Parody, mockery, and satire are common tools in a humorist’s arsenal, and since our nation’s birth they have been used to ridicule public figures in public debates. When, however, does this vein of humor cross the legal line? A distinguished panel of jurists and scholars discusses the comedians and cases that tested the limits of the First Amendment. Examples include Lenny Bruce’s obscenity conviction, the Supreme Court decisions involving George Carlin’s “Seven Dirty Words” monologue, and the dispute between Jerry Falwell and Hustler magazine over the outer bounds of permissible parody. Leading First Amendment scholar Geoffrey Stone moderates the panel. Participants include Ronald Collins, scholar at the First Amendment Center and coauthor of The Trials of Lenny Bruce, and Judges William J. Bauer and Diane P. Wood of the United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit.
Generously sponsored by the Hugh M. Hefner Foundation.
