I'm Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, and welcome

to We The People, a weekly show of constitutional debate.

The National Constitution Center is the only institution in America,

chartered by Congress to disseminate information about the U.S. Constitution on a non-partisan basis.

And in this episode, we discuss one of the most hotly

contested and important constitutional questions of our time, namely, does

the First Amendment protect hate speech and should it be construed to protect hate

speech.

The First Amendment says that Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech. In the 1960s the court interpreted that to mean that speech can only be banned if it's

intended to and likely to cause imminent violence. But as our campuses and

our chat rooms royal with discussions about the proper scope of free speech,

there are important arguments that that First Amendment understanding should be rethought. And joining us to discuss

this crucial question are two of America's leading scholars of the First

Amendment and contributors to this crucial debate.

Shannon Gilrith is professor of law and professor of women's gender and sexuality studies at Wake Forest University law school.

His books include sexual politics, the Gay Person in America Today, and the End of Straight

Supremacy, Realizing Gay Liberation.

Keith Whittington is Wilson-Nelson-Cromwell Professor of Politics at Princeton,

an author of the upcoming book,

Why Free Speech is Central to the Mission of a University.

Shannon Keith, thank you so much for joining.

Thank you very much. Keith, let's jump right in. I mentioned

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