Disclosure, Anonymity, and the First Amendment

The Inaugural Jefferson Symposium, co-sponsored by the Journal of Law & Politics and the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, focused on whether anonymity is still a First Amendment right and whether requiring disclosure, and maintaining the necessary enforcement bureaucracy, raises constitutional issues.

The keynote address was delivered by Bruce W. Sanford and Bruce D. Brown. 

Sanford, chairman of the board of the Thomas Jefferson Center, a partner at the law firm Baker Hostetler and general counsel to the Society of Professional Journalists, has defended more than 1,000 libel, intellectual property and First Amendment cases. Sanford has represented most national news media companies, including The New York Times, E.W. Scripps Co., Tribune Co., Hearst Corp., ABC, NBC, Fox Television, AOL/Time Warner, National Geographic, Random House, Simon & Schuster and Bertelsmann, A.G.

Brown, who co-directs the First Amendment Clinic at the Law School and is also a partner at Baker Hostetler, is one of Washington, D.C.’s top media and First Amendment lawyers. His practice focuses on libel and invasion of privacy defense, copyright and the law of newsgathering.

For more information about this event, see the University of Virginia School of Law.