First Amendment

Clay Calvert, director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, was a panelist for the hour-long UF Faculty Senate First Amendment Webinar on Oct. 30. The “Conversation About the First Amendment” event, introduced by UF Faculty Senate Chair Sylvain…

Frank LoMonte, University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information director, is quoted in “College Athletes, Long Muffled By Schools, Are Finding New Ways to Speak Out” published in The Washington Post on Oct. 12. The article focuses on college athletes who have been…

This column by Brechner Center Director Frank LoMonte originally appeared on poynter.org on Sept. 23, 2020. There has never been a time when America more urgently needed to hear the voices of college athletes. Fall sports tentatively resumed across America’s college campuses under the shadow of a deadly pandemic that…

Clay Calvert, director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, is quoted in “College Rescinding Admissions Offers as Racial Social Media Posts Emerge” published in The New York Times on July 2. The article focuses on schools and universities…

University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications‘ Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Director Frank LoMonte commented on a federal appeals court decision affirming a student publication’s free press rights, in “Even ‘Offensive’ Publications Have Free Press Rights,” published on July 25 in Inside Higher Ed. The U.S. Court…

Clay Calvert, director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, was quoted in “Trump Praises First Amendment a Day After Attacking ‘Phony’ Press” published in The Washington Post on March 21. The article features President Trump’s executive order supporting…

By Clay Calvert Kendrick Lamar won a Pulitzer Prize last year and Eminem set a record in 2019 for streams on Spotify. But the acceptance and embrace of rap music in mainstream culture isn’t shared by everyone – and that sometimes includes the police. Controversy between the police and rappers has gone on at least…

The presidential election of 2016 brought with it multiple accusations of so-called fake news, along with actual examples of fictional stories, such as one that spawned a real-life shooting at a Washington, D.C. pizzeria. With a flood of information from countless sources, it’s increasingly challenging to combat fake news and…

By Clay Calvert Thousands of high school students across the nation left their classes March 14 precisely at 10 a.m. for 17 minutes. The walkout served two purposes: to honor the 17 people – including 14 students – killed exactly one month ago at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland,…

As the current presidential administration continues to wage war against the media, either through “fake news” finger pointing, defamation cases or limiting access to public information, there are superheroes behind the scenes protecting journalism and journalists’ right to access information and share it with the public. Charles Tobin, B.S. Journalism…

  Frank LoMonte, director of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, commented in the article “Windowpanes Without Messages” published in Inside Higher Ed on Aug. 25. The article focuses on the Ohio State University ban on decorations in dormitory windows. The…

The protection of free speech guaranteed in the First Amendment is one of the most cherished — and familiar —rights Americans enjoy. Less well-known to the average citizen are legislative acts and various court rulings that make distinctions between types of “free speech.” In an age when smartphones and social…