The World We Live In

Temple Law Review, Vol. 83, No. 2, pp. 295-308, Winter 2011

Yale Law School, Public Law Working Paper No. 239

15 Pages Posted: 10 Sep 2011 Last revised: 3 Oct 2011

See all articles by Owen M. Fiss

Owen M. Fiss

Yale University - Law School

Date Written: March 1, 2011

Abstract

This Essay focuses on a threat to our constitutional order - the curtailment of freedom of speech in the name of fighting terrorism. Specifically, my subject is the Supreme Court’s decision last June in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, which upheld the authority of Congress to criminalize political advocacy on behalf of foreign terrorist organizations. Like warrantless wiretapping, the risk of a criminal prosecution for political advocacy - for example, an utterance by an American citizen in an American forum that a foreign terrorist organization has a just cause - poses a threat to our democracy, but the danger is greater. The risk of warrantless wiretapping inhibits speech; the risk of a criminal prosecution stops it altogether.

Keywords: War on Terror, freedom of speech, Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project, Supreme Court

JEL Classification: K30

Suggested Citation

Fiss, Owen M., The World We Live In (March 1, 2011). Temple Law Review, Vol. 83, No. 2, pp. 295-308, Winter 2011, Yale Law School, Public Law Working Paper No. 239, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1920961

Owen M. Fiss (Contact Author)

Yale University - Law School ( email )

P.O. Box 208215
New Haven, CT 06520-8215
United States

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