HATE

Starred review from July 1, 2018

Strossen (constitutional law, New York Univ.; former president, American Civil Liberties Union; Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights) could not have published this superb book in a more timely fashion. Now more than ever, First Amendment rights are challenged, particularly when they verge on the nebulous territory of hate speech. Strossen succeeds in lucidly explaining the relevant legal issues in a way that benefits both professional and lay readers. Thus providing the legal history underlying the current hate speech laws, even while pointing out their deficiencies and gaps. In particular, the author takes on the task of examining the relative efficacy of such laws and, after much research, concludes that at best they have fallen short. In worst-case scenarios, they have been counterproductive, failing to protect target groups and individuals from harm. Fortunately, Strossen proposes a well-considered solution: "counterspeech" activism, which "directly refutes the ideas 'hate speech' conveys." Educational initiatives are especially cogent in achieving equitable ends. In conclusion, Strossen advocates for empowerment of disparaged people, in accord with the spirit of the Constitution. VERDICT Essential for readers moved by Jeremy Waldron's The Harm in Hate Speech.--Lynne Maxwell, West Virginia Univ. Coll. of Law Lib., Morgantown

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Legalistic, widely ranging jeremiad against the suppression of "hate speech."Strossen (New York Law School; Defending Pornography: Free Speech, Sex, and the Fight for Women's Rights, 1995), the president of the American Civil Liberties Union from 1991 to 2008, is well-versed in the tangled history of efforts to protect or constrain hate speech, including the infamous 1978 Skokie, Illinois, case in which the ACLU defended the right of neo-Nazis to march. She believes that more harm is done by trying to muzzle repugnant discourse, since "anyone can be both accused of and subjected to 'hatred' based on a wide range of personal characteristics and beliefs." Furthermore, most people fail to understand that the laws established to protect questionable speech are complex and ever evolving. The author argues that speech is not absolutely protected, subject to the legal principles of the harmful tendency and emergency tests (essentially, whether it "directly causes specific imminent serious harm"), and that many assume "that speech with a hateful message is automatically excluded from First Amendment protection." In brisk chapters, she first explains when hate speech is protected and when it is punishable, then goes on to argue her position, noting how the legal remedies attempted to date are inherently vague or broad and may cause greater harm than the offending speech itself. She notes that the Supreme Court has not included hate speech in the narrow category of speech unprotected by the First Amendment, including "defamation, commercial advertisement, obscenity, and fighting words." Campus speech codes, for instance, are often struck down upon judicial review. Regarding such laws' inherent vagueness, writes Strossen, "over and over, different decision-makers in the same country disagree" over what constitutes actionable hate speech. Chillingly, she examines many cases internationally where such policies were used against marginalized groups or activists. The author concludes, "I am more appreciative than ever of U.S. law's nuanced position in drawing the line between punishable and protected 'hate speech.' "A well-informed, strongly argued perspective on a hot topic, but readership may be limited by the technical tone.

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