Category Archives: First Amendment

Art & Ethics: Censorship [Lecture]

2017-04-27 Art & Ethics: Censorship from Frederick Lane A presentation delivered to the Art & Ethics class at Fordham University on April 27, 2017. If you are interested in discussing a presentation or professional development program for your organization on this topic, please contact me for information regarding my rates and availability.

Can the Military Maintain Core Values in a Smartphone World?

For Some Servicemen In the US Military, Misogyny Outranks Discipline and Honor Honor This is the bedrock of our character. It is the quality that empowers Marines to exemplify the ultimate in ethical and moral behavior: to never lie, cheat, or steal; to abide by an uncompromising code of integrity; to respect human dignity; and…

“The Nineties” — My Interview with CNN for Its Upcoming Documentary

Just about twenty years ago, in the wake of the passage of the Communications Decency Act, I began researching what would become my first mainstream book: Obscene Profits: The Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age. It was published by Routledge (now part of Taylor & Francis) in 2000 and remains one of the only…

Cybertraps for Educators: The Legal and Professional Risks of the Digital Age [Lecture]

2016-09-26 Cybertraps for Educators from Frederick Lane A presentation on educator misconduct presented to the New York State Council of School Superintendents in Saratoga Springs, NY on September 26, 2016. If you are interested in discussing a presentation or professional development program for your organization on this topic, please contact me for information regarding my…

Cybertraps for Librarians [Lecture]

2016-06-21 Cybertraps for Librarians from Frederick Lane A presentation delivered via GoToMeeting on June 21, 2016 to the “Intellectual Freedom and Censorship” class at Simmons College, Boston, MA. Feedback from Dr. Laura Saunders, Assistant Professor at the Simmons School of Library and Information Science: Thank you for a fantastic lecture on the history of decency…

An N-Word to the Wise: Digital Stupidity Threatens College Acceptances, Scholarships, and Much More

Senior picture days are a well-established right of passage in American high schools. They are a great opportunity for students to demonstrate school spirit, to capture memories to be laughed over at reunions decades hence, and generally to celebrate the impending transition from childhood to quasi-independent adulthood. The photo at the top of this post,…

Israel, Palestine, Twitter, and Bullying: NJ High School Gets Crash Course in Global Politics and Constitutional Law

The town of Fair Lawn, in northeastern New Jersey, lies just under 5,700 miles from Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel. The two communities have widely-differing histories: the former is a bedroom community created by the New Jersey Legislature just 92 years ago, in 1924, while the latter is one of the oldest cities in…

YouTube Video of Burlesque Performance Costs VA Teacher Her Job

Burlesque — or at least the tassled-and-g-stringed version that arose in America — hit its peak of popularity in the early 20th century, before a combination of Prohibition and adult movie theaters largely wiped it out. Over the last twenty years or so, however, there has been a growing revival of the art form that…

Louis C.K., aka Captain Trigger Warning, Takes Full Advantage of First Amendment

Man, that Louis C.K. is one big walking trigger warning, isn’t he?! The rough-edged comedian did his best to distract everyone from the “Mad Men” finale by closing out “Saturday Night Live’s” 40th season with a monologue that instantly became a case study of what happens when you take a perfectly valid concept a step…

Woman Copyrights Nude Images of Herself to Battle Revenge Porn

If love means never having to admit you posted nude photos of your partner on an adult Web site, then romance has taken quite a hit in the Internet era. Unfortunately, the explosion of digital cameras, smartphones with cameras, and laptops with Web cams has resulted in an explosion of homemade pornography. (The “democratization of…