Free Expression and Censorship in America

Book excerpt: Abortion, campaign financing, TV violence, homosexuality, and indecency on the Internet all have First Amendment implications, and all have been major political issues in the 1990s. During this decade, sex and secularism emerged as major targets of censorship, and an increasing number of Americans tested the limits of the Federal "decency" standards that were imposed on the arts, the broadcast media, and the Internet. America's interest in free expression has been paralleled by the growth of a powerful system of secrecy and censorship. This comprehensive encyclopedia documents the full history of the struggle in Congress, in the courts, and in our communities to define the modern contours of the First Amendment.