Richard Labunski
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Richard Labunski is an American
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (pro ...
professor at the
University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...
and newspaper columnist who is an outspoken advocate for reforming the United States Constitution in his book ''The Second Constitutional Convention''. He has been a critic of
voter apathy In political science, voter apathy is a lack of interest among voters in the elections of representative democracies. Voter apathy or lack of interest is often cited as a cause of low turnout among eligible voters in jurisdictions where vo ...
, low
voter turnout In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Univ ...
, and excessive campaign spending. Labunski's book ''James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights'' (2006) argued that
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
was initially lukewarm to the idea of a
Bill of Rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pr ...
to the
Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...
, but later came to energetically support the ten amendments and worked hard for their inclusion. He has called for a Second Constitutional Convention of the United States, and argued that reform will not happen through the current system because Congress would be reluctant to "limit its own powers."


Career

Labunski received a B.A. in political science from the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
, an M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from the
University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...
, and a J.D. degree from Seattle University. He worked as a
radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...
and television reporter, producer, and editor at WTOP Radio (
Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
); KCBS Radio (
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
); KGUN-TV (
Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...
); and
KTVN KTVN (channel 2) is a television station in Reno, Nevada, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Sarkes Tarzian, Inc., the station has studios on Energy Way in Reno, and its transmitter is located on Slide Mountain in unincorporated W ...
-TV (
Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...
). He taught at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...
for 11 years, as well as at Penn State University. He has been at the
University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...
since 1995, as a professor in the School of Journalism and Telecommunications. In ''The Second Constitutional Convention'' (2000), Labunski proposed communication via the Internet as a way for Americans to organize a federal constitutional convention with a website serving as a "national meeting spot, a sort of cyberspace town meeting where people can get information".


Publications: Books

* ''James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights'' (Oxford University Press, 2006, 2008) *''The Second Constitutional Convention: How the American People Can Take Back Their Government'' (2000) * ''The Educated Student: Getting the Most Out of Your College Years'' (2003) * ''Libel and the First Amendment: Legal History and Practice in Print and Broadcasting'' (1989) * ''The First Amendment Under Siege: The Politics of Broadcast Regulation'' (Greenwood Press, 1981)


Publications: Journal Articles

* "The Second Convention Movement, 1787–1789," ''Constitutional Commentary'' (Fall 2007). (pp. 567–600). * "The First Amendment at the Crossroads: Free Expression and New Media Technology," 2 ''Communication Law and Policy'' No. 2 Law Division, AEJMC (Spring, 1997). (published April, 1997). (pp. 165–212). * "A First Amendment Exception to the 'Collateral Bar' Rule: Protecting Freedom of Expression and the Legitimacy of Courts," 22 ''Pepperdine Law Review'' No. 2 (Winter, 1995). (published May, 1995). (pp. 405–465). * "Judicial Discretion and the First Amendment: Extending the Holding Beyond the Facts Through 'Contiguous Decision Making,'" 13 ''Comm/Ent - A Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law'' No. 1 Hastings College of the Law, University of California, San Francisco (Fall, 1990). (published January, 1991). (pp. 15–56). * "The Evolution of Libel Laws: Complexity and Inconsistency," ''Book Research Quarterly'' (Winter, 1989). (published June, 1989). (pp. 59–95). (reprinted from ''Libel and the First Amendment''). * "May It Rest in Peace: Public Interest and Public Access in the Post-Fairness Doctrine Era," 11 ''Comm/Ent - A Journal of Communications and Entertainment Law'' No. 2 Hastings College of the Law, University of California, San Francisco (Winter, 1989). (published April, 1989). (pp. 219–290). * "The 'Collateral Bar' Rule and the First Amendment: The Constitutionality of Enforcing Unconstitutional Orders," 37 ''American University Law Review'' No. 2 (Winter, 1988). (published March, 1988). (pp. 323–377). * "Pennsylvania and Supreme Court Libel Decisions: The 'Libel Capital of the Nation' Tries to Comply," 25 ''Duquesne Law Review'' No. 1 (Fall, 1986). (published February, 1987). (pp. 87–128). * "The Legal Environment of Investigative Reporters: A Pilot Study," ''Newspaper Research Journal'' (Spring, 1985). (pp. 13–19). (Co-author: John Pavlik).


References


External links


Author's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Labunski, Richard Living people American political writers American male non-fiction writers University of Kentucky faculty University of California, Berkeley alumni University of California, Santa Barbara alumni Seattle University alumni Journalism academics Scholars of constitutional law University of Washington faculty Year of birth missing (living people)