Signs of the Times: The Dale Opinion

Document Type

Book Chapter

Publication Date

7-1-2009

Abstract

This chapter examines the reasoning in Boy Scouts of America v. Dale. It argues that the Supreme Court's opinion in the case offers a useful cautionary lesson in First Amendment jurisprudence: determinations of what is protected speech cannot defer either to individual speakers or to the culture as a whole, because such deference produces bizarre results.

Keywords

Boy Scouts of America v. Dale, First Amendment jurisprudence, Supreme Court, protected speech

Publication Title

A Right to Discriminate? How the Case of Boy Scouts of America v. James Dale Warped the Law of Free Association

DOI

https://doi.org/10.12987/yale/9780300121278.003.0002

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