Strossen is the John Marshall Harlan II Professor of Law Emerita, New York Law School and past National President of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Strossen will focus on issues related to anti-hate speech laws, including how they have worked for other democracies, and what their impact would be if they were adopted in the United States. She will also examine issues related to online spaces where hateful and violent ideas continue to flourish, and how online service providers handle such content on their platforms, including the impact of having private corporations act as the arbiters of free speech.
She will also explore the impact state censorship would have on U.S. democracy.
“Nadine Strossen is a prominent scholar and civil rights lawyer focused on the freedom of expression,” said Patricia Proctor, Director of the Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy, which sponsors the Amicus Curiae Lecture Series. “The topics she will explore are of great concern in our society and all over the world, and we are fortunate to be able to hear her perspective on not only the issues but how to most effectively combat the hateful expression and extremism that has become so prevalent in our discourse, particularly online.”
Strossen is a leading expert and frequent speaker and media commentator on issues related to constitutional law and civil liberties. She has testified before Congress on multiple occasions and has been named by the National Law Journal as one of America’s “100 most influential lawyers.” She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Strossen also serves as a Senior Fellow with FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression). Strossen’s time as the President of the American Civil Liberties Union lasted from 1991 to 2008; she was the first woman to head the nation’s largest and oldest civil liberties organization. She currently serves as a member of the ACLU’s National Advisory Council, as well as on the advisory boards of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), the Heterodox Academy, and the National Coalition Against Censorship.
The lecture is sponsored by Marshall’s Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy with support from the West Virginia Humanities Council. The lecture is free and open to the public.