Encyclopedia of the First Amendment now fully accessible online

Nearly twelve years ago I had the honor to contribute two entries to the Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, published by Congressional Quarterly Press and edited by  John Vile, David Schultz, and David Hudson.  (My two entries were on the U.S. Supreme Court cases Carey v. Population Services International (1977) and Meek v. Pittinger (1975))

This morning I discovered that the entire encyclopedia is now accessible on the website of Middle Tennessee State University.  You can access the encyclopedia here. 

Given the recent disputes–both legal and cultural–about free speech and religious liberty, this work is a valuable resource for those who want to begin thinking about (or reminding themselves of)  the concepts, ideas, and legal cases from which our understandings of free speech and religious liberty arise.

In an age in which sober judgment has been cancelled from being this civilization’s designated driver, each of us has a responsibility to try to inculcate in ourselves the spirit of free inquiry which is fast becoming a distant memory.