LAL #048 — Interview with Attorney Marc Randazza, the First Amendment Juggernaut

My guest on this episode of Law and Legitimacy is premier First Amendment lawyer, Marc Randazza.  Marc's resume speaks for itself. And as you will hear, Marc has been an advocate for individual sovereignty since grade school.  We start this interview by tracing his path to prominence in First Amendment advocacy. You'll learn about Marc's genetic predisposition to fail at adapting to military discipline. You'll hear about the times he flunked out of undergrad. You might even be disgusted to know that Marc pursued journalism before pursuing a career in law.  But what you'll hear the most is Marc's unwavering commitment to the principles of free expression and the unlikely beginnings of a glittering career that began with his defense of an adult book store. Unpopular political speech is the totality of Marc's bustling practice. So I ask him: what is the Bill of Rights? Why does the Bill of Rights matter? And then I ask him what the biggest threats are to free speech.  My answer—that the bottom has fallen out of pluralism in American society—will not surprise you. But neither will Marc's insight. Listen in for a volley of ideas surrounding notions of obscenity, the social and therapeutic value of the marketplace of ideas, the impact of political tribalism on the curtailment of speech, and the likelihood that SCOTUS applies obscenity to political speech in order to create a "Hate Speech" exception to the First Amendment.  Marc is one of the good ones. I cherish working with him. And I cherish opportunities like this to capture the essence of the finest our sacred practice has to offer. Enjoy.  Tell a friend, a loved one, a colleague, or even a stranger about Law and Legitimacy. Remember to leave us a 5-star rating wherever you find the Law and Legitimacy podcast. And join Norm Pattis' growing subscriber base on Patreon. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/norm-pattis/support