CONFERENCES & EVENTS

Free Speech: Testing the Limits of the First Amendment

March 18, 2021
7:30 p.m.–9:00 p.m. EST
WEBINAR

Kurt Braddock and Ronald K. Chen addressed how the first amendment is being tested. Topics included language as a weapon, hate speech, incitement, and the internet. This event was organized by the Network for Responsible Public Policy.

EVENT MATERIALS

•   SUMMARY REPORT (1)
  • Free Speech: Testing the Limits of the First Amendment

PANELISTS

KURT BRADDOCK is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at American University, where he is also a faculty fellow at the Polarization and Extremism Research Innovation Lab (PERIL). Dr. Braddock’s research investigates the intersection between language and political violence, with a particular focus on how extremist groups use persuasive techniques to recruit and radicalize vulnerable audiences. His work has been published in several top-tier communication and security journals, and his first book, Weaponized Words: The Strategic Role of Persuasion in Violent Radicalization and Counter-Radicalization was published by Cambridge University Press in 2020. Dr. Braddock advises several national and international organizations, including the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of State, the U.K. Home Office, and the United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism.

RONALD K. CHEN is a University Professor, Distinguished Professor of Law, and Judge Leonard I. Garth Scholar at Rutgers Law School. He was dean of the School of Law–Newark and the first co-dean of Rutgers Law School resident in Newark from 2013-2018. He is the former Public Advocate of New Jersey. He teaches first-year Contracts, Federal Courts, and litigates civil rights and civil liberties cases in the Constitutional Rights Clinic. Professor Chen serves as a General Counsel and a member of the National Board of the ACLU.

MODERATOR

PERRY DANE is a Professor of Law at the Rutgers Law School. He is a graduate of Yale College and the Yale Law School. Professor Dane was previously on the faculty of the Yale Law School and served as a law clerk to William J. Brennan, Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. His research and teaching interests include constitutional law, comparative constitutionalism, religion and the law, and legal pluralism. He is a frequent speaker on church-state questions and other current issues.

EVENT CO-SPONSORS

Network for Responsible Public Policy
The Academy of Political Science
The Puffin Foundation
The News Literacy Project