Description: American public schools censor controversial student speech that the Constitution protects. Catherine Ross brings clarity to court rulings that define speech rights of young citizens and proposes ways to protect free expression, arguing that the failure of schools to respect civil liberties betrays their educational mission and threatens democracy.
Brief description: Catherine J. Ross is Fred C. Stevenson Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School.
Review Quotes: A magnificent book. Catherine Ross has given us a beautifully written and original contribution to our understanding of the nexus of constitutional law, lower courts, and everyday life in our public schools. She persuasively demonstrates that schools and judges too often teach 'lessons in censorship' that threaten the First Amendment and our vital culture of democracy.--Erwin Chemerinsky, University of California, Irvine School of Law