Stephen Rohde is a writer, lecturer, and political activist. For almost 50 years, he practiced civil rights, civil liberties, and intellectual property law. He is a past chair of the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and past National Chair of Bend the Arc, a Jewish Partnership for Justice. He is a founder and current chair of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace, member of the Board of Directors of Death Penalty Focus, and a member of the Black Jewish Justice Alliance. Rohde is the author of American Words of Freedom and Freedom of Assembly (part of the American Rights series), and numerous articles and book reviews on civil liberties and constitutional history for Los Angeles Review of Books, American Prospect, Los Angeles Times, Ms. Magazine, Los Angeles Lawyer, Truth Out, LA Progressive, Variety, and other publications. He is also co-author of Foundations of Freedom, published by the Constitutional Rights Foundation. Rohde received Bend the Arc’s “Pursuit of Justice” Award, and his work has been recognized by the ACLU and American Bar Association. Rohde received his BA degree in political science from Northwestern University and his JD degree from Columbia Law School.
Stephen Rohde
Articles
How Could He Possibly Lose? On Samantha Barbas’s “Actual Malice”
Stephen Rohde discusses Samantha Barbas’s new book on free speech and civil rights, “Actual Malice: Civil Rights and Freedom of the Press in ’New York Times v. Sullivan.’”
Espionage Overreach: On Ralph Engelman and Carey Shenkman’s “A Century of Repression”
Stephen Rohde reviews Ralph Engelman and Carey Shenkman’s “A Century of Repression: The Espionage Act and Freedom of the Press.”
An Obituary for Originalism: On Erwin Chemerinsky’s “Worse Than Nothing”
Stephen Rohde reviews Erwin Chemerinsky’s “Worse Than Nothing: The Dangerous Fallacy of Originalism.”
What Makes Censors Tick?
Stephen Rohde reviews Robert Corn-Revere's "The Mind of the Censor and the Eye of the Beholder: The First Amendment and the Censor’s Dilemma."
The Endless Struggle Between Censorship and Free Speech
Stephen Rohde reviews “Free Speech: A History from Socrates to Social Media” by Jacob Mchangama.
Liberal Icon or Right-Wing Renegade?
Stephen Rohde reviews Samantha Barbas’s new biography, “The Rise and Fall of Morris Ernst, Free Speech Renegade.”
Making Sure Our Rights Stay Right
Stephen Rohde reviews “How Rights Went Wrong,” the new book by Jamal Greene.
Facebook Bans Donald J. Trump for Two Years: The Anatomy of an Unprecedented Social Media Decision
What to make of Facebook’s decision to ban Trump.
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