Kendrick’s First Amendment Article Included in Anthology

An article by Vice Dean Leslie Kendrick ’06 of the University of Virginia School of Law has been anthologized in the 2018-19 edition of the “First Amendment Law Handbook.”

The handbook is an annual compendium of notable scholarship on First Amendment issues from the prior year, published by Thomson Reuters.

Her article, “Use Your Words: On the ‘Speech’ in ‘Freedom of Speech,’” distinguishes “speech” from “free speech” and was originally published by the Michigan Law Review last year.

“The piece analyzes the idea of freedom of speech to get closer to defining what free speech entails,” Kendrick said. “While our society often takes for granted that freedom of speech deserves special treatment, courts rarely articulate why, and they often assume that anything having to do with ‘speech’ qualifies for ‘freedom of speech.’”

The article pushes back against that misconception, while attempting to define “the requirements of a plausible free speech right.”

Kendrick is the David H. Ibbeken ’71 Research Professor of Law and an expert in the First Amendment and freedom of expression, particularly the scope and structure of free speech rights. She writes and teaches courses in torts, property and constitutional law.

She said she was honored to be recognized in the anthology, “and I look forward to continuing to write and talk about the difference between ‘speech’ and ‘freedom of speech.’”