What Does the First Amendment Mean Today? Ridgefield Library Lecture by Akhil Amar on Sept. 9

"What Does the First Amendment Mean Today?" is a program series examining the text, history, and current state of the First Amendment, created by the Ridgefield Library, the Ridgefield Historical Society, the League of Women Voters of Ridgefield, the Drum Hill Chapter of the DAR and Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center.

The partners have developed four free educational programs exploring the concepts embodied in the First Amendment from both historical and contemporary perspectives.

The series kicks off on Thursday, September 9^th at 7:00pm with a lecture by legal scholar and author Akhil Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale University, to be held in the Main Program Room at the Ridgefield Library.

On Monday, September 20^th at 7:00pm, the Library will offer a book discussion of Jess Walter’s best-selling novel, “The Cold Millions,” which looks at free speech and the First Amendment through the lens of historical fiction.  The discussion will take place in the Randolph Board Room at the Library.

The third program in the series will be an online lecture by Dr. Gloria Browne-Marshall of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, examining the freedoms of speech and assembly from the Civil Rights era to the social justice protests of today.  This program will be presented in Zoom on Sunday, October 3^rd at 5:00pm.

“What Does the First Amendment Mean Today?” will conclude with a panel discussion at the Library on Sunday, October 10^th at 5:00pm, moderated by author, journalist and lecturer Todd Brewster, and featuring the following notable panelists:  Professor Akhil Amar of Yale; Nadine Strossen, past president of the ACLU; New York Times journalist Mike McIntire; and Ridgefield Library Director Brenda McKinley.

For more information and to register for any of the programs in the series, visit the Events Calendar at ridgefieldlibrary.org