Ronald K. L. Collins
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 nine 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). He also authored "Nuanced Absolutism: Floyd Abrams and the First Amendment" (2013). His latest book is "Tragedy on Trial: The Story of the Infamous Emmett Till Murder Trial" (2024).
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).
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).
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.) and the co-founder of The History Book Festival.
Recent Writings
- ‘What Is Free Speech? The History of a Dangerous Idea’ – Major new book coming next year — First Amendment News 450,
- Trump’s FBI director pick Kash Patel: A clear and present danger to freedom of the press — First Amendment News 449,
- D. John Sauer, the next Solicitor General — the government’s SCOTUS lawyer in First Amendment cases — First Amendment News 448,
- 149 days and counting! Will the White House grant a posthumous pardon in the D.M. Bennett Case? — First Amendment News 447,
- Socratic free speech scholar Frederick Schauer dies at 78 — First Amendment News 446,
- Let the uninhibited debate begin! – Lukianoff v. Franks? – First Amendment News 445,
- An open invitation to Justice Neil Gorsuch and Janie Nitze to reply to their new book’s critics — First Amendment News 444,
- Floyd Abrams, ‘Journalists need stronger protections than the Supreme Court has recognized’ — First Amendment News 443,
- Seth Berlin: Some further thoughts about K-12 student speech, including the on-campus/off-campus distinction — First Amendment News 442,
- What’s on deck for the upcoming Court term — First Amendment News 441,
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