Speech and Silence in American Law

Rather than abstract philosophical discussion or yet another analysis of legal doctrine, Speech and Silence in American Law seeks to situate speech and silence, locating them in particular circumstances and contexts and asking how context matters in facilitating speech or demanding silence. To understand speech and silence we have to inquire into their social life and examine the occasions and practices that call them forth and that give them meaning. Among the questions addressed in this book are: who is authorized to speak? And what are the conditions that should be attached to the speaking subject? Are there occasions that call for speech and others that demand silence? What is the relationship between the speech act and the speaker? Taking these questions into account helps readers understand what compels speakers and what problems accompany speech without a known speaker, allowing us to assess how silence speaks and how speech renders the silent more knowable.

Introduction: situating speech and silence Austin Sarat; 1. 'Our word is our bond' Marianne Constable; 2. Our word [or the lack thereof] is our bond: the regulation of silence under contract law Grace Lee; 3. Powell's choice: the law and morality of speech, silence, and resignation by high government officials Louis Michael Seidman; 4. Resignations, the (quasi) plural executive, and a critical assessment of the unitary executive theory Ronald Krotoszynski; 5. Anonymous: on silence and the public sphere Danielle Allen; 6. Silencing by exclusion: a reaction to 'anonymous: on silence and the public sphere' Heather Elliott; 7. Freedom of expression, political fraud and the dilemma of anonymity Martin H. Redish; 8. Anonymity, signaling, and silence as speech Paul Horwitz; 9. Speech, silence, the body Peter Brooks; 10. Torture and Miranda Frederick Vars.