CHAPEL HILL, NC—Hustler publisher Larry Flynt will deliver an opening keynote address for the eighth annual symposium put on by the University of North Carolina's First Amendment Law Review, a legal journal edited by students from the UNC School of Law. The 2010 symposium—"Sexually Explicit Speech and the First Amendment"—also will feature a full day of panels that explore the historically contentious relationship between sexual speech and the law.
Flynt's keynote, which takes place Thursday, Feb. 18 at 8:00pm in the Great Hall of the UNC Student Union, will be moderated by Clay Calvert, professor and Brechner Eminent Scholar at the University of Florida, and Robert Richards, John and Ann Curley professor of First Amendment studies at Penn State University. Tickets for the keynote, available Feb. 1 at the Student Union box office, are free.
“When you talk about the First Amendment, and you talk about controversy, one person comes to mind, and it’s Larry Flynt,” said Symposium editor David Wicclair, a third-year law student from Pittsburgh. "We really thought there hadn’t been a symposium on pornography or sexually explicit content, and we figured that’s a fairly pertinent issue in First Amendment law that would really spur some debate.”
Flynt, who will speak briefly before taking questions from Richards and Curley, also will field questions from the audience. Symposium organizers hope that those who agree with Flynt's positions and those who don't show up and participate.
“If you disagree with Mr. Flynt, that’s great,” Wicclair said. “We want you there, and we want you to tell him why you disagree and have a thoughtful debate."
Panels will take place the following day at the UNC School of Law. Registration will begin at 9:00a.m., with the following program running from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
First Panel: Issues in free speech and sexually explicit content
Moderator: William W. Van Alstyne, Professor at the College of William & Mary Law School
Panelists:
Larry Walters, First Amendment attorney, Walters Law Group
Mary Beth Buchanan, Former U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Jeffrey Douglas, Attorney for the adult entertainment industry, FSC Board Chair
Second Panel: Free speech and censorship of sexually explicit language
Moderator: William W. Van Alstyne, Professor at the College of William & Mary Law School
Panelists:
Diane Duke, Executive director of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC)
Tim Winter, President of the Parents Television Council
Katharine Bartlett, A. Kenneth Pye Professor of Law at Duke Law specializing in gender studies
Third Panel: In-depth discussion of Flynt's role in free speech
Moderator: Rodney Smolla, Dean of Washington & Lee School of Law, First Amendment scholar and advocate
General admission is $20.
UNC-Chapel Hill students, faculty members, and staff members may attend for free.
Students from other schools and senior citizens may attend for $10.
Members of the N.C. State Bar may be able to earn Continuing Legal Education (CLE) hours by contacting the bar.
A boxed lunch will be provided.
For more information about the symposium, click here.
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