will be able to access synopses of critical freedom-of-expression cases to get a sense of how courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, apply the tests or doctrines in order to resolve disputes. When you see a reference to a case in this lesson, you can read the case abstract at that point to get a fuller understanding of the legal issues in play.

Objectives

Here are the objectives for this lesson:

• apply constitutional tests and doctrines to First Amendment challenges,
• understand how concepts such as public forum enhance free speech, and
• recognize that the First Amendment rights of minors vary from those of adults.

Lesson Readings and Activities

You may have questions or comments in response to this lesson's content. Post them to the Course Cafe, which may be accessed through the course navigation menu.

By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Lesson 2 Course Schedule.