Price We Pay: The Case Against Racist Speech, Hate Propaganda, and Pornography

Given its purpose--to be not a debate but a brief--this book is an informative survey of left-wing critics of free-speech excesses. Many of the essays were presented at a 1993 conference on ``Speech, Equality and Harm'' at the University of Chicago Law School. The book opens with the voices of victims: a woman forced by her boss to watch pornography; Native Americans objecting to insulting terms like redskin being used for sports teams mascots. Other essays then probe the deleterious impact of pornography and the fact, for example, that hate speech generally accompanies anti-gay hate crimes. A third section explores theory: Lederer (editor of the anthology Take Back the Night) observes how both racist speech and pornography serve to subordinate selected groups; Kimberle Crenshaw sees the opposition of elites to hate-speech regulations as similar to mass distrust of affirmative action. Some remedies may derive from present law: Marianne Wesson suggests using the tort system to sue pornographers. Others propose new paradigms: Cass Sunstein likens pornography to regulable speech such as misleading advertising. As University of Colorado law professor Delgado suggests, a more nuanced and skeptical view of First Amendment doctrine is emerging. And, as the editors argue, the Supreme Court's reflexive protection of free speech may be behind the times. (Sept.)