David L. Hudson, Jr., an Associate Professor of Law, teaches Torts, Constitutional Law, First Amendment Law, and Bar Exam Workshop at Belmont. He is the author, co-author, or co-editor of more than 40 books. For much of his career, he has worked on First Amendment issues. He serves as a Justice Robert H. Jackson Legal Fellow for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and a First Amendment Fellow for the Freedom Forum Institute. For 17 years, he was an attorney and scholar at the First Amendment Center in Nashville, Tennessee. Hudson has taught classes at Vanderbilt Law School and the Nashville School of Law. In June 2018, the Nashville School of Law awarded him its Distinguished Faculty Award. He earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University and his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School. Professor Hudson's published works have been cited and relied upon by other scholars and courts. Hudson also is a licensed boxing judge and has judged a dozen world title bouts.
Areas of expertise: First Amendment issues, Constitutional law, Free speech
PUBLICATIONS
Selected Books
First Things First: A Modern Coursebook on Free Speech Fundamentals, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, 2019. (co-author with Ronald K.L. Collins and Will Creeley)
Encyclopedia of the First Amendment (two-volume set). CQ Press, 2009. (co-editor with Dr. John Vile and David Schultz).
Law Review/Journal Articles
David L. Hudson, Jr., Essay: A Continuing Constitutional Trend of Using the First to Interpret the Second, 55 Creighton L. Rev 297 (2022). | SSRN
David L. Hudson, Jr., Fundamental First Amendment Principles, 42 N. Ill. U.L. Rev. 271 (2022). (co-authored with Jacob Glenn)
David L. Hudson, Jr., The Other Bar Hurdle: An Examination of the Character and Fitness Requirement for Bar Admission, 48 Mitchell Hamline L. Rev. 500 (2022). (co-authored with Andrea Gemignani)
David L. Hudson, Jr., The Roberts Court: Its First Amendment Free Expression Jurisprudence: 2005-2021, 87 Brooklyn L. Rev. 5 (2021)(co-authored with Ronald KL Collins). | SSRN
David L. Hudson, Jr., Patel v. Garland, Docket No. 20-979. 49 Preview Sup. Ct. Cas. 23 (Nov., 2021)
David L. Hudson, Jr., Ramirez v. Collier, Docket No. 21-5592. 49 Preview Sup. Ct. Cas. 40 (Nov., 2021)
David L. Hudson, Jr., Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.: The Court Protects Student Social Media but Leaves Unanswered Questions, 2020-2021 Cato Sup. Ct. Rev. 93 (2021) | SSRN
Hudson, David L., Jr. Supreme Court Examines Student Speech, Disclosure Law, and the Free Exercise Clause. 48 Preview U.S. Sup. Ct. Cas. 22 (2021).
David L. Hudson, Jr., The Supreme Court's Worst Decision in Recent Years - Garcetti vs. Ceballos, the Dred Scott Decision for Public Employees, 47 Mitchell Hamline L. Rev. (2021). | SSRN
David L. Hudson Jr., Essay: The Fighting Words Doctrine: Alive and Well in the Lower Courts, 19 U.N.H.L. Rev. 1 (2020). | SSRN
David L. Hudson Jr., and Glenn, Jacob D. Article: Fixed Stars: Famous First Amendment Phrases and their Indelible Impact, 15 Charleston L. Rev. 189 (2020) | SSRN
David L. Hudson Jr., Justice Sonia Sotomayor: The Court’s Premier Defender of the Fourth Amendment , 44 SEATTLE U. L. REV. 19 (2020). | SSRN
David L. Hudson Jr., Unsettled Questions in Student Speech Law, 22 U. Pa. J. Const. L. 1113 (2020). | SSRN
David L. Hudson Jr., Anti-SLAPP Coverage and the First Amendment: Hurdles to Defamation Suits in Political Campaigns , 69 Am. U. L. Rev. 1541 (2020). | SSRN
David L. Hudson Jr., Thurgood Marshall in Tennessee: His Defense of Accused Rioters, His near-Miss with a Lynch Mob, 56 TENN. B.J. 16 (2020). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr. David L. Cyberbullying and Free Speech , 50 New Mex. L. Rev. 287 (2020). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr. David L. and Policinski, Gene. Essay: Understanding First Amendment Freedoms Through the Remarkable Life of “The Greatest” – Muhammad Ali. 53 Creighton L. Rev. 267 (2020). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr. David L., The Content-Discrimination Principle and the Impact of Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 70 Case W. Res. L. Rev. 259 (2019). | SSRN (reprinted in First Amendment Law Handbook (2020)).
Hudson, Jr., David L., Justice Kennedy and the First Amendment (November 13, 2018). 9 HLRe 49 (2019); Belmont University College of Law Research Paper No. 2018-37 | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Attorney Advertising in 'The Litigators' and Modern-Day America: The Continued Importance of the Public's Need for Legal Information (2018). University of Memphis Law Review, Vol. 48, No. 960, (2018). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Losing the Spirit of Tinker v. Des Moines and the Urgent Need to Protect Student Speech (March 4, 2018). 66 Clev. St. L. Rev. Et Cetera 2 (2018). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Thirty Years of Hazelwood and Its Spread to Colleges and University Campuses (2018). 61 Howard L.J. 491 (2018). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L. and Harvey, Emily H., First Amendment Tests From the Burger Court: Will They Be Flipped? (2018). Mitchell Hamline L. Rev. (2018). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Essay: Justice Thurgood Marshall, Great Defender of First Amendment Free-Speech Rights for the Powerless 2 Howard Human & Civil Rights L. Rev. 167 (2018). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Anti-Profanity Laws and the First Amendment. 42 T. Marshall L. Rev. 203 (2017). | SSRN
Kinsler, Jeffrey and Hudson, Jr., David L., The Secret to 85% First-Time Bar Passage Rates (2017). 40 N.C. Cent. L. Rev. 92 (2017). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L. and Harvey, Emily H., Dissecting the Hybrid Rights Exception: Should it Be Expanded or Rejected? (2016). 38 UALR L. Rev. 449 (2016). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., First Amendment Right to Receive Information and Ideas Justifies Citizens' Videotaping of the Police (2016). 10 U. St. Thomas J.L. & Pub. Pol'y 89 (2016). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Black Armbands, 'Boobies' Bracelets and the Need to Protect Student Speech (2013). 81 UMKC L. Rev. 595 (2013). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Time for the Supreme Court to Address Off-Campus, Online Student Speech (2012). Oregon Law Review, Vol. 91, 2012; Belmont University College of Law Research Paper No. 2018-7. | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., The Secondary-Effects Doctrine: Stripping Away First Amendment Freedoms (2012). 23 Stanford Law & Pol. Rev. 19 (2012). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Pearson v. Callahan and Qualified Immunity: Impact on First Amendment Law (2011). 10 First Amend. L. Rev. 125 (2011). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Blogs and the First Amendment (2006). 11 NEXUS 129 (2006). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Justice Brennan's Significant Departure and Warning of an Evisceration (2005). 10 NEXUS 93 (2005). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Reflecting on the Virtual Child Porn Decision (2002). 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 211 (2002). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Fear of Violence in Our Schools: Is ‘Undifferentiated Fear’ in the Age of Columbine Leading to a Suppression of Student Speech? (2002). 42 Washburn L.J. 79 (2002). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Justice Clarence Thomas: The Emergence of a Commercial-Speech Protector (2002). 35 Creighton L. Rev. 485 (2002). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L. and John E. Ferguson Jr., The Courts’ Inconsistent Treatment of Bethel v. Fraser and the Curtailment of Student Rights (2002). 36 J. Marshall L. Rev. 181 (2002). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., Censorship of Student Internet Speech: The Effect of Diminishing Student Rights, Fear of the Internet and Columbine (2000). 2000 L.Rev. M.S.U.-D.C.L. 199 (2000). | SSRN
Hudson, Jr., David L., The Secondary Effects Doctrine: 'The Evisceration of First Amendment Freedoms' (1997). 37 Washburn L.J. 55 (1997). | SSRN
Selected Presentations:
Hudson, Jr. David L. So To Speak: The Free Speech Podcast. 'So to Speak' podcast: Sarah Palin v. New York Times (February 22, 2022)
Hudson, Jr. David L. Panelist, "Social Media Platforms as Public Forums, Trumping the Private Actor Rule, and Protecting Online Users," University of San Francisco Law Review Free Speec Symposium, (Jan. 28, 2022).
Hudson, Jr. David L. Panelist with University of Missouri-Kansas City on Bethel School Dist. v. Fraser (1986) and Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969). (Jan. 26, 2022).
Hudson, Jr. David L. So To Speak: The Free Speech Podcast. Episode 151. Fighting Words (Jan. 13, 2022).
Hudson, Jr. David L. Discussion Facilitator at the Fall 2021 National Association of College and University Attorneys CLE Conference. "Free Speech Issues on Campus." (Nov. 10, 2021).
Hudson, Jr. David L. Speaker at the East-West Center's 2021 Senior Journalists Seminar. "First Amendment Overview and the Hate Speech Problem." (November 8, 2021).
Hudson, Jr. David L. Panel speaker at the 2021 Freedom of Information Oklahoma First Amendment Congress: From What You Share to What You Wear: The Limits of Free Speech On and Off Campus. (Nov. 2, 2021).
Hudson, Jr. David L. Co-Presenter, " Tinker v. Des Moines ," UMKC John F. Tinker Foundation Symposium, 2021
Hudson, Jr. David L. Co-Presenter, “The First Amendment Right to Record Public Officials,” Colorado Judicial Conference, 2021.
Hudson, Jr. David L. Panelist, " Open Courts & Racial Justice ,” First Amendment Watch at New York University Public Forum, March 24, 2021.
Hudson, Jr. David L. Keynote speaker at the 2020 Northeast Regional Virtual Conference for the Social Studies: Student speech and the First Amendment (Oct. 4, 2020).
Hudson, Jr. David L. Speaker at the St. Francis School of Law Webinar: Blurred Lines: Legal Perspectives on Free Speech and Social Media (Sept. 17, 2020).
Hudson, Jr. David L. Speaker at the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University “America’s Amendments” Webinar: The Bill of Rights: The First Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution (Sept. 14, 2020).
Hudson, Jr. David L. Panelist, "Lawyer Ethics in Speaking to the Media," Tennessee Bar Association Reporter's Workshop, May 17, 2019.
Hudson, Jr. David L. Panelist, " Use of Social Media by Public Employees," 2019 Joint Judicial and Senior Managers Spring Conference, Washington D.C., May 9, 2019.
Hudson, Jr. David L. Testimony before U.S. House Subcommittee, “First Amendment Protections on Public College and University Campuses,” April 2017.
Selected Articles
