A compelling case . . . for the importance of according students free speech not only as a constitutional right, but also as a vital democratic practice . . . . trenchant analysis and . . . chilling examples show teachers and principals cowed by the protests of parents . . . and jealous of their ability to impose rules.
Gene Policinski, COO, Newseum Institute, author of the weekly column “Inside the First Amendment”
An extraordinary book. The best account I have read about why we have free speech and why we value it so much. . . . Lessons in Censorship powerfully argues that speech rights in public school are essential to the health of democratic governance – every concerned citizen must read this book.
Erwin Chemerinsky, University of California, Irvine School of Law
A magnificent book. Catherine Ross has given us a beautifully written and original contribution to our understanding of the nexus of constitutional law, lower courts, and everyday life in our public schools. She persuasively demonstrates that schools and judges too often teach ‘lessons in censorship’ that threaten the First Amendment and our vital culture of democracy.
Floyd Abrams, Cahill Gordon & Reindel, LLP
Powerful and lucid exposé of the increasingly routine censorship of student speech is well worth our attention and concern.
The Conversation
“Every student, parent, teacher and principal should read – and heed – the lessons about the First Amendment rights of students in this terrific and timely book.”
Glenn C. Altschuler, Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies and Dean of the School of continuing Education and Summer Sessions, Cornell University
Joan Wallach Scott in The Nation
“a compelling case . . . for the importance of according students free speech not only as a constitutional right, but also as a vital democratic practice . . . . trenchant analysis and . . . chilling examples show teachers and principals cowed by the protests of parents . . . and jealous of their ability to impose rules.”
Joan Wallach Scott, professor emerita, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science, in The Nation
First Amendment News, Concurring Opinions by Ronald K.L. Collins:
“The Evils of Caretaker Tyranny—Reflections on Catherine Ross’ ‘Lessons in Censorship,’” December 7, 2015
“It is a mind-opening book, . . .It is a revealing book about judicially sanctioned censorship. . . It is a plan for instructive action. . . And it is a call to liberty. . . Lessons in Censorship . . . should be read and discussed by school officials at all levels of education [and] pored over by school board officials and lawyers . . . it is too important to be left to academics.”
The Student Press Law Center:
Ignorance and Insanity: A Conversation on First Amendment rights in schools, by Corey Conner
The Family Law Quarterly:
“a masterful legal history . . . and a powerful argument for policies that respect the Constitution, public schools, children, and their parents . . . . School administrators, parents, and students –and courts- should, after reading the book, have the guidance they need to find the appropriate balance between maintaining order and respecting speech.”