Title: Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

Source/Sponsoring Agency: Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression

URL: http://www.tjcenter.org/

Date Checked:       Status: Active

Date Annotated: 6/11/01

Topics: Constitutional Law; Communications Law; Education Law

Other keywords: Censorship; Court decisions; State and Local Government; Telecommunications Law

Contents: The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression is an independent think tank and activist center affiliated with the University Of Virginia, devoted to the protection of the right to free expression--in print, in the arts, in education, and on the Internet--opposing censorship be it on the right (Internet filtering) or the left (suppression of the Confederate flag). Despite the gravity of their raison d'etre, the organization's members have a sense of humor, as evidenced in the Jefferson Muzzles, "awards" recognizing "the most egregrious or ridiculous affronts to free expression" each year since 1992, to which a section of the website is dedicated. The Center also sponsors colloquia and conferences, and a clinic enabling University of Virginia law students to experience current free-speech litigation, to which the Center's attorneys submit amicus curiae briefs. A "What's New in Litigation" section summarizes relevant U.S. court cases since 1999 (from the Supreme Court and federal and state courts of appeals), with links to the text of the decisions, along with summaries of pending cases with which the Center is involved. Overall, the website is informative, upbeat, and straightforward.

Author of Annotation: A. Carson