WEBVTT 00:00.533 --> 00:01.735 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (soft music) 00:01.735 --> 00:03.203 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - The spirit of the First Amendment, 00:03.203 --> 00:07.474 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as well as its letter, must permit this exhibition to go on 00:08.808 --> 00:10.210 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and this museum not to be punished for doing so. 00:10.210 --> 00:11.678 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (upbeat music) 00:11.678 --> 00:14.547 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - Floyd Abrams is almost First Amendment embodiment. 00:14.547 --> 00:17.617 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% When he takes a principled position on behalf of the press 00:17.617 --> 00:20.754 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% or a publisher of a book, he's taking a position on behalf 00:20.754 --> 00:23.690 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% of all of us who need to know what's in that book. 00:23.690 --> 00:25.792 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - The system protects free speech, 00:25.792 --> 00:28.294 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% more broadly rather than narrowly. 00:28.294 --> 00:30.230 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% - Floyd was a legal rockstar. 00:30.230 --> 00:32.932 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% His greatest contributions were making sure the 00:32.932 --> 00:35.235 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% press couldn't be stopped from publishing the truth 00:35.235 --> 00:37.303 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and couldn't be punished for publishing the truth. 00:37.303 --> 00:39.372 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Those things were not well established 00:39.372 --> 00:41.441 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% before Floyd Abrams hit the scene. 00:41.441 --> 00:43.943 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - Floyd was my lawyer in a time of great trial 00:43.943 --> 00:45.211 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% and tribulation. 00:45.211 --> 00:47.213 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I am not going to reveal my source 00:47.213 --> 00:49.049 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and if that means I have to go to prison 00:49.049 --> 00:50.483 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% then I have to go to prison. 00:50.483 --> 00:52.419 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - They did work hard and on weekends sometimes 00:52.419 --> 00:53.586 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% we went with them to the office. 00:53.586 --> 00:55.588 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - We didn't have fairytales at my house. 00:55.588 --> 00:56.990 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% We had cases. 00:56.990 --> 00:59.459 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - And they were suspenseful and moralistic 00:59.459 --> 01:02.729 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and the law seemed noble and the lawyers were heroes. 01:02.729 --> 01:05.965 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - It's about being willing to say, people I don't like, 01:05.965 --> 01:08.368 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% people I don't agree with, have a right to speak. 01:08.368 --> 01:10.136 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% He believed in the legal argument. 01:10.136 --> 01:11.504 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% - His legacy is tied 01:11.504 --> 01:13.706 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% to the First Amendment that we have today. 01:13.706 --> 01:16.376 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Whether he deserves credit for that or blame for that, 01:16.376 --> 01:18.278 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% I think is an important question. 01:18.278 --> 01:20.847 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - Technology often seems to be setting the pace rather 01:20.847 --> 01:22.282 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% than the law. 01:22.282 --> 01:24.751 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - When social media started, First Amendment types 01:24.751 --> 01:27.554 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% couldn't have imagined speech which doesn't cost anything 01:27.554 --> 01:30.590 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% and an ability for anyone to participate in it. 01:30.590 --> 01:32.959 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Racist speech, Russian propaganda, 01:32.959 --> 01:34.794 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% false speech about medicine. 01:34.794 --> 01:36.062 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% Careful what you wish for 01:36.062 --> 01:38.298 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% and careful even what you imagine. 01:38.298 --> 01:40.767 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - There are even broader questions about whether 01:40.767 --> 01:43.470 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% or not we can have privacy and free speech too. 01:43.470 --> 01:46.239 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% - The more we make it difficult to express dissenting 01:46.239 --> 01:48.975 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% or controversial views, the less we can move. 01:48.975 --> 01:52.112 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% The less we can change, the less we can even understand. 01:52.112 --> 01:54.848 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% We have to lean very strongly 01:54.848 --> 01:57.117 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% in the direction of free expression. 01:57.117 --> 01:59.185 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% Whatever the future may bring us. 02:00.286 --> 02:02.755 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% - If there were the history of defense 02:02.755 --> 02:04.290 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% of the First Amendment, 02:04.290 --> 02:06.493 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% there probably wouldn't be a chapter about Floyd Abrams. 02:06.493 --> 02:08.495 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% It would be part one. 02:08.495 --> 02:11.231 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% (upbeat music)