Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment »

Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Anthony Lewis was a columnist for the New York Times op-ed page from 1969 through 2001. In addition to his long and distinguished career with the Times, Mr. Lewis has been a lecturer on law at Harvard Law School and a visiting professor at the Universities of California, Illinois, Oregon, and Arizona, and, since 1983, the James Madison Visiting Professor at Columbia University. His previous books are Gideon’s Trumpet and Make No Law. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

From one of the country’s most esteemed experts on the First Amendment and the author of the classic Gideon’s Trumpet, an eloquent essay on the importance of freedom of expression

The Barnes & Noble Review

You might figure that decades spent examining government would turn a fellow into a dejected cynic. Thus, it is heartening that Anthony Lewis, the longtime New York Times Op-Ed page columnist and veteran Supreme Court observer, still feels so much reverence for the federal government's judicial branch. Indeed, his reverence is not just heartening, it's infectious. At a time when the judiciary comes under frequent attack, his Freedom for the Thought That We Hate makes a compelling case that our much-maligned judges deserve credit for "many of the great advances in the quality -- and decency -- of American society."

Introduction ix

1 Beginnings 1

2 "Odious or Contemptible" 11

3 "As All Life Is an Experiment" 23

4 Defining Freedom 39

5 Freedom and Privacy 59

6 A Press Privilege? 81

7 Fear Itself 101

8 "Another's Lyric" 131

9 "Vagabonds and Outlaws" 143

10 Thoughts That We Hate 157

11 Balancing Interests 169

12 Freedom of Thought 183

Acknowledgments 191

Table of Cases 193

Notes 197

Index 209