The Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy will be hosting a lecture Tuesday, Oct. 28, at the Brad D. Smith Foundation Hall, marking almost 15 years of scholarly presentations on subjects involving the United States Constitution, laws and politics.
Tuesday’s lecture will be given at 7 p.m. by Samantha Barbas, professor of law at the University of Iowa and author of several books regarding the First Amendment in the U.S. Constitution and other legal matters.
Barbas also delivered the keynote lecture at the Library of Congress Constitution Day in 2023, a respected accomplishment.
Patricia Proctor, the Simon Perry Center founding Director, said, “I am honored she accepted my invitation to speak, and I am excited to hear her lecture.”
Specifically, the lecture will focus on the Supreme Court case “New York Times v. Sullivan,” a lawsuit that occurred in between 1960 and 1964 at the height of the Civil Rights Movement.
The New York Times published an advertisement in favor of Martin Luther King, Jr., which contained false facts about the police force and protests in Montgomery, Alabama.
L.B. Sullivan, the police commissioner of Montgomery at the time, thought of the article as defamation and filed a case against the New York Times in the local courts.
While Sullivan won the case in Alabama, the suit was moved to the U.S. Supreme Court, who then unanimously held that the ruling in favor of Sullivan violated the First Amendment, specifically freedom of speech and the press.
The case highlights the importance of upholding freedom of speech and the press, specifically surrounding criticism of political officials, which the Supreme Court ruled not to be a violation of the amendment.
Proctor said, “(“New York Times v. Sullivan”) tells the story of what happened to the people involved behind the famous case and the impact on their lives that resulted from their courage in fighting for equal rights.”
As well as hosting lectures that are free to students and the public, the center has other community programs encouraging civic literacy and education, such as Court on Campus. This program welcomes local and state courts to hold arguments and cases at the center.
Students at Marshall are encouraged to attend the lecture to expand their knowledge and understanding of the Constitution and how to be active citizens.
“Understand your rights and the rights of others … Get away from social media as your source of education and develop information literacy skills. Engage with people who disagree with you and try to talk with them about your thoughts in a civil manner,” Proctor said.
Davina Snyder can be contacted at [email protected].
