Ronald K. L. Collins
Before he retired, Ronald K. L. Collins was the Harold S. Shefelman Scholar at the University of Washington Law School and prior to that was a scholar at the Washington, D.C. office of the Newseum’s First Amendment Center. He was a law clerk for Justice Hans A. Linde on the Oregon Supreme Court and a Supreme Court Fellow under Chief Justice Warren Burger.
Collins has written constitutional briefs presented to the Supreme Court and various other federal and state high courts. In addition to the nine books that he co-authored with David Skover, he is the editor of "Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Free Speech Reader" (2010) and co-author with Sam Chaltain of "We Must Not Be Afraid to Be Free" (2011). He also authored "Nuanced Absolutism: Floyd Abrams and the First Amendment" (2013). His latest book is "Tragedy on Trial: The Story of the Infamous Emmett Till Murder Trial" (2024).
Collins’ other books on free speech include: "The Death of Discourse” (3rd ed. 2023); "The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall & Rise of an American Icon" (2002 and 2012); "On Dissent: Its Meaning in America" (2013); "When Money Speaks: The McCutcheon Decision, Campaign Finance Laws, and the First Amendment" (2014); "The People v. Ferlinghetti: The Fight to Publish Allen Ginsberg’s HOWL" (2019); and "Robotica: Speech Rights & Artificial Intelligence" (2018).
He coauthored a college text entitled "First Things First — A Modern Coursebook on Free Speech Fundamentals" (with Will Creeley, David Hudson, Jr., and Jackie Farmer, 2019).
Collins is the book editor of SCOTUSblog and writes a weekly blog (First Amendment News), which appears on the FIRE website.
His scholarly articles have appeared in numerous journals including the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, Michigan Law Review, and the Supreme Court Review, among other publications.
Collins is co-founder and co-director of The First Amendment Salons (Wash. D.C. and N.Y.C.) and the co-founder of The History Book Festival.
Recent Writings
- Trump v. Merchan — Testing the limits of judicial contempt in criminal cases: 12 questions . . . and a just-released appellate ruling — First Amendment News 423,
- On resistance, revolution, and dissent — campus protests in 44 states and the District of Columbia — First Amendment News 422,
- Free Speech in (college) crisis times: Thoughts and resources — First Amendment News 421,
- Back into the FIRE: Hasen’s response to FIRE and Rohde: Don’t read the press clause out of the Constitution — First Amendment News 420,
- Falsely claiming a First Amendment right at a dinner party at private home — FAN 419.1,
- Fueling the FIRE: Responses to Richard Hasen on how the government should identify professional journalists for access and protection — First Amendment News 419,
- Contra FIRE: Hasen on how the government should identify professional journalists for access and protection – First Amendment News 418,
- She’s back! Strossen’s new and updated edition of ‘Defending Pornography’ — First Amendment News 417,
- New and forthcoming books on culture wars, dissent, outspoken immigrant radicals, book bans, ‘show biz’ censorship . . . and more! — First Amendment News 416,
- Moms for Liberty: The anti-liberty book banning group — First Amendment News 415,
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