Friday, September 22, 2023
9:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (with reception to follow)

Hosted both in-person and virtually from
George Mason University
Antonin Scalia Law School

Free and open to the public.

This symposium brings together senior scholars and exciting new voices to present cutting-edge research on the role freedom of speech plays in advancing civil rights movements (past, present and future). Scholars will present new papers exploring whether free expression helps or harms the cause of social progress, entrenching an unjust status quo or providing critical support for groups wishing to challenge it. Topics include the free speech rights of BLM protestors, the impact of speech restrictions on disability rights, Section 230, and the censoring of abolitionist newspapers in the American south.

Voices for Liberty, an initiative of the Liberty & Law Center at Scalia Law, aims to broaden debates about freedom of speech. We bring in new perspectives through incubated scholarship, campus speakers, and public events. 

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Conference Program

Friday, September 22nd, 2023

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time Zone (EDT) / Minor details subject to change

8:30 – 9:30 CHECK-IN / REGISTRATION & LIGHT BREAKFAST

9:30 – 9:40: OPENING REMARKS

• JoAnn Koob, Assistant Professor and Director, Liberty & Law Center, Scalia Law School, George Mason University
• David E. Bernstein, Distinguished University Professor and Executive Director, Liberty & Law Center, Scalia Law School, George Mason University

9:40 – 10:40: Paper #1: “First Amendment Rights on Trial: A Critique of the Time, Place, and Manner Doctrine”

• Paper Author: Alec Greven, J.D. Candidate at the University of Chicago Law School
• Discussants: Emerson Sykes, Staff Attorney, Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, ACLU; and Timothy Zick, John Marshall Professor of Government and Citizenship, William & Mary Law School, William & Mary
• Moderator: Christopher Newman, Associate Professor, Scalia Law School, George Mason University

10:40 – 11:00 BREAK

11:00 -12:00: Paper #2: “Free Speech for All or None: Mobs, Abolitionists, and Democrats and the Public Constitutional Fights over the First Amendment During the American Civil War”

• Paper Author: Nicholas Mosvick, Buckley Legacy Project Manager, National Review Institute
• Discussants: Kathleen M. Brown, David Boies Professor of History, University of Pennsylvania; and Mark Graber, University System of Maryland Regents Professor, Francis King Carey School of Law, University of Maryland
• Moderator: Debi Ghate, Initiative Director, Voices for Liberty, Liberty & Law Center, George Mason University 

12:00 – 1:20 KEYNOTE LUNCHEON

• Keynote: Jonathan Rauch, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings Institute 

1:20 – 1:30: BREAK

1:30 – 2:30: Paper #3: “Free Speech Culture as an Anticipatory ‘Reasonable Accommodation’ for People with Psycho-Social Disabilities and Neurodiverse People”

• Paper Author: Reuben Kirkham, Lecturer, Monash University & Free Speech Union of Australia
• Discussants: Robert Dinerstein, Professor of Law Emeritus, Washington College of Law, American University; Doron Dorfman, Associate Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School, Seton Hall University
• Moderator: JoAnn Koob, Assistant Professor and Director, Liberty & Law Center, Scalia Law School, George Mason University

2:30 – 3:00: AFTERNOON BREAK AND REFRESHMENT

3:00 – 4:00: Paper #4: “Section 230 as Civil Rights Statute”

• Paper Author: Enrique Armijo, Professor of Law, Elon University School of Law
• Discussants: Eugene Volokh, Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA Law, University of California, Los Angeles; and Kate Ruane, Sy Syms Director, U.S. Free Expression Programs, PEN America
• Moderator: David E. Bernstein, Distinguished University Professor and Executive Director, Liberty & Law Center, Scalia Law School, George Mason University

4:00 – 4:15: BREAK

4:15 – 5:00: CLOSING PLENARY

• Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law, Emerita, New York Law School
• Debi Ghate, Initiative Director, Voices for Liberty, Liberty & Law Center, George Mason University 

5:00 – 5:05: CLOSING REMARKS

• David E. Bernstein, Distinguished University Professor and Executive Director, Liberty & Law Center, Scalia Law School, George Mason University

5:00 – 6:00 COCKTAIL RECEPTION

Generously Funded by the Stanton Foundation

ADDRESS, DIRECTIONS & PARKING

The symposium will be held in Scalia Law’s Van Metre Auditorium located at 3351 Fairfax Dr, Arlington, VA 22201. Signs will be posted directing registrants to the check-in desk. 

Visitor Parking

• Van Metre Hall (formerly Founders) Garage is located directly beneath Scalia Law School. To access the garage, use the entrance located off of Kirkwood Drive, in between Fairfax Drive and Washington Boulevard. Currently, the rates are $3/hour with a daily maximum of $15 Monday-Friday.
• There is metered parking in front of the law school on Fairfax Drive and long-term metered parking across the street in front of St. Charles Church.

Note: We are unable to validate parking.