The Wild, Wild Web: Free Speech, Libel, and the First Amendment in the Digital Age

On Nov. 14-15, top First Amendment scholars and new media journalists converged at Washington and Lee University to explore the evolution of free speech law and the profession of journalism in the age of the Internet.

Symposium Presentations

Part One: Moot Court Exercise, SleazyCampus.com
  Video     Audio

Dean Rod Smolla opens the 2008 Law and Media Symposium with a moot court exercise, where he presents oral arguments on both sides of a dispute before a fictional Supreme Court. The case involves the fictional college gossip site sleazycampus.com.

Part Two: Jim Brady, Washingtonpost.com
  Video     Audio

Jim Brady, vice president and executive editor Washingtonpost.com, discusses some of the challenges of running one of the most popular site for online news.

Part Three: Erwin Chemerinsky, Tucker Lecture
  Video     Audio

Erwin Chemerinsky, constitutional law expert and founding dean of the law school of the University of California, Irvine, delivers the 2008 Tucker Lecture as part of the annual Law and Media Symposium. Dean Chemerinsky discusses how previous adjustments in First Amendment law in response to the evolution of media are insufficient in dealing with the Internet.

Part Four: John Harris, Politico.com
  Video     Audio

John Harris of Politico.com talks about the end of print journalism and migration of the established media to online outlets.

Part Five: Hon. Alex Kozinsky
Video available in Law Library Reserves

The Hon. Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, says that in the age of the Internet, the First Amendment is dead.

Part Six: Panel Discussion
  Video     Audio

Panel and free-form discussion on Internet protections of political speech in light of the just-concluded presidential race. Featuring Jeanne Cummings of Politico.com; Bob Strong, W&L Politics Department; and Rod Smolla, Dean of the Law School. Moderated by journalism department head Brian Richardson. 

Speaker Information

	Jim Brady, vice president and executive editor Washingtonpost.com; board member of the Online News Association; former vice president and editorial director for AOL.
	Erwin Chemerinsky, expert in constitutional law and federal civil procedure; law professor at USC, DePaul and Duke; founding dean of the law school of the University of California, Irvine.
	Jeanne Cummings is chief lobbying and money correspondent at Politico. She has covered politics at every level, from state and local governments to five presidential campaigns.
	John Harris, co-founder and editor in chief of The Politico newspaper and Politico.com; author of "The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House" and co-author of "The Way to Win: Taking the White House in 2008."
	The Hon. Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; a judicial conservative and well-known free-speech advocate, mentioned as a possible U.S. Supreme Court candidate.
	Rodney A. Smolla, Dean and Roy L. Steinheimer, Jr. Professor at W&L School of Law; First Amendment expert and frequent commentator on legal disputes involving online media.
	Bob Strong, William Lyne Wilson Professor of Politics and Associate Provost, Washington and Lee University