Speech, Crime, and the Uses of Language

Kent Greenawalt

Sept. 1992 · Oxford University Press

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In this book Greenawalt explores the three-way relationship between the idea of freedom of speech, the law of crimes, and the many uses of language. He begins by considering free speech as a political principle, and after a thorough and incisive analysis of the justifications commonly advanced for freedom of speech, looks at the kinds of communications to which the principle of free speech applies. He then turns to an examination of communications for which criminal liability is fixed. Focusing on threats and solicitations to crime, Greenawalt attempts to determine whether liability for such communications seriously conflicts with freedom of speech. In the second half of the book he goes on to develop the significance of his conclusions for American constitutional law, addressing such questions as what should be considered "speech" within the meaning of the First Amendment, and what tests the courts should employ in deciding whether particular criminal statutes should be held constitutional. He concludes that the issues are too complex to yield simple solutions, and insists that the protection of the First Amendment can be reduced neither to one justification nor to one all-purpose test of coverage.