Member Reviews

Thank you, PublicAffairs, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mr. Book just finished Fearless Speech: Breaking Free from the First Amendment, by Mary Anne Franks.

This book does an excellent job looking at “free speech” and the harms that the Supreme Court’s First Amendment rulings have done towards it. The theme of the book is “While the First Amendment in theory is neutral with regard to the subject matter of the speech it protects, in practice, it has been deployed most visibly and effectively in the service of powerful antidemocratic interests: misogyny, racism, religious fundamentalism, and corporate self-interest.” The author does a great job showing how that has been the case, but also points out that it doesn’t have to be that way.

The book tells many stories of individuals and groups being harmed by the protection of horrible speech, as well as those who have not been protected by the First Amendment. The author also presents ideas on how to fix the problem.

I give this book an A. Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

Mr. Book originally finished reading this on July 31, 2024.

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