A study of harmful speech. The contributors reflect contrasting views on a topic on which many in the United States advocate the civil-liberties position while others are more concerned about the detrimental effects of hate speech.

In the United States, discussion about harmful speech has become highly polarized, with many advocating the civil liberties position and others more concerned about the detrimental effects of hate speech. Until recently the commonly accepted view was that under all circumstances, free speech concerns take precedence over equality concerns. But in the past decade, new social science research has demonstrated the traumatic effect of hate speech on individuals and society. In this volume, ten prominent legal scholars present new legal models for dealing with harmful speech.

Part 1 Harmful speech as a civil-rights issue: pornography, sexual harassment and civil rights, Mary Coombs
assaultive speech and civil-rights law, Mari Matsuda. Part 2 Harmful speech as a human-rights issue: hate speech as a human-rights issue, Elisabeth de Feis
pornography, harm and human rights - the European context, Catherin Itzin
harmful speech and conduct - an international human-rights perspective, Irwin Cotler. Part 3 Harmful speech as a tort issue: reallocating the costs of a free-speech system, Fred Schauer
tort law and pornography, Marianne Wesson
discriminatory speech as a tort of intentional infliction of emotional distress, Jean C. Love. Part 4 Harmful speech - public or private issue?: public-versus-private fora in hate-speech cases, Robert Post
the problem with the public/private division in pornography cases, Catharine MacKinnon. Part 5 Protecting freedom of speech while regulating harmful speech: from the same roots - equality and freedom of speech in a democracy, John A. Powell
uncivil liberties - a critical analysis of First Amendment absolutism, Laura J. Lederer.