Table of Contents
First Amendment News 299.1: Larry Tribe ā First Amendment scholar and appellate lawyer

Stephanie Mitchell / Harvard Staff Photographer
To commemorate the 300th posting of First Amendment News, I invited Professor , the Carl M. Loeb University Professor and Professor of Constitutional Law (emeritus) at Harvard Law School, to participate in a "Question and Answer" exchange. He kindly agreed. That exchange will appear in the next issue of First Amendment News.
Below is an introductory statement by one of Professor Tribeās former students; it is followed by a bibliography of Tribeās remarkable contributions to First Amendment law, both as a litigator and scholar. ā RKLC
_____________________________

I had the unique experience of being a student in Larry Tribeās Constitutional Law course while he was writing his pathbreaking "Constitutional Law" treatise, which was an innovative endeavor to chart the overall structure of constitutional law and the complex and fascinating interrelationships among various aspects of it.
His special approach to teaching that course made an indelible impression on me not only as a student but also as a professor. Stating that students could more meaningfully understand and discuss any single con law issue only after having been exposed to the overarching themes that his treatise was exploring, he lectured us about those themes for the first third of the course, so that we could engage in more enlightened, in-depth exchanges about particular issues for the remainder of the course. Hence I was introduced to First Amendment issues as an integral aspect of broader constitutional issues, also linked to other constitutional provisions. For example, I understood that the First Amendment played as essential a role as the Fourteenth Amendment in fostering the civil rights movement, and in curbing power abuses by state and local officials.
ā
Litigation, Scholarship, Public Media Appearances, Legislative Testimony, Op-eds & Miscellaneous Documents of Laurence Tribe
Supreme Court cases
Freedom of speech & press cases (the case links below also include links to oral arguments)
- (2004) (government speech/compelled funding)
- (2002) (political or commercial speech?)
- (2000) (compelled speech)
- (1997) (freedom of association)
- (1990) (limits on government-subsidized speech)
- (1988) (sexual expression: non-obscene ādial-a-pornā services)
- (1985) (free speech rights of public school teachers)
- (1982) (commercial speech)
- (1980) (public forum)
- (1979) (press access to criminal trial)
- (1978) (no oral argument ā state court may not prohibit free speech by municipality on referendum issue)
Religion cases (the case link below also includes a link to the oral arguments)
- (1982) (establishment clause)
Lower courts cases
Freedom of speech & press cases
- (U.S. Dist. Ct., D.C., amicus brief) (May 22, 2020)
- (10th Cir., 1998) (no. 98-3451) (brief for Appellant)
- (CA9, 2019) and (ND Cal, 2017)
- , (ED Va), affād, (CA4, 1994)
Briefs assisted on
- (Oct. 18, 2018) (listed as one of amici curiae)
Books
Freedom of speech, press & related matters
- Laurence Tribe & Joshua Matz, "" (Henry Holt & Co., 2014), pp. 88-120 ( ch. 3: āCampaign Finance: Follow the Moneyā) and pp. 121-153 (ch. 4: āFreedom of Speech: Sex, Lies and Video Gamesā)
- Laurence Tribe, āSpeech as Power: of Swastikas, Spending, and the Mask of āNeutral Principles,āā in "" (Harvard University Press, 1986), pp. 188-220
- Laurence Tribe, "American Constitutional Law" (2nd, Foundation Press, 1989) § I2-1 passim
Scholarly articles
Freedom of speech, press & related matters
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā 30 Constitutional Commentary 363 (2015)
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā 28 Pepperdine Law Review 3 (2001)
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā Supreme Court Review 1 (1993)
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā 5 Journal of Appellate Practice 163 (2003) (this essay first appeared at 6 Green Bag 2d 289 (2003))
- Laurence Tribe, āToward a Metatheory of Free Speech,ā in Ronald Collins, editor, "Constitutional Government in America" (Carolina Academic Press, 1980), pp. 1-7 (reprinted in 10 237 (1978))
Legislative testimony
Freedom of speech, press & related matters
- , (Jan. 30, 2020) (Re: āProposed ordinance to limit political spending by foreign-influenced corporationsā)
- , (Oct. 25, 2016) (Re: Regulation of PACs)
- , Hearing on "Media, Violence & Children," C-SPAN (June 26, 2007)
- , Hearings on āRaising Tobacco Prices: New Opportunities for the Black Market?,ā 105th Cong., 2nd Sess. (April 30, May 12, and May 13, 1998) p. 125 (Re: Restrictions on tobacco advertising)
- , (July 16, 1997) p. 70 (Re: Restrictions of cigarette advertising).
- , 101st Cong., 1st Sess. (July 13, 18, 19 and 20, 1989) (statement of Laurence Tribe at 112) (arguing against a constitutional amendment to overrule Johnson)
- , 98th Cong., 2nd Sess. (March 28, 1984), p. 46 passim (Re: Religious Speech Protection Act)
- , Senate Judiciary Committee, (Re: Religious Speech Protection Act) (S. 815) (April 11, 1983), p. 332 passim
Miscellaneous: Tributes, op-eds, news stories, letters, etc.
Freedom of speech, press & related matters
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā The Hill (May 11, 2021)
- Norman Dorsen, ā,ā New York University Law (March 14, 2021) (āLarry Tribe marched to no other drum but his own. Independence could be his middle name. I remember the time I wrote him after he supported the position, most notably advanced by Professor Catherine McKinnon, that in some circumstances pornography could be censored because it had a causal relationship to violence against women, a position contrary to the ACLUās strong First Amendment policy on free expression. I berated him for his apostasy. Instead of telling me to get lost, he took the trouble to write at length and to observe that he considered himself open to new ideas, including the ideas of āradical feminism.' Of course, Larry was politely suggesting that the ACLU should also be open to new ideas of civil liberty.ā)
- Reed Richardson, ā,ā Mediaite (Feb. 2, 2021)
- Laurence H. Tribe & Joshua A. Geltzer, ā,ā The Washington Post (May 28, 2020)
- Robert Schroeder, ā,ā MarketWatch (May 27, 2020)
- Joshua Geltzer & Laurence Tribe, ā,ā Politico (March 20, 2019)
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā The Washington Post (March 23, 2018)
- ā,ā Edward M. Kennedy Institute (2016) (discussing work with Senator Edward Kennedy. Re: opposing a proposed constitutional amendment that would give Congress the power to outlaw flag burning).
- ā,ā The Harvard Crimson (Nov. 10, 2015)
- Laurence Tribe, letter to āā (Sept. 11, 2015) (Re: applying the First Amendment to regulations distinguish between off-premises and on-premises signs after Reed v. Town of Gilbert)
- Benjamin T. Brickner, ā,ā Brennen Center (Aug. 31, 2015)
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā The New York Times (Aug. 20, 2014)
- Laurence Tribe, āā (2011)
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā Harvard Law Today (Jan. 25, 2010)
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā SCOTUSblog (Jan. 24, 2010)
- Laurence Tribe, ā,ā Electronic Frontier Foundation (1991)
- ā,ā The New York Times (July 19, 1989, Associated Press) (āAt a meeting on the House subcommittee on constitutional law, Laurence Tribe, a law professor at Harvard University, said: āThere are many patriotic Americans who believe that the toughest but best way to show respect for the flag, to show why were are so different from those in Beijing who massacre protesters, is to protect even the freedom of those who would desecrate this symbol of our freedom.āā)
- Laurence Tribe, ā," The New York Times (July 3, 1989)
Cable, Twitter & YouTube
Freedom of speech, press & related matters
- Eugene Volokh, "," The Volokh Conspiracy (May 27, 2021)
- Laurence Tribe, (April 8, 2021) (āFor Justice Thomas, āit seems rather odd to say that something is a government forum when a private company has unrestricted authority to do away with it.ā Hardly! Imagine a president renting a private hotel to conduct a nationally televised town hall.ā)
- Laurence Tribe, (April 8, 2021) (āJustice Thomas says āapplying old doctrines to new digital platforms is rarely straightforward.ā Maybe, but the easiest way to miss the forest for the trees is to bury straightforward principles of free speech under a pile of crooked technological twigs.āā)
- , The Last Word with Lawrence OāDonnell, MSNBC, April 5, 2021 (Re: lawsuits by Capitol police against Donald Trump)
- ā,ā Influencers with Andy Serwer (Feb. 19, 2021)
- ā,ā Harvard Law School (Nov. 10, 2015) (āAs part of this year's Election Law Series at Harvard Law School, Professor Laurence Tribe delivered a lecture 'The Impact of Citizens United,' in November.ā)
- ā,ā The Commonwealth Club (June 12, 2014) (discussing Citizens United, among other cases)
The U.S. Supreme Court has cited various editions of Tribeās treatise, 'American Constitutional Law,' in the following First Amendment cases:
- (2002)
- (2000)
- (2000)
- . (2000)
- (1996)
- . (1995)
- (1995)
- (1991)
- (1991)
- (1990)
- (1990)
- (1988)
- (1986)
- (1985) (religion)
- (1983)
- (1983)
- (1982)
- (1981)
Religion cases
- (2005)
- (1990)
- (1989)
- (1981)
- (1978)
Congressional testimony quoted in Supreme Court cases
Tribeās congressional testimony is cited in (2014) ā in footnote four the Court cited a law review article by Michael McConnell that quotes Tribeās congressional testimony. The Tribe quote was about the Supreme Court ruling in Hill v. Colorado (2000): āāI donāt think [Hill] was a difficult case. I think it was slam-dunk simple and slam-dunk wrong.ā
The Court also cited Tribeās congressional testimony in the copyright case (1984) (not a First Amendment case though it involves discussion of the fair use doctrine).
Last scheduled FAN
Recent Articles
FIREās award-winning Newsdesk covers the free speech news you need to stay informed.

Revoking Harvardās tax-exempt status will threaten all nonprofits

Grandpaās advice for the new wave of American censors

FIREPOLL: Only 1/4 of Americans support deporting foreigners for pro-Palestinian views
