Free Speech, "The People's Darling Privilege"

Free Speech, "The People's Darling Privilege"

Book cover
Author	Michael Kent Curtis
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Freedom of Speech
Genre	Law
Publisher	Duke University Press
Publication date	2000
Pages	520
ISBN	0-8223-2529-2
Preceded by	No State Shall Abridge

Free Speech, "The People's Darling Privilege": Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History is a non-fiction book about the history of freedom of speech in the United States written by Michael Kent Curtis and published in 2000 by Duke University Press. The book discusses the evolution of free speech in the U.S. within the context of the actions of individuals and how they affected change. The author writes that protests and actions by citizens helped to evolve the notions surrounding free speech in the U.S. before definitive statements on the matter from U.S. courts. Curtis writes that free speech rights were first developed in "the forum of public opinion",^[1] and that, "The history of free speech shows the need for broadly protective free speech rules applied generally and equally".^[2]

For his work on Free Speech, "The People's Darling Privilege", Curtis received the Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award and the Mayflower Cup Award. Critics gave the book a positive reception. A review in Columbia Journalism Review called it a "rich and original study",^[1] and The Journal of American History said that it includes "fine analytic discussions".^[3] Perspectives on Political Science called the book "an extremely valuable contribution to the literature addressing the history of free speech in America."^[4] Timothy C. Shiell of the University of Wisconsin–Stout reviewed it for The Historian and wrote, "Michael Kent Curtis offers a major contribution to the scholarship of both that era and of free speech."^[2]