UC Davis wants to get people talking about free speech.

Some of today's top legal minds will lead discussions on the First Amendment, with all of its constitutional complexities and interpretations, at campus events Feb. 26 and March 7.

Speaking about the challenges that face free speech in schools and across the nation will be Cruz Reynoso, a professor emeritus in the UC Davis School of Law and a civil rights champion for decades; Alan Brownstein, a noted professor of constitutional law at UC Davis; and Kenneth Starr, dean of Pepperdine University Law School and onetime independent counsel on the Whitewater matter during the Clinton administration.

Reynoso, a former associate justice of the California Supreme Court and vice chair of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, is the keynote speaker at the first symposium, entitled "R U Offended?!!? Why We Defend the Speech We Hate" on Tuesday, Feb. 26. The symposium will begin at 1 p.m. in Freeborn Hall, and Reynoso will speak at 3 p.m.

A week later, Starr and Brownstein will participate in the UC Davis Law Review's annual symposium, this year highlighting First Amendment issues in public schools. It will be held at the School of Law in King Hall on Friday, March 7.

This month's First Amendment Symposium is part of an effort to educate as well as to encourage an open dialogue about the nature of free speech, and likewise hate speech, on the Davis campus. It has been organized as a partnership among students, faculty and staff, and it is sponsored by Student Affairs and Office of Campus and Community Relations.

"We are inviting all members of the community to participate in this 'town hall' style discussion," said Steven Baissa, director of the UC Davis Cross Cultural Center. "Everyone is affected by the First Amendment, and this hopes to be an opportunity for people to understand the true privilege and burden that free speech entails."

The First Amendment states: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

Reynoso is lending his expertise in civil rights and government reform to a topic that is facing new kinds of scrutiny in a media age driven by open communications. His presentation will include a question-and-answer period during which participants can learn why First Amendment protection of free speech is so important to all members of society.

For more information on the First Amendment Symposium, visit the Cross Cultural Center's Web site at http://ccc.ucdavis.edu.

The second event, entitled "First Amendment Rights in America's Public Schools: From the Schoolhouse Gate to the Courthouse Steps," will focus on the role the First Amendment plays in relation to expression of religion and student expression within the classroom.

"Since the 1960s, it has been clear that the constitutional rights of students do not end at the schoolhouse gate," said Brownstein, faculty co-sponsor of the event. "What is far less certain is the scope of those rights and the proper role of the federal courts in enforcing them."

In 1969, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that school authorities could restrict student speech only if it materially disrupted the school's educational mission or impinged on the rights of other students. In a recent case, Starr successfully argued on behalf of a school that it was justified in suspending a student for displaying a "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner at a televised U.S. Olympics torch relay.

"One of the central battlegrounds of America's culture wars is the public schools, and First Amendment doctrine is part of the rules of engagement for this conflict," said Brownstein.

The law review symposium will begin at 9 a.m. More information on the event can be found at: http://lawreview.law.ucdavis.edu/2008symposium. The law review ranks 30th among the most cited legal periodicals in the United States.