President Smolla talks about free speech

Rod Smolla

In an interview published in the Harvard Law & Policy Review, Furman president Rod Smolla talks about a variety of free speech issues, including the nature of academic freedom, Title IX and the difference between private and public universities when it comes to speech rights.

Smolla is an expert on free expression and academic freedom, and he has argued before state and federal courts around the country, including the U.S. Supreme Court, where he won the landmark case Virginia v. Black.  He is the author of numerous books, among them: Free Speech in an Open Society, which won the William O. Douglas Award as the year’s best monograph on free expression; Deliberate Intent, which was made into a movie by the FX cable network; and The Constitution Goes to College, which explores the constitutional principles that shaped American higher education.

Before joining Furman as president in 2010, he was dean of the Washington and Lee School of Law, dean of the University of Richmond School of Law, and director of the Institute of Bill of Rights Law at the College of William & Mary.