William Bennett Turner argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, covered legal issues for public television, published widely on free speech, and taught courses on the First Amendment at UC Berkeley for over three decades. His latest book is Free Speech for Some.
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Free Speech for Some
How the Supreme Court Is Weaponizing the First Amendment to Empower Corporations and the Religious Right Has the First Amendment become a tool to promote the conservative agenda? On June 27, 2018, Justice Elena Kagan, dissenting from the Supreme Court’s decision in a free speech case, accused the Roberts Court majority of “weaponizing the First Amendment” -- of “turning the First Amendment into a sword” and using it to serve a conservative political agenda. The U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., has decided more free speech cases than any previous court in history. The decisions have mostly favored free speech claims. But the court increasingly has found First Amendment protection not for dissidents who need the Amendment to get their voices heard but for businesses and conservative religious interests. The court has taken free speech principles developed decades ago to shield and empower oppressed people and applied them to shield and empower corporations and the religious right. The book critically examines how the Roberts Court has decided the key cases, changed the rules on free speech, engineered outcomes, and become the willing vehicle for advancing the conservative agenda. Justice Kagan was right. The book was revised and updated, with an electronic version, and published September, 2020. Order it from Amazon (Kindle available), Barnes & Noble (Nook available), and from any bookstore. |
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Praise for Free Speech For Some
“This book is really an eye-opener. If you care about freedom of speech, Bill Turner’s book is a must-read. He clearly lays out an alarming Roberts Court pattern to abuse the First Amendment to achieve a conservative outcome.”
--Barbara Boxer, former US Senator and co-host of The Boxer Podcast
“In this excellent and timely book, William Bennett Turner shows us how our current Supreme Court has, case by case, reshaped First Amendment protection for free speech, to the benefit of corporations, special interests, and conservative causes. Free Speech for Some is lucid, judicious, and brimming with authoritative insights into this troubling development.”
--Thelton E. Henderson, former Chief Judge, United States District Court
“Bill Turner has turned his unique experience as litigator, teacher and journalist into a masterful scholarly but eminently readable analysis of the Supreme Court’s use of the First Amendment to advance a conservative political agenda. Rare is a book about law so jargon free.”
--Michael Meltsner, Matthews University of Professor of Law at Northeastern School of Law and author of The Making of a Civil Rights Lawyer
"Justice Elena Kagan wrote of the conservatives weaponizing the First Amendment. Bill Turner tells us what this means and why it ultimately is about empowering corporations and the religious right. In a very clear, accessible book, Turner has sounded an alarm that we must heed."
--Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
“This book is really an eye-opener. If you care about freedom of speech, Bill Turner’s book is a must-read. He clearly lays out an alarming Roberts Court pattern to abuse the First Amendment to achieve a conservative outcome.”
--Barbara Boxer, former US Senator and co-host of The Boxer Podcast
“In this excellent and timely book, William Bennett Turner shows us how our current Supreme Court has, case by case, reshaped First Amendment protection for free speech, to the benefit of corporations, special interests, and conservative causes. Free Speech for Some is lucid, judicious, and brimming with authoritative insights into this troubling development.”
--Thelton E. Henderson, former Chief Judge, United States District Court
“Bill Turner has turned his unique experience as litigator, teacher and journalist into a masterful scholarly but eminently readable analysis of the Supreme Court’s use of the First Amendment to advance a conservative political agenda. Rare is a book about law so jargon free.”
--Michael Meltsner, Matthews University of Professor of Law at Northeastern School of Law and author of The Making of a Civil Rights Lawyer
"Justice Elena Kagan wrote of the conservatives weaponizing the First Amendment. Bill Turner tells us what this means and why it ultimately is about empowering corporations and the religious right. In a very clear, accessible book, Turner has sounded an alarm that we must heed."
--Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Jesse H. Choper Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law
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