This course will begin with an examination of freedom of expression and freedom of the press and will then move to a study of freedom of religion – the establishment clause and the free exercise clause. We shall cover issues such as the protection of political speech, sexualized speech (obscenity and pornography), symbolic speech and speech in public places in addition to issues related to press censorship, reporters’ privilege and press coverage of trials. In the area of freedom of religion we shall review the jurisprudence on the role of religion in the public sphere as well as the constitutional command to guarantee free exercise of religion. While studying the doctrines developed under the Bill of Rights, we shall also address theoretical questions such as the role of rights in constitutional democracy and the institutional question of judicial review.
