Common Law Constitutionalism and the Freedom of Speech

Professor Ronald Krotoszynski, Jr.
John S. Stone Chair, Director of Faculty
Research, and Professor of Law at the
University of Alabama School of Law

THE TALK
Why do courts in so many places essentially freelance when
they must define and apply the freedom of speech? And
why are speech rights so difficult to codify in a way that
effectively constrains judicial discretion? One might also
ask whether free speech is unique or if other fundamental
rights are also more the product of judicial construction
than constitutional text. In this lecture, Professor Ronald J.
Krotoszynski will explore the relevance - and irrelevance - of
constitutional text to safeguarding expressive freedoms
(including the freedoms of speech, assembly, petition, and
association), with particular attention to the limited effect
that the Human Rights Act 1998 has had in strengthening
the freedom of speech in the U.K. His research relates to a
forthcoming book project, “Free Speech as Civic Structure:
A Comparative Analysis of How Courts and Culture –
Not Constitutional Text – Shape the Freedom of Speech
(forthcoming Oxford University Press 2023).

THE SPEAKER
Ronald J. Krotoszynski, Jr. is the John S. Stone Chair,
Director of Faculty Research, and Professor of Law at the
University of Alabama School of Law. He is the author
of several books including: Privacy Revisited: A Global
Perspective On The Right To Be Left Alone (Oxford
University Press 2016) and Reclaiming The Petition Clause:
Seditious Libel, “Offensive” Protest, And The Right To
Petition The Government For A Redress Of Grievances
(Yale University Press 2012). Professor Krotoszynski’s
most recent book is The Disappearing First Amendment
(Cambridge University Press 2019).

Booking is essential