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2017 was a hell of a year [br]for the First Amendment.

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Nowhere was more central[br]to this culture war

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than the campuses and [br]universities across America,

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including right here, [br]at the University of Nevada, Reno.

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Two UNR students became infamous [br]for their speech in the past year,

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found themselves embroiled in two[br]of the biggest free speech controversies

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
of the past couple of years.

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Student, Peter Cytanovic became the face [br]of white nationalism,

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when a picture of him snarling, [br]holding a tiki torch

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at the Unite the Right Rally [br]in Charlottesville went viral.

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On the complete opposite end [br]of the political spectrum,

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if you can call it that,

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graduate, Colin Kaepernick,[br]went on to the NFL

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and used his position to highlight[br]police brutality and racial injustice,

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by taking a knee[br]during the National Anthem.

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Both men became incredibly [br]controversial for their speech.

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There were calls and campaigns for both[br]men to be expelled for their opinions.

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But regardless, whether you agree with one[br]of them, or both of them, or neither,

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the First Amendment protects[br]both of those men and their opinions

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from censorship and retaliation[br]by the government.

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That's a good thing,[br]and I want to tell you why.

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It's becoming more common for me to hear

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that we should have [br]lower protections for speech,

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that specifically, we should [br]criminalize hate speech.

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I hear this from the left a lot.

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I think a lot of progressives [br]envision a world where people

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like Colin Kaepernick can take a knee[br]and protest of racial injustice,

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without fear of retaliation [br]from the government,

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without fear that the President[br]will pressure the NFL to fire him.

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But they also want to live in a world[br]where a government school like UNR

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can expel a student like Peter Cytanovic[br]for his hateful views.

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That is a fantasy.

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And more than that, it's dangerous.

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I'm a progressive,

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it's not hard for me to pick between[br]white nationalism and racial justice.

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One is abhorrent, one is an overdue[br]demand for equal rights.

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But what would happen if I gave[br]a government the right to decide

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which of those men[br]was too hateful to speak?

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President Trump [br]is a pretty useful barometer.

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He called the marchers [br]at Charlottesville, "very fine people,"

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while reserving his ire for[br]black football players who take a knee

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as "sons of bitches."

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Your hate speech may not[br]be the government's idea of hate speech.

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I sure as hell know,[br]it's not mine.

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But even if you happen [br]to agree with Trump,

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can you be confident that[br]the next President, the next government

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will agree with your world view?

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You shouldn't be.

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That's why, above all,[br]I am an anti-authoritarian.

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I know that the U.S. government[br]has a long history

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of wielding its raw power[br]against the vulnerable communities

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that speak truth to that power,

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against those who seek[br]to change the status quo.

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And because I want every student[br]to be able to take a knee

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without fear of government censorship,

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I am a true believer [br]in the First Amendment.

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But even as a First Amendment attorney,[br]I find a lot of the common tropes

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and myths about the First Amendment[br]really unsatisfying.

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So, I wanna go through three[br]of these myths, dust them off,

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and hopefully in the process,

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we'll come up with three practical rules[br]for exercising your free speech rights,

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powerfully and strategically.

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So the first one, is one I suspect[br]we all learned in Kindergarten,

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if you remember your nursery rhymes,[br]please feel free to join me.

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Sticks and stones may break my bones[br]but words will never hurt me.

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Does anyone, as an adult,[br]actually believe this?

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It's manifestly untrue.

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I'm a free speech attorney precisely[br]because I believe that words matter,

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it's ludicrous to protect free speech[br]by denying its very power.

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So, why do we lie to kids, right?

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Why do we fabricate this thing for them?

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Well, it's because humans of all ages[br]can be vicious, it's just true.

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And when a kid is at the receiving end[br]of injustice, a taunt, hateful language,

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we want that kid [br]to be empowered, not diminished.

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In February, notorious troll,[br]Milo Yiannopoulos,

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had a planned speech at UC Berkeley.

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Students and others [br]in the community went nuts.

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There were protests, there were riots,[br]things were set on fire.

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The administration cancelled his talk.

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In April, there was a repeat, same thing,[br]except this time, it was Ann Coulter.

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She was going to speak,

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School officials said,[br]"There's going to be riots."

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They cancelled her talk.

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Those two individuals, Ann and Milo,[br]man, they became martyrs.

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They got to take on the roll of victims[br]of liberal censorship.

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They went on media tours,[br]the media ate it up.

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They got more attention [br]for being silenced than they ever did

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for trying to peddle [br]their actual substantive views.

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So, I think it's helpful to think [br]of professional, provocateurs and trolls

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as we would those schoolyard bullies.

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Yeah, their words can hurt, [br]there's no point in denying that.

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But the better question is, [br]how do we respond to that, right?

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And a troll, a provocateur[br]wants you to censor them.

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That's part of the goal,[br]it feeds into their power,

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it gives them something to sell.

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So, we don't have to march to that tune.

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You don't have to play that role.

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And we can think of them,[br]like these bullies,

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yeah their words hurt, [br]but, there's also power in sass.

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There's power in refusing [br]to be goaded into a fight

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or to play the role of censor.

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So, don't do it.

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But some words wound in ways[br]that are different from others.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Which brings us to myth number two.

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I hear this one a lot, [br]particularly online.

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We all know that hate speech [br]isn't protected by the First Amendment.

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Not so.

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As that anecdote about Trump[br]hopefully made you think,

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hate speech can be [br]in the eye of the beholder,

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ire of the behearer, I guess,[br]if that's a word.

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Just this week in Spain,

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a man was arrested for the hate crime,[br]this is real, of calling cops "slackers."

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on Facebook.

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Police are covered under [br]the Spanish Hate Crime Law.

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That's what criticizing your government[br]looks like in a country

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
without a First Amendment.

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But, we don't have to protect speech[br]just out of paranoia

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that our government will warp[br]what we think speech and hate speech are.

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There's also an upshot.

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In the late 1960's,