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The First Amendment Salon was founded in April 2014 by Ronald Collins, , and . The Salon hosts a series of non-partisan programs that aim to emulate the spirit of the U.S. Constitution’s Madisonian guarantee by opening a dialogue, at once robust and diverse, about free expression in America.

To that end, the Salon engages members of the First Amendment community—lawyers, academics, journalists, and activists—in an ongoing discussion of key free speech issues of our day. Each program involves a no-charge, 90-minute discussion concerning a timely topic related to freedom of expression, whether in a contemporary Supreme Court case, book, article, legal brief, or memorandum.

Twenty-five or more invitees gather at different venues and are electronically connected via videoconferencing. The Salons typically take place at the New York and Washington, D.C. offices of the law firm .

A reception either precedes or follows each discussion in order to develop a better sense of community. In March 2015, the Salons began to be video recorded. And in August 2015, the Salon first went “on the road,” beginning with an event in Los Angeles. Collins, , , and  serve as co-chairs of the Salon's advisory board.

Advisory Board

Jane Bambauer, University of Arizona Law School

Erwin Chemerinsky, University of California at Berkeley, School of Law

Robert Corn-Revere, FIRE

Lucy Dalglish, Philip Merrill College of Journalism

Jameel Jaffer, Knight First Amendment Institute

Jane Kirtley, University of Minnesota Law School

Lee Levine, Ballard Spahr

Robert Post, Yale Law School

David Schulz, Floyd Abrams Institute for Freedom of Expression

David Skover, Seattle University Law School (emeritus)

Paul M. Smith, Jenner & Block, Georgetown Law Center

Geoffrey Stone, University of Chicago, School of Law

Eugene Volokh, UCLA School of Law

Sonja West, University of Georgia School of Law

Kyu Ho Youm, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Oregon

First Amendment Salon Video Playlist

View video

All First Amendment Salons

• September 26, 2024, virtual conference: "" with Seth Berlin, Sandra Baron, Kelli Sager, Daniel Waggoner, Susanna Lowy, and David Boardman, in Conversation with Ronald Collins.
• June 24, 2024, virtual conference: "" with Erwin Chemerinsky, Geoffrey Stone, and Seth Berlin.
• March 26, 2024, virtual conference: "" with Ronald Collins and Jason Downs
• June 12, 2023, virtual conference: "" with Samantha Barbas and Laura Handman
• May 9, 2023, virtual conference: "" with Tom Clare and Dan Webb
• December 7, 2022, virtual conference: "" with Eugene Volokh and Jane Bambauer
• May 16, 2022, virtual conference: "" with Richard Hasen, Laura Edelson, Alex Abdo
• February 15, 2022, virtual conference: "" with Lee Bollinger, Geoffrey Stone, and Ellen Nakashima
• December 8, 2021, virtual conference: "" with Robert Corn-Revere and Katie Fallow
• July 13, 2021, virtual conference: "" with Martha Minow and Robert C. Post
• April 27, 2021, virtual conference: "" with Jane Bambauer, Vera Eidelman, and Katharine Larsen
• October 26, 2020, virtual conference: "" with Suzanne Nossel and Sonja West
• July 21, 2020, virtual conference: "" with Paul Clement and Floyd Abrams
• June 1, 2020, virtual conference: "" with Rodney Smolla and Mary-Rose Papandrea
• January 22, 2020, Ballard Spahr, New York City: "" with , , and
• November 18, 2019, Ballard Spahr, New York City:
• April 24, 2019, Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland: "" author and New York Times Deputy General Counsel   by
• February 12, 2019: "" with Dan Bernstein
• December 4, 2018, Ballard Spahr, Washington, D.C.: "" author   by 
• September 13, 2018, Ballard Spahr, Washington, D.C.: Former Solicitor General of the United States by
• April 27, 2018, New York City: "" with , , , moderated by
• February 12, 2018, Ballard Spahr, Washington, D.C.: "" with  and  moderated by 
• November 6, 2017, Thurgood Marshall Courthouse of the Second Circuit: "" with and
• July 11, 2017, New York City: "" with author  interviewed by 
• April 5, 2017, Yale University: "" with and
• February 21, 2017, Los Angeles: "" with and
• December 8, 2016, Washington, D.C.: "" with interviewed by
• September 9, 2016, Floyd Abrams Institute, Yale Law School: "" with  and , moderated by 
• May 16, 2016, University of Chicago Law School: "" with  and , moderated by
• March 29, 2016, Washington, D.C.: "" with and , moderated by
• November 2, 2015, Floyd Abrams Institute, Yale Law School: "" with  and , moderated by
• August 26, 2015, Los Angeles, Davis Wright Tremaine: "" with  and , moderated by
• March 30, 2015, Abrams Institute, Yale Law School: "" with  and , moderated by
• March 9, 2015, Washington, D.C.: Hate Speech – "" with and Greg Lukianoff, moderated by
• November 5, 2014, New York City: "" with and  moderated by
• July 9, 2014, Washington, D.C.: "" with and , moderated by
• April 28, 2014, New York City: "" with  and , moderated by