Conference 

# The Future of the First Amendment 

##### Watch the Event 

Date and Time 

September 28, 2017 9 AM - 6 PM EDT 

Location 

Hayek Auditorium, Cato Institute 

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##### Featuring 

[![Walter Olson](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Walter%20Olson.jpg?itok=yhYxyT_7)](/people/walter-olson) 

[Walter Olson](/people/walter-olson)

Senior Fellow, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute

[ 

](mailto:wolson@cato.org) 

[![Emily Ekins](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Emily%20Ekins.jpg?itok=O6P9UmCC)](/people/emily-ekins) 

[Emily Ekins](/people/emily-ekins)

Vice President for Policy and Society, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/emilyekins) 

[![Matthew Feeney](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Matthew%20Feeney.jpg?itok=O149-e08)](/people/matthew-feeney) 

[Matthew Feeney](/people/matthew-feeney)

Head of Technology and Innovation, Centre for Policy Studies

[ 

](https://twitter.com/m_feeney) 

[![Media Name: flemming-rose-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/flemming-rose-cropped.jpg?itok=tldylCqu)](/people/flemming-rose) 

[Flemming Rose](/people/flemming-rose)

Senior Fellow

[ 

](https://x.com/FlemmingRose6) 

![Robert-F-Bauer-circle](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-09/Robert-F-Bauer-circle.jpg?itok=bQHn1sXP) 

Robert F. Bauer 

New York University School of Law

[![jeff-milyo-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2020-08/jeff-milyo-cropped.jpg?itok=4Uy4uB54)](/people/jeffrey-milyo) 

[Jeffrey D. Milyo](/people/jeffrey-milyo)

Senior Fellow 

Martin H. Redish 

Robin Fretwell Wilson 

John M. Barry 

![e-volokh-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-09/e-volokh-cropped.jpg?itok=uCS_hUw0) 

Eugene Volokh 

Gary T. Schwartz Distinguished Professor of Law, UCLA

Jeffrey Herbst 

Conor Friedersdorf 

Kmele Foster 

Danielle Keats Citron 

The First Amendment has moved to the center of American political conflict. On college campuses, students and faculty demand protection from speech and speakers. Polls show students and young people in general evince less support for free speech than previous generations had shown. In legal and public debate, the free exercise of religion conflicts with the right to marriage, thereby placing the First Amendment at the center of vitriolic cultural clashes. Moreover, the challenges for the First Amendment seemed fated to grow. Modern surveillance methods can chill speech even absent malign intent from officials. The global nature of the Internet also means that regulations arising from nations less protective of speech than the United States might become the rule for all. If this were not enough, traditional First Amendment issues such as campaign finance remain controversial during and after hard-fought elections. Cato’s first conference on the First Amendment, a new biennial effort, offers provocative and thoughtful views on these issues.

| **8:30 — 9:00AM** | **REGISTRATION** |
|---|:--|
| **9:00 — 10:30AM** | **PANEL 1 – ENDURING ISSUES AT A TIME OF CHANGE****Progressivism and the First Amendment** **Robert F. Bauer**, New York University Law School ***Citizens United*: A Look Back and Forward** **Jeffrey Milyo**, University of Missouri **Commercial Speech as Free Speech** **Martin Redish**, Northwestern Law School [Download video of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cc-09-28-17-01.mp4) [Download podcast of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cca-09-28-17-01.mp3) |
| **10:30 — 10:45AM** | **BREAK** |
| **10:45 — 12:15PM** | **PANEL 2 – RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN THE POST-OBAMA ERA** **[Walter Olson](https://www.cato.org/people/walter-olson)**, Cato Institute **Robin Fretwell Wilson**, University of Illinois Law School **John M. Barry**, author of *Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul* [Download video of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cc-09-28-17-02.mp4) [Download podcast of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cca-09-28-17-02.mp3) |
| **12:15 — 1:45PM** | **LUNCH AND KEYNOTE ADDRESS****Free Speech, Libel, and Privacy in the Internet Age** **Eugene Volokh**, UCLA Law School and Founder, *The Volokh Conspiracy* [Download video of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cc-09-28-17-03.mp4) [Download podcast of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cca-09-28-17-03.mp3) |
| **1:45 — 3:15PM** | **PANEL 3 – FINDINGS FROM THE CATO INSTITUTE 2017 FREE SPEECH NATIONAL SURVEY****Poll Results** **[Emily Ekins](https://www.cato.org/people/emily-ekins)**, Cato Institute **Roundtable Discussants**: **Jeffrey Herbst**, Consultant and Scholar **Conor Friedersdorf**, *The Atlantic* **Kmele Foster**, Freethink [Download video of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cc-09-28-17-04.mp4) [Download podcast of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cca-09-28-17-04.mp3) |
| **3:15 — 3:30PM** | **BREAK** |
| **3:30 — 5:00PM** | **PANEL 4 – FREE SPEECH FOR A NEW ERA** **Surveillance and Free Speech** **[Matthew Feeney](https://www.cato.org/people/matthew-feeney)**, Cato Institute **Extremist Speech and Free Speech** **[Flemming Rose](https://www.cato.org/people/flemming-rose)**, Cato Institute **Extremist Speech and Compelled Conformity** **Danielle Keats Citron**, University of Maryland School of Law [Download video of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cc-09-28-17-05.mp4) [Download podcast of the panel](https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2017/cca-09-28-17-05.mp3) |
| **5:00 — 6:00PM** | **RECEPTION** |

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