Ronald K. L. Collins

Fellows Team
Before he retired, Ronald K. L. Collins was the Harold S. Shefelman Scholar at the University of Washington Law School and prior to that was a scholar at the Washington, D.C. office of the Newseum’s First Amendment Center. He was a law clerk for Justice Hans A. Linde on the Oregon Supreme Court and a Supreme Court Fellow under Chief Justice Warren Burger.
Collins has written constitutional briefs presented to the Supreme Court and various other federal and state high courts. In addition to the books that he co-authored with David Skover, he is the editor of "Oliver Wendell Holmes: A Free Speech Reader" (2010) and co-author with Sam Chaltain of "We Must Not Be Afraid to Be Free" (2011). His last solo book was "Nuanced Absolutism: Floyd Abrams and the First Amendment" (2013).
Collins’ other books on free speech include: "The Death of Discourse” (3rd ed. 2023); "The Trials of Lenny Bruce: The Fall & Rise of an American Icon" (2002 and 2012); "On Dissent: Its Meaning in America" (2013); "When Money Speaks: The McCutcheon Decision, Campaign Finance Laws, and the First Amendment" (2014); "The People v. Ferlinghetti: The Fight to Publish Allen Ginsberg’s HOWL" (2019); and "Robotica: Speech Rights & Artificial Intelligence" (2018).
More recently, he coauthored a college text entitled "First Things First — A Modern Coursebook on Free Speech Fundamentals" (with Will Creeley, David Hudson, Jr., and Jackie Farmer, 2019) and a law school casebook titled "The First Amendment in Modernity – Casebook on The Fundamentals of Freedom" (with Greg Lukianoff, Creeley, Hudson, and Jackie Farmer, 2023).
Collins is the book editor of SCOTUSblog and writes a weekly blog (First Amendment News), which appears on the FIRE website.
His scholarly articles have appeared in numerous journals including the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review, Michigan Law Review, and the Supreme Court Review, among other publications.
Collins is co-founder and co-director of The First Amendment Salons (Wash. D.C. and N.Y.C.).
Recent Writings
- Special issue: Public libraries becoming First Amendment battlefield — First Amendment News 365,
- Special law review issue: New and forthcoming articles — First Amendment News 364,
- The mens rea issue: SCOTUS to hear ‘true threat’ case — First Amendment News 363,
- Truth vs Taboo: Hamline University controversy over Muhammad portrayal continues — First Amendment News 362,
- The Wizard of Oz story of transparency, the leaks investigation, and Chief Justice John Roberts — First Amendment News 361,
- Knight Institute sues cyber intelligence group on behalf of journalists — First Amendment News 360,
- New movement: ‘Common Good Constitutionalism’ challenges libertarian-minded conservatives’ view of free speech — First Amendment News 359,
- Seven early responses to oral arguments in web designer same-sex marriage case — First Amendment News 358,
- Still unyieldingly provocative: ‘The Death of Discourse’ returns — First Amendment News 357,
- A ‘must read’: Barron and Dienes release new edition of ‘First Amendment Law in a Nutshell’ — First Amendment News 356,
- Delaware ACLU releases ‘Guide to the First Amendment for LGBTQ+ Youth’ — First Amendment News 355,
- New book on forgotten LGBTQ+ First Amendment case — Rowland v. Mad River Local School District (1985) — FAN 354,
- Floyd Abrams to direct two-year project focusing on the Press Clause — FAN 353,
- On the offense: A new Trump defamation suit, yet another one threatened, and more! — FAN 352,
- Censoring the technologies of free expression,
- Special Issue: New and forthcoming books, scholarly articles — FAN 351,
- Cert. petition: Facebook jokester, parody, free speech, and qualified immunity — FAN 350,
- The rebirth of defamation law: In the 'Dominion' of 'Infowars' . . . and beyond — FAN 349,
- New book by Bollinger and Stone on social media and free speech — FAN 348,
- What is the reach of free speech after the Dobbs abortion ruling? Part 2 — FAN 347,
- Floyd Abrams Institute to launch new press clause project — FAN 347,
- Constitutional chaos: What is the reach of free speech after the Dobbs abortion ruling? — FAN 346,
- More on the Roberts Court's First Amendment free expression jurisprudence: The 2021-2022 term — FAN 345,
- Summer & fall picks: New & forthcoming books on free speech — FAN 344,
- FIRE spreads: Group extends its reach beyond college campuses — FAN 343,
- Ilya Shapiro reinstated — Nadine Strossen's letter to Georgetown Law Dean William Treanor — FAN 342.1,
- David Cole: 'I drafted our case selection guidelines precisely to reaffirm [the ACLU's] commitment to free speech, not to abandon it' — FAN 342,
- Flying Dog Brewery prevails again: First Amendment victory over North Carolina Alcoholic Board — FAN 341,
- FIRE launches 2022 Free Inquiry Grant program offering $150,000 to support research on free speech — FAN 340,
- Will SCOTUS release the report of its leaks investigation? Ten questions for the Court's public information officer — FAN 339,
- Ira Glasser returns once more: Unexpected good news from two 'liberal law professors'? — FAN 338.3,
- Floyd Abrams weighs in on the Disney controversy and corporate speech — FAN 338.2,
- Neuborne & Chemerinsky, 'Let Disney speak: A friendly amendment to Ira Glasser' — FAN 338.1,
- Ira Glasser on corporate speech, the First Amendment, and Disney's criticism of Florida's anti-gay law; along with a reply to Neuborne and Chemerinsky — FAN 338,
- SCOTUS declines to invalidate billboard law — Larry Tribe: 'SCOTUS made a mess of 1st Amendment law' — FAN 337,
- Robert Corn-Revere, 'Punishing Disney for opposing Florida’s "Don’t Say Gay" law poses serious First Amendment problems' — FAN 336.1,
- Shawnee State University pays $400k following Sixth Circuit ruling in favor of professor's First Amendment claims in gender pronoun case — FAN 336,
- Alan Morrison files cert. petition in lawyer suspension case — FAN 335,
- Recent ASU law school conference on 'Non-Governmental Restrictions on Free Speech' draws noted scholars — FAN 334,
- Cert. petition: Floyd Abrams takes on SEC in First Amendment challenge — FAN 333,
- Bobby Burchfield pledges $4.5 million to create a First Amendment chair at GW Law — FAN 332,
- Defend dissent! — FAN 331,
- Press freedoms: The times they are a-changin'? — FAN 330,
- Special issue: Academic speech — Protected or perilous? Emerson Sykes, 'Academic freedom for whom?' — FAN 329.7,
- Special issue: Academic speech — Protected or perilous? Ronald Collins, 'Georgetown’s free speech experiment: What’s next?' — FAN 329.6,
- Special issue: Academic speech — Protected or perilous? John K. Wilson, 'How suspensions violate academic freedom' — FAN 329.5,
- Special issue: Academic speech — Protected or perilous? Ira Glasser, 'Social justice requires free speech' — FAN 329.4,
- Special issue: Academic speech — Protected or perilous? Burt Neuborne, 'Sticks and stones' — FAN 329.3,
- Special issue: Academic speech — Protected or perilous? Nadine Strossen, “Some thoughts about university officials’ ‘counter-speech’” — FAN 329.2,
- Special issue: Academic speech — Protected or perilous? Erwin Chemerinsky, 'The role of deans and administrators in dealing with offensive speech' — FAN 329.1,
- Special issue: Academic speech — Protected or perilous? ACLU’s David Cole weighs in on Georgetown University law school controversy. Commentaries to follow — FAN 329,
- Brooklyn Law Review Symposium: 'The Roberts Court & Free Speech' — FAN 328,
- World history of free speech recounted in new book by Jacob Mchangama — FAN 327,
- Knight Institute proposes a safe harbor for platform research — FAN 326,
- Might Garcetti v. Ceballos be limited in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District? — FAN 325,
- NLRB vs. Whole Foods: 'Black Lives Matter' masks and the First Amendment — FAN 324,
- Proposed bill to ban internet disclosure of personally identifiable information of judges and judicial employees before Congress — FAN 323,
- Texas social media law struck down — FAN 323,
- Permissible political influence or impermissible bribery? Cert. petition in Roberson v. U.S. raises that question — FAN 322,
- The mind of the reviewer and the eye of the author — Rosenberg reviews Corn-Revere, author replies — FAN 321,
- Has the holding in Janus been ignored? 16 state attorneys general said yes, SCOTUS said no, cert. denied — FAN 320,
- The new Socrates of the Academy: Pano Kanelos and his free speech university — FAN 319,
- Corn-Revere's 'The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder' to be released tomorrow — FAN 318,
- Prof. India Thusi: 'Reality porn is pornographic paid sex work that should be accorded First Amendment recognition' — FAN 317,
- Free speech controversy at Yale Law, faculty invited to respond — FAN 316,
- First Amendment News 315: Do religious speech and association cert. petitions filed by Clement, Waggoner, and others portend new trend in First Amendment law?,
- First Amendment News 314: Should Justice Alito debate the Court's shadow docket critics?,
- First Amendment News 313: FIRE releases 2021 College Free Speech Rankings,
- First Amendment News 312: He's back! 'Obscenity' brew courtesy of Flying Dog,
- First Amendment News 311: Clayton Kozinski on Clearview AI and the First Amendment fight for facial recognition,
- First Amendment News 310: Texas' bounty hunter law and what it might portend for free speech freedoms,
- First Amendment News 309: Commentary — Cost-free dissent: Valor or vanity?,
- First Amendment News 308: UC Davis law review symposium on 'cheap speech',
- First Amendment News 307: Summer list of 30 new or forthcoming books on free expression,
- First Amendment News 306: On appeal — Senator Cruz challenges BCRA’s loan-repayment limit,
- First Amendment News 305: The Roberts Court and its free speech jurisprudence — 14 observations on the 2020-21 term,
- First Amendment News 304: Cert. denial opinions of Thomas and Gorsuch in Berisha v. Lawson,
- First Amendment News 303.1: 6-3 Court strikes down California donor disclosure law,
- First Amendment News 303: The Supreme Court's new student speech case that overlooked what every student knows,
- First Amendment News 302.2: Supreme Court breathes new life into Tinker and rules in favor of student speech,
- First Amendment News 302.1: Book review, Robert Lasnik on critiquing the press ,
- First Amendment News 302: Cert petition asks Justices to overrule 'public figure' doctrine — relies heavily on 1993 Kagan book review,
- First Amendment News 301: The ACLU free speech controversy flares up yet again,
- First Amendment News 300.1: Tribute to a great judge and a great man — Robert A. Katzmann (1953-2021),
- First Amendment News 300: A Q&A interview with Laurence Tribe on freedom of expression ,
- First Amendment News 299.1: Larry Tribe — First Amendment scholar and appellate lawyer,
- First Amendment News 299: New Florida law bars tech companies from banning political candidates on social media platforms,
- First Amendment News 298: Commentary — Cancel culture at Seattle University Law School? Point-counterpoints,
- First Amendment News 297: Commentary — Meaningless speech in a counterfeit culture,
- First Amendment News 296: Jones & West's empirical study reveals 'stark deterioration in both the quantity and quality of the Court’s depictions of the press',
- First Amendment News 295: Ted Olson & David Cole petition SCOTUS for access to surveillance opinions,
- First Amendment News 294: Nicole Ligon on 'Protecting Local News Outlets from Fatal Legal Expenses',
- First Amendment News 293: Genevieve Lakier to join Knight Institute as visiting research scholar,
- First Amendment News 292: 'Tis the season! More Trump-related defamation suits moving through the courts,
- First Amendment News 291: Bruce Johnson responds to Judge Laurence Silberman’s attack on NYT v. Sullivan,
- First Amendment News 290: Ronald London to head FIRE's Faculty Legal Defense Fund,
- First Amendment News 289: Robert Corn-Revere, 'Not the fairness doctrine? Perhaps not, but this is worse' — the technology platforms debate continues,
- First Amendment News 288: Krishnamurthy and Chemerinsky v. Corn-Revere — the technology platforms debate continues,
- First Amendment News 287: Bring back the fairness doctrine? Destroying the internet in order to save it.,
- First Amendment News 286: Resources on the First Amendment, the former president, the Senate impeachment trial and what lies ahead,
- First Amendment News 285: The rise of defamation lawsuits by and against public figures,
- First Amendment News 284: Federal law struck down — National Park Service can't compel permits and fees for commercial filming,
- First Amendment News 283: Noted media lawyer and scholar Lee Levine retires,
- First Amendment News 282: Covering SCOTUS and more — Lasnik and Liptak in dialogue,
- First Amendment News 281: Clearview face-recognition controversy continues — privacy v. free speech,
- First Amendment News 280: David Cole weighs in on Fulton v. City of Philadelphia and the future of First Amendment jurisprudence,
- First Amendment News 279: Divided 11th Circuit panel rules LGBTQ 'conversion therapy' ban violates First Amendment,
- First Amendment News 278: Special scholars' issue on free speech — Tebbe, Volokh, Lakier, Post, Weinrib, Rabban, Blocher, Neuborne, Schauer, Weinstein, Waldron and others,
- First Amendment News 277: Contra-Justice Thomas, the originalist debate continues — a review of Wendell Bird's 'Criminal Dissent',
- First Amendment News 276: Abrams, Strossen and Glasser respond to Bazelon NYT magazine article ,
- First Amendment News 275: Justice Thomas urges Court to pare back Section 230's 'sweeping immunity',
- First Amendment News 274: More on originalism and the First Amendment, enter Matthew Schafer,
- First Amendment News 273: Religious conscience takes center stage in Supreme Court's First Amendment docket,
- First Amendment News 272: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020) — Her free speech jurisprudence,
- First Amendment News 271: New and forthcoming books issue: The 2020-2021 list,
- First Amendment News 270.1: Noted First Amendment lawyer John Weston dies,
- First Amendment News 270: Justice Hans Linde (1924-2020) on freedom of expression: An ingenious jurisprudence,
- First Amendment News 269: Documentary coming soon: 'Mighty Ira: A Civil Liberties Story',
- First Amendment News 268: The Clement cure for the cure,
- First Amendment News 267: Floyd Abrams' march into postmodernity — facial recognition and the First Amendment,
- First Amendment News 266: Summer scholarship issue: 25 new or forthcoming articles on free expression,
- First Amendment News 265: The future of Buckley v. Valeo: Professors and senators line up in petition to Court in campaign contributions case,
- First Amendment News 264: On John Roberts and free speech — a preliminary look,
- First Amendment News 263: Kristen Waggoner is the one to watch in First Amendment cases,
- First Amendment News 262: Court holds automated-robocall government debt exception violates First Amendment — though it's complicated!,
- First Amendment News 261: The Chicks & 'March March' — from country to cultural dissent,
- First Amendment News 260: SCOTUS denies review in 'true threats' and telephone harassment cases,
- First Amendment News 259: The unfolding Bolton book controversy ,
- First Amendment News 258: Joseph Russomanno — 'The marketplace of ideas mistake: the Cotton-NYT's op-ed controversy',
- First Amendment News 257: Knight Institute calls on public officials to protect speech and press rights,
- First Amendment News 256: Federal district judge enjoins enforcement of Mass. debt collector calls regulation,
- First Amendment News 255: Martin Redish and Julio Pereyra on political fraud and the First Amendment ,
- First Amendment News 254: Ian Millhiser on Justice Thomas's maverick views on modern free speech jurisprudence,
- FAN 253.1: Floyd Abrams: 'It’s a new day in the history of the speech and press clauses.',
- First Amendment News 253: Mary Anne Franks: "[T]he narrative of widespread liberal intolerance and suppression of conservative views on college campuses is simply false.",
- First Amendment News 252.1: Coalition sends letter to California Highway Patrol about bans on public protests,
- First Amendment News 252: Zoom-speech and the specter of censorship in pandemic times . . . and in years to come,
- First Amendment News 251: Public health and the First Amendment in the age of COVID-19,
- First Amendment News 250: A commentary on Waronker v. Hempstead Union School Dist. and the public employee speech doctrine,
- First Amendment News 249.1: All-star lineup of lawyers and scholars file amicus brief in protest liability case,
- First Amendment News 249: Supreme Court cert. petition on another abortion buffer zone case,
- First Amendment News 248.1: Government as Speaker vs Government as Censor — On Helen Norton’s Government Speech Book,
- First Amendment News 248: Lukianoff on Coronavirus and the Failure of the ‘Marketplace of Ideas’,
- First Amendment News 247.1: PEN America's Retaliation Lawsuit Against President Trump to Proceed,
- First Amendment News 247: Living Originalism and Its Evolution — Books by Wendell Bird Paint New Picture of the History of Press, Speech Freedoms in America,
- This One's for You David Lat — Get Real Well Real Soon!,
- First Amendment News 246.1: Press Critic Urges Media to Stop Live-Broadcasting Trump's Coronavirus Briefings,
- First Amendment News 246: Meet Jacqueline Smith — The Woman Who's Been Protesting for Over 32 Years,
- First Amendment News 245: Chemerinsky Files Cert. Petition in Government Employee Speech Case,
- First Amendment News 244: Ninth Circuit Holds YouTube Not Governed by First Amendment,
- First Amendment News 243: Six First Amendment Free Expression Cases to Be Decided This Term . . . and Counting,
- First Amendment News 242: Brett Kavanaugh's Novel Idea About Televising the Announcement of Supreme Court Opinions,
- First Amendment News 241: Floyd Abrams on Retaliation Against Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman,
- First Amendment News 240: Section 230 Now Part of United States-Mexico-Canada Treaty,
- First Amendment News 239: A New Text for a New Generation: First Amendment Coursebook for $16, "keeping access to knowledge affordable",
- First Amendment News 238: High Court to Hear Telephone Consumer Protection Act Robo Call Case,
- First Amendment News 237: Joseph Blocher Takes Center Stage with Back-to-Back First Amendment Articles in Harvard and Yale Law Reviews,
- First Amendment News 236: Judicial Seats, Political Parties, and the First Amendment — SCOTUS Agrees to Review Delaware Case,
- FAN 235: California Reporting Project Wins First Amendment Coalition's Award,
- FAN 234: High Court Hands Down Per Curiam Opinion in Campaign Finance Case, Denies Cert. in Defamation Cases,
- FAN 233: 2019 Tony Mauro Media Lawyer Award Winners Announced,
- FAN 232: Hopwoods File Brief in Fourth Circuit in Government Employee Speech Case,
- FAN 231: 'Masterpiece Cakeshop' Redux as Floral Artist Files Cert Petition in Same-Sex Wedding Case,
- FAN 230: How Western Companies Help Promote Chinese Censorship and Surveillance Worldwide,
- FAN 229: Nine GOP Lawmakers Accuse CNN of Violating "the Law and the Constitution" for Not Airing Trump Ad,
- FAN 228: Yelp vs. Google on Searches for Abortion Providers ,
- FAN 227: "Unprecedented" First Amendment Podcast Debuts,
- FAN 226: Columbia Law to Host Conference on Holmes's Abrams Dissent,
- FAN 225: Paul Clement — Mr. First Amendment in the Roberts Court,
- FAN 224: Case in Progress — The Man Who Was Criminally Cited for Filming in a Federal Park,
- FAN 223: Just Released: Free Speech E-Textbook with Hundreds of Links, Just $2.99,
- FAN 222: Stone and Bollinger to Edit Major Book on Leaks, National Security, and Freedom of the Press -- Distinguished Lineup of Contributors,
- FAN 221.1: Tony Mauro Media Lawyer Award: Call for Nominations,
- FAN 221: Zick on "The President’s Utterly Un-American Response to Dissent",
- FAN 220: Newseum's Stone Tablet of the First Amendment to Be Removed From Pennsylvania Avenue,
- FAN 219 Noah Feldman: 2nd Circuit Twitter Ruling Poses "Serious Negative Implications" for Freedom of Speech,
- FAN 218: Knight First Amendment Institute Prevails in 2nd Circuit Trump Twitter Case,
- FAN 217: UVA Law School Relaunches Thomas Jefferson Center as First Amendment Clinic,
- FAN 216: Kagan Issues First Majority Opinion in First Amendment Free Expression Case, and Boldly So!,
- FAN 215 HHS Drug Prescription Price Rule Challenged,
- FAN 214 National Review Files Cert. Petition in Defamation Case,
- FAN 213 'Tis the Season of Proposed Amendments to the First Amendment,
- FAN 212 Symposium: "Gender Equality and the First Amendment",
- FAN 211 Judge Damon J. Keith (1922–2019): "Democracies die behind closed doors.",
- FAN 210.1 Paul McMasters: "Newseum: An Uncertain Future for a First Amendment Bastion",
- FAN 210 Hayden Covington: The Lawyer Who Argued 44 Cases in the Supreme Court, Most of Them First Amendment Cases,
- FAN 209 Justice Jackson's Barnette Opinion Scrutinized in F.I.U. Law Review Symposium,
- FAN 208.1 No Joke! New Off-Broadway Lenny Bruce Play Offends Millennials,
- FAN 208 Volokh on Video: Noted 1-A Scholar Launches Video Series,
- FAN 207.1 Topics of Our Times,
- FAN 207 The Changing Character of Our Free Speech Culture: Zuckerberg Calls for "More Active Role" of Government in Regulating Speech,
- FAN 206 Another Union Case Before the Court: Business v. Union Political Contributions,
- FAN 205.1 President Issues Executive Order on Campus Free Speech,
- FAN 205 New Book: "The People v. Ferlinghetti: The Fight to Publish Allen Ginsberg's HOWL",
- FAN 204.2 Emory Conference: "Academic Freedom and Free Speech on Campus",
- FAN 204.1 Catherine J. Ross: "Trump’s Latest Threat to Free Speech and the Academy" ,
- FAN 204 Brooklyn Law School to Host Symposium: Incitement at 100—and 50—and Today: Free Speech and Violence in the Modern World,
- FAN 203.2 Handman and Zycherman: "Fear Not: New York Times v. Sullivan Heartily Embraced by the Court’s Newest Jurist, Justice Kavanaugh",
- FAN 203.1 Paul Sparrow: "The Newseum, the First Amendment, and a Lost History",
- FAN 203 Reporters Committee Receives $10M from Knight Foundation,
- FAN 202.2 Robert Corn-Revere: "The Retaliator in Chief: The Case Against Donald J. Trump",
- FAN 202.1 Levine and Wermiel: "Dubious Doubts and 'the Central Meaning of the First Amendment'—A Preliminary Reply to Justice Thomas",
- FAN 202 "True Threats" Cert Petition Presented to SCOTUS in Rap Music Case,
- FAN 201.2 Robert Corn-Revere: "Can the President Treat the Press as the Enemy of the People?",
- FAN 201.1 Congressman Raskin Introduces Bill to Limit Reach of "Citizens United",
- FAN 201 Justice Thomas Targets Sullivan Ruling — a "policy-driven decision masquerading as constitutional law",
- First Amendment News (FAN) Returns!,
- RONALD K.L. COLLINS for ‘The Torch’: We Kill Comedians, Don’t We? The Lenny Bruce Story.,

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