30 | JUNE 17 • 2021 

LEGAL GUIDE

I

n his newly published book, 
The Fight for Free Speech: 
Ten Cases that Define Our 
First Amendment Freedoms, 
attorney and TV legal analyst 
Ira Rosenberg examines First 
Amendment law 
through the lens 
of contempo-
rary free speech 
issues, including 
nazis marching in 
Charlottesville, Va., 
and student walk-
outs for gun safety.

“If the last four years have 
shown us anything, it’s that our 
democracy is fragile,
” Rosenberg 
said. “We do need to worry 
about government interference. 
If we don’t understand our 
rights, they will be taken away, 
and it will be eroded.
“If the press can’t publish 
vital information, be it election 
coverage or COVID-19 related 
data, democracy will stumble, 
he added. 
As legal counsel for ABC 
News, Rosenberg said the 
2018 mass shooting at Marjory 
Stoneman Douglas High School 
inspired him to write the book. 
At the time, he and his family 
discussed news coverage about 
student survivors turned activ-
ists. His children started asking 
questions about what conse-
quences they might face if they 
left school during the day to join 
the National School Walkout 
protests.
Aside from his job at ABC, 
47-year-old Rosenberg also 
teaches media law at New York’s 
Brooklyn College.
“There are two primary dif-
ferences between the American 
free speech approach and the 

European, or international, 
model,
” Rosenberg said. “The 
first difference is the First 
Amendment was written and 
interpreted to prevent govern-
ment interference with speech. 
That’s very different from 
Europe.
“The second major difference 
is that — even though many 
Americans get confused by 
this — the First Amendment 
protects hate speech. We can-
not restrict speakers’ speech 
because we hate the message 
they espouse. That is why nazis 
marching in Charlottesville 
are allowed. That is why the 
Westboro Baptist Church can 
protest outside military funerals.
“
As a Jewish person, this 
was certainly the most difficult 
free speech issue to embrace,
” 
he said. “Hearing nazis in 
Charlottesville say, ‘Jews will 
not replace us’ was certainly the 
most frightening reemergence of 
nazi speech in my adult lifetime. 
But, even when we disagree with 
everything a person or group 
says, even when we know it to 
be false and hateful, we don’t 
want government intrusion.
“However, I do think that for 
too long free speech advocates 
have glossed over the harm that 
hateful language can inflict,
” 
Rosenberg added. “In my book, 
I talk about critical race theorists 
and equity theorists who ques-
tion how speech by the nazis has 
enriched Jews, or how speech 
by the Klan has enriched Blacks. 
These are very important points 
to raise. 
“Still, I strongly believe the 
government should not be the 
arbiter of what is true or hate-
ful.
” 

Ira 
Rosenberg

The Fight for 
Free Speech

CATHRYN J. PRINCE TIMES OF ISRAEL

ANTONE, CASAGRANDE & ADWERS, P.C.

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