Jay Bender - LibraryVoicesSC Episode 92

Dr. Curtis Rogers discusses Banned Books Week with Jay Bender. Mr. Bender is an attorney with the Baker, Ravenel & Bender law firm here in Columbia. He has represented the SC Broadcasters Association since 1995 and has built a national reputation as a lawyer for broadcasters – as well as being the state’s leading attorney for print media. In this episode, he references the case Edwards vs. South Carolina where South Carolina arrested one hundred eighty-seven peaceful segregation protestors for creating a “breach of the peace.” The Supreme Court overturned their conviction, holding that the only reason they had been arrested was the expression of an unpopular viewpoint—expression protected by the First Amendment.