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Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely

Follow the 50-year career of First Amendment lawyer and legal expert Floyd Abrams.

Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely American Masters

Premiered September 22, 2023
Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely

Follow the 50-year career of First Amendment lawyer and legal expert Floyd Abrams. See how his landmark cases, from the Pentagon Papers to Citizens United, helped define free speech as it is known today.

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Episode Extras

Dan Abrams discusses how he admires his father for working on cases he may not agree with.
Watch (03:40)
Clip

Dan Abrams on defending his father's work on Citizens United

Follow the 50-year career of preeminent First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams.
Watch (02:20)
Preview

Floyd Abrams: Speaking Freely

Learn how the First Amendment protects independent spending by corporations in elections.
Watch (02:26)
Clip

The case that protected corporate spending in elections

"We were making up, in a sense, First Amendment law as we went along," said Floyd Abrams.
Watch (02:48)
Clip

The history of the First Amendment

The New York Times sought the legal counsel after publishing the Pentagon Papers.
Watch (02:22)
Clip

When The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers

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About the Program

American Masters

American Masters, committed to producing comprehensive film biographies about the broad cast of characters who comprise our cultural history.

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