Speech, Crime and the Uses of Language

In this book, distinguished legal philosopher Kent Greenawalt explores the three-way relationship between the idea of freedom of speech, the law of crimes, and the many uses of language. The first portion of the book is devoted to a consideration of free speech as a political principle. After a thorough and incisive principle analysis of the justifications commonly advanced for freedom of speech, Greenawalt looks at the kinds of communications to which the principle of free speech applies. He then turns to an examination of communications for which criminal liability is fixed. Focusing on threats and solicitations to crime, he attempts to determine whether liability for such communications seriously conflicts with freedom of speech. Greenawalt goes on to develop the significance of his conclusions for American constitutional law, addressing such questions as what should be considered "speech" within the meaning of the First Amendment, and what tests the courts should employ in deciding whether particular criminal statutes should be held constitutional.
He concludes that the issues are too complex to yield simple solutions, and insists that the protection of the First Amendment can be reduced neither to one justification nor to one all-purpose test of coverage.