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Ken White

Ken White

Host of Make No Law: The First Amendment Podcast

Ken White is a First Amendment litigator and criminal defense attorney at Brown White & Osborn LLP in Los Angeles, California.  He began his career as a federal prosecutor.  Since joining private practice in 2001, he’s maintained a white collar criminal defense practice and built a First Amendment practice defending defamation cases and advising clients about free speech issues.  He writes Popehat.com, a blog devoted to law, politics, and culture, and has written on free speech and criminal justice issues for the Los Angeles Times, the Daily Journal, Salon, Reason Magazine, National Review Online, and other publications.

Recent Episodes
October 28, 2020

Imminent Lawless Action

Ken White explores how the First Amendment has handled inflammatory speech, from Schenck to the current Brandenburg standard and all the way up to today.

June 3, 2020

I Know It When I See It

Host Ken White dives into the famously ambiguous obscenity standards set forth by the United States Supreme Court.

August 28, 2019

Deplatformed: Social Media Censorship and the First Amendment

Host Ken White looks at the legal bases of arguments made by critics of social media sites moderation and shows why Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube bans are legally protected.

April 18, 2019

Gag

Steven Zansberg talks about gag orders and how far judges can go to restrict the dissemination of case information.

November 29, 2018

The F-Bomb

Ken White takes a look at the case Cohen v. California and whether or not the F word is protected by the First Amendment.

September 12, 2018

Bonus: The Mailbag Episode

Ken answers listener questions involving the line between hate speech and free speech, President Trump's Twitter account, and anti-SLAPP law.

July 27, 2018

Fighting Faiths

Popehat's Ken White explores Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s transformation into the First Amendment hero we know him as today.

June 28, 2018

Fire in a Crowded Theater

Ken White explores the origins of the phrase “You can’t yell ‘fire’ in a crowded theater” and whether or not it actually calls for exceptions to the First Amendment.

May 16, 2018

Street

In this episode of Make No Law, host Ken White examines Street v. New York, the Supreme Court case which concluded that the First Amendment allows freedom of expression towards the American...

April 12, 2018

Crush

Ken White and guest Marc Randazza examine the question of whether the government can continually come to the Supreme Court with potential exceptions to the First Amendment.

March 15, 2018

Disparagement, Contempt, and Disrepute

Simon Tam named his band “The Slants” as a form of self empowerment, but ran into problems when he tried to tried to register the name as a trademark, and ended up...

February 14, 2018

On The Job

Ken White explores the Garcetti v. Ceballos case, the results of which saddle government employees with a tough decision when reporting misconduct to their superiors.

January 31, 2018

The Schoolhouse Gates

Ken White dives into the Tinker v. Des Moines case and how it has impacted freedom of speech for students on campuses today.

January 31, 2018

Fighting Words

In this inaugural episode of Make No Law, the First Amendment Podcast by Popehat.com, host Ken White explores the Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire case and the ensuing “fighting words” doctrine, which is...