[(Uninhibited, Robust, and Wide-open: A Free Press for a New Century )] [Author: Lee C. Bollinger] [Jan-2010]

by Lee C. Bollinger

Lee Bollinger is one of our foremost experts on the First Amendment. In this account, he explores the troubled history of a free press in America and looks toward the challenges ahead.

Unknown Binding

First published December 16, 2009

About the author

Lee C. Bollinger, J.D. (Columbia Law School), has served as the president of Columbia University since 2002 and is the longest serving Ivy League president. He is Columbia’s first Seth Low Professor of the University, a member of the Columbia Law School faculty, and one of the country’s foremost First Amendment scholars.

From 1996 to 2002, Bollinger was the president of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He led the school’s litigation in Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger, resulting in Supreme Court decisions that upheld and clarified the importance of diversity as a compelling justification for affirmative action in higher education. He speaks and writes frequently about the value of racial, cultural, and socio-economic diversity to American society through opinion columns, media interviews, and public appearances.

Bollinger served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Chief Justice Warren Burger of the Supreme Court. He went on to join the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School in 1973, becoming dean of the school in 1987. He became provost of Dartmouth College in 1994 before returning to the University of Michigan in 1996 as president.

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well-considered and deeply written, with a penetrating analysis of the doctrines bringing life to the First Amendment. The discussion of the First Amendment's reach beyond U.S. legal structures is innovative and fascinating at times, but in part feels dated by the extraordinary speed of change in digital media over the decade since it was written. But a valuable argument nonetheless that free trade agreements might serve as an effective vehicle to carry the free exchange of ideas across borders with the force of international law.

[Emmylou (womanwillread) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little outdated in regards to its discussion of globalization and the Internet, but the lessons very much still ring true. We need to create a global free expression norm, and this book sets out a few good examples of where to start.

[Nilagia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although it does read like a textbook at times, this is a very informative account of how the U.S. press arrived at its current state (in regards to the First Amendment), and it also argues for a more globally interconnected press to keep pace with the digital age.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tidy little number on freedom of the press. Gets a bit slow at times, especially towards the end, but overall interesting and educational.