Speech out of doors : preserving First Amendment liberties in public places / Timothy Zick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zick, Timothy.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Freedom of speech--United States.

Freedom of speech.

Law and geography.

United States.

Assembly, Right of--United States.

Assembly, Right of.

Law and geography--United States.

Physical Description:

xvi, 344 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Cambridge ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Summary:

Even in an age characterized by increasing virtual presence and communication, speakers still need physical places in which to exercise First Amendment liberties. This book examines the critical intersection of public speech and spatiality. Through a tour of various places on what the author calls the "expressive topography," the book considers a variety of public speech activities, including sidewalk counseling at abortion clinics, residential picketing, protesting near funerals, assembling and speaking on college campuses, and participating in public rallies and demonstrations at political conventions and other critical democratic events. This examination of public expressive liberties, or speech out of doors, shows that place can be as important to one's expressive experience as voice, sight, and auditory function. Speakers derive a host of benefits, such as proximity, immediacy, symbolic function, and solidarity, from message placement. Unfortunately, for several decades the ground beneath speakers' feet has been steadily eroding. The causes of this erosion are varied and complex; they include privatization and other loss of public space, legal restrictions on public assembly and expression, methods of policing public speech activity, and general public apathy. To counter these forces and reverse at least some of their effects will require a focused and sustained effort - by public officials, courts, and of course, the people themselves.

Contents:

Introduction: the geography of expression

The expressive topography and public liberties

Embodied places

Contested places

Non-places

Inscribed places

Militarized places

Places of higher learning

Networked public places.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780521517300

0521517303

9780521731966

0521731968

OCLC:

237884145