Maryville College Constitution Day panel presentation features First Amendment discussion
Sept. 6, 2024
Retired Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Sharon G. Lee and Belmont University College of Law Associate Professor David L. Hudson, Jr. will explore “New Frontiers for the First Amendment: A Conversation on Notable Cases from the Supreme Court’s Last Term” as panelists for Maryville College’s Constitution Day celebration, scheduled for 7 p.m., Sept. 17, in the Lambert Recital Hall of the Clayton Center for the Arts.
The Honorable W. Neal McBrayer ’86, a judge for the Tennessee Court of Appeals and Maryville College alumnus and board member, will moderate the discussion, which will cover four recent cases heard by the Supreme Court of the United States: Lindke v. Freed; Moody v. NetChoice, LLC; National Rifle Association of America v. Vullo; and Vidal v. Elster.
The cases address such topics as whether a government official’s posts on a personal social media account can be attributed to the government, when a government official’s actions amount to an unconstitutional threat or coercion to chill an organization’s free speech rights, how far the government can go in regulating social media platforms, and whether the First Amendment compels the government to register a trademark that mocks a political figure.
“The New Frontiers of the First Amendment discussion this Constitution Day allows us to consider those issues that will guide First Amendment legislation and legal writing for the next decade,” said Dr. Mark O’Gorman, Maryville College professor of political science and member of the College’s Constitution Day Planning Committee. “What technology in 2024 and beyond will have the same, or varied, First Amendment protections once given just to books, radio or the activist shouting at the street corner in 1924? And what will judges use to decide such types of cases? Our esteemed panelists will help us glimpse into how the U.S. Constitution can still ‘stand the test of time,’ on the issues of today.”
O’Gorman said that the growing frequency of First Amendment rhetoric in the news — as well as the upcoming presidential election and conversations about the future of democracy in the United States — influenced this year’s planning committee when selecting a topic.
“One profound legacy of the Founding Fathers was that they created a document that could be changed, to keep up with the times,” the professor said. “The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — in reality, a handful of separate protections for citizens from government interference — impacts our daily lives in numerous public and private ways. It is important for citizens to understand those protections and how the courts interpret them.”
The event is free and open to the public. Funding is made possible through the Catherine Duggar ’54 and Jean Duggar Endowment for the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature (TISL) at Maryville College.
Constitution Day, held to recognize the anniversary of the 1787 signing of the document that sets out the nation’s guiding laws and principles, became an annual event at colleges and universities across the country, including Maryville College, 19 years ago. Congress passed legislation in May 2005 declaring that “each educational institution that receives federal funds for a fiscal year shall hold an educational program on the United States Constitution on September 17 of such year for the students served by the educational institution.”
Speakers’ expertise varies
Justice Lee, who served as Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court from 2014 to 2016, is a native of Madisonville, Tennessee, and graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Business and the College of Law. She practiced law for 26 years in Monroe County and the surrounding area, representing individuals, business owners and municipalities. In 2004, Gov. Phil Bredesen appointed her to serve on the Tennessee Court of Appeals. She was the first woman to serve on the Eastern Section of the Court. Four years later, Bredesen appointed her to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Lee won statewide retention elections in 2008, 2010, 2014 and 2022 before retiring from the Court in August of 2023.
Hudson, who earned an undergraduate degree from Duke University and a law degree from Vanderbilt Law School, is a fellow for the First Amendment at the Freedom Forum, where he focuses on a variety of issues including free speech, student rights and Supreme Court history. He has authored, co-authored or co-edited more than 50 books and previously spent 17 years as an attorney and scholar at the First Amendment Center. He teaches First Amendment and Constitutional Law at the Belmont University College of Law where, in 2022, he was awarded the University Scholarship Award for superior research and the law school’s Faculty Scholarship Award. He has also taught at Vanderbilt University Law School and the Nashville School of Law.
After graduation from Maryville College, Judge McBrayer earned a J.D. degree from the College of William & Mary’s Marshall-Wythe School of Law in Williamsburg, Virginia. He practiced law for 25 years in Nashville, representing clients in commercial litigation, bankruptcy and aviation matters. In 2014, he was appointed to the Tennessee Court of Appeals by Gov. Bill Haslam. McBrayer is a fellow of the American, Tennessee, and Nashville Bar foundations and serves on the boards of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature Foundation, and the Tennessee Supreme Court Historical Society. He is a member of the Federalist Society and the Harry Phillips American Inn of Court.
In addition to the evening event, Judge McBrayer will lead a presentation — also on the First Amendment — for the campus community earlier in the day.