Description

About the Author

For the past quarter century, William Bennett Turner has taught “The First Amendment and the Press” at UC Berkeley. He also teaches First Amendment courses at the Fromm Institute at the University of San Francisco. As a San Francisco lawyer, Turner specialized in unusual litigation, including constitutional law, and has argued three cases (including two First Amendment cases) before the U.S. Supreme Court. He founded his own law firm in San Francisco in 1978 and served as its senior partner until 1992.

Turner has published dozens of articles in magazines, newspapers, and law reviews. He also has served as legal affairs correspondent for KQED television, winning numerous awards for news and documentaries on legal subjects. He has appeared on Nightline, CBS Morning News, PBS News Hour, CNN, the Spanish equivalent of 60 Minutes, and radio talk shows around the country. 

Praise for Figures of Speech: First Amendment Heroes and Villains…

“In Figures of Speech, celebrated civil rights attorney Bill Turner has crafted a rare gem: a concise, clearly written book that provides a trenchant introduction to the complexities of First Amendment law as well as riveting, behind-the-scenes accounts of some of the most controversial free-speech cases in American history. Anyone interested in politics, the law, and the future of American democracy should read this important, vigorously argued book.”
—Robert Perkinson, Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire

“Turner infuses his book with energy and passion for the First Amendment. He tells fascinating stories of unlikely heroes and explains difficult legal issues clearly and concisely, educating and entertaining at the same time.”
—Elizabeth Farnsworth, The PBS NewsHour

“William Turner’s compelling stories make you want to shout ‘Hooray’ for the heroes and hiss the villains. And his scholarly history of the First Amendment helps you understand why you are free to run out and do both.”
—Elaine Elinson, Wherever There’s a Fight: How Runaway Slaves, Suffragists, Immigrants, Strikers, and Poets Shaped Civil Liberties in California

“With these keenly etched portraits of idealists, misfits, and eccentrics, Bill Turner brings the First Amendment alive—just as he has done in the classroom and courtroom for a generation.”
—Tom Goldstein, University of California, Berkeley