Aaron Freiwald, Managing Partner of Freiwald Law and host of the weekly podcast, Good Law | Bad Law, is joined by Professor Timothy Zick, of William and Mary Law School, to discuss his recent book, The First Amendment in the Trump Era. Aaron and Tim are talking about Democracy, our Constitution, the Press, and the law of the First Amendment – what it is and what it isn’t.

 

Are facts still facts? Can we find truth in today’s world?

Tim and Aaron address these concerns as they talk about the President’s dramatic, and unique, relationship with the press and his continuous attacks on the media. More than any other modern president, Trump has openly challenged fundamental First Amendment norms and principles relating to free speech and free press. Aaron and Tim break this down throughout the episode and Tim explains that this was one of his main motivations for writing the book. The two discuss Trump’s ability to control the news cycle, Nixon’s “Enemy List,” the pentagon papers, whistleblower protections, and delve deep into various other controversies, the “Twitter case,” alternative facts, as well as whether or not Trump is undermining the press and creating dangerous normalizations.

 

The First Amendment in the Trump Era catalogs and analyzes the various First Amendment conflicts that have occurred during the Trump presidency. It places these conflicts in historical context – as part of our current digitized and polarized era but also as part of a broader narrative concerning attacks on free speech and press. Tim argues that we must understand what is familiar about Trump’s presidency in terms of the First Amendment but also what is distinctive.  

 

A graduate of Georgetown Law, Tim specializes in Constitutional Law, the 14th Amendment, the First Amendment and Federalism, with teaching interests in the First Amendment, Law and Religion, Constitutional Law, and Constitutional Theory. Following law school, Professor Zick was an associate with the law firms of Williams and Connolly in Washington, D.C., where he assisted in the defense of congressional term limits in the Supreme Court of the United States, and Foley Hoag in Boston. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Levin H. Campbell of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and as a Trial Attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the United States Department of Justice. While at the D.O.J., Professor Zick defended the constitutionality and legality of a variety of federal programs and statutes.

 

Professor Zick has been a frequent commentator in local, national, and international media regarding public protests and other First Amendment concerns. He testified before Congress on the Occupy Wall Street protests and rights of free speech, assembly, and petition and has been the recipient of the Plumeri Award for Faculty Excellence in 2011, 2013 and 2017.

 

To learn more about Professor Timothy Zick, please visit his bio page here.

To check out his book, The First Amendment in the Trump Era, please click here.

 

 

Host: Aaron Freiwald

Guest: Timothy Zick

 

 

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