Founding Values: Speech and Press

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, founders of the United States, believed in the importance of freedom of conscience, which may be connected to freedom to exercise one’s thoughts and beliefs as well as to freedom of speech and press. U.S. Supreme Court opinions subsequently connected freedom of expression to fundamental liberties recognized in the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. This panel, which will be a discussion among communication and legal experts, will explore freedom of speech and press rights in the United States, how necessary free expression values are to a functioning democracy, and how we can protect these values.

Organized in partnership with the Cronkite School.

Founding Values is an event series designed for ASU and the surrounding community to distance ourselves from partisan politics and reflect on the values represented in the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution.

The semiquincentennial, the 250th anniversary of the nation's founding, offers us a unique and timely opportunity to ask if we are upholding those values, and what we can do as a community to protect those values—if we think that they ought to be protected.

In response to a call for proposed sessions, the Lincoln Center received many timely and important proposals from faculty, students and community members. We are thrilled to be able to offer support for such a diverse set of sessions through the event series.

Founding Values will host seven events over three weeks: from April 13 to 28. The event series is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information about the event series, please visit: lincolncenter.asu.edu/founding-values.