Vincent Blasi, born January 28, 1943, is an American legal scholar. He is the

Corliss Lamont Corliss Lamont (March 28, 1902 – April 26, 1995) was an American socialist and humanist philosopher and advocate of various left-wing and civil liberties causes. As a part of his political activities, he was the Chairman of National Council of ...

Professor of Civil Liberties at

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

Biography

Blasi graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 1964, received his J.D. from the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...

in 1967, and commenced his law teaching career the following year. He joined the faculty of Columbia Law School in 1983. His scholarship has focused on the history and philosophy of the freedom of speech. He is best known for his "checking value" and "pathological perspective" theories of the free speech and free press clauses of the First Amendment, and for his detailed studies of the free speech theories of John Milton, John Stuart Mill, Learned Hand, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Louis Brandeis." He was the James Madison Professor of Law at the

University of Virginia School of Law The University of Virginia School of Law (Virginia Law or UVA Law) is the law school of the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as part of his "academical v ...

from 2004 to 2009 while continuing to serve on the Columbia faculty. He also has taught at the

University of Texas School of Law The University of Texas School of Law (Texas Law) is the law school of the University of Texas at Austin. Texas Law is consistently ranked as one of the top law schools in the United States and is highly selective—registering the 8th lowest ac ...

(1967–69) and the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a Public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of C ...

(1970–82), and was a visiting professor at Stanford Law School (1969–70), UC Berkeley School of Law (1978–79), and William & Mary Law School (1991). From 1986 to 2008 he co-taught a course in the Columbia Journalism School on freedom of the press with the New York Times reporter and columnist Anthony Lewis. Blasi regularly team-teaches his law school courses and seminars with the renowned First Amendment litigators Floyd Abrams, Jameel Jaffer, and Donald Verrilli. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Free Speech Law. He was elected a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

in 1998. He was a 1993–1994 fellow of the

National Humanities Center The National Humanities Center (NHC) is an independent institute for advanced study in the humanities. The NHC operates as a privately incorporated nonprofit and is not part of any university or federal agency. The center was planned under the auspi ...

. Blasi has been invited to deliver endowed lectures at ten different universities, including the 1995 Elliot Lecture at the Yale Law School, the 1999 Nimmer Lecture at the UCLA School of Law, and the 2000 Irvine Lecture at Cornell Law School.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasi, Vincent Living people Northwestern University alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni Columbia Law School faculty University of Virginia School of Law faculty University of Texas School of Law faculty University of Michigan Law School faculty Stanford Law School faculty UC Berkeley School of Law faculty College of William & Mary faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Year of birth missing (living people)