SCHOOL OF LAW

AUSTIN, Texas – Professor Stuart Benjamin's work on the First Amendment's application to government decisions that keep wireless frequencies idle will be the focus of a Manhattan Institute conference on Dec. 3, 2002 in Washington, DC. The Manhattan Institute is a think tank that supports and publicizes research on public policy issues.

The conference, "Revitalizing First Amendment Protection for Electronic Speech," will focus on Benjamin's October 2002 paper in the Duke Law Journal, "The Logic of Scarcity: Idle Spectrum as a First Amendment Violation." Benjamin writes that the U.S. Supreme Court has allowed regulation of radio and television content due to a “physical scarcity” of frequencies. He argues that this scarcity rationale does not support, and instead undercuts, government actions that limit the use of the spectrum. Such actions, Benjamin argues, exacerbate the problems that gave rise to government regulation in the first place. He concludes that the government violates the First Amendment when it keeps spectrum unused. Thomas Hazlett, organizer of the conference, notes that "This argument would allow excluded speakers – perhaps, community organizations seeking to operate low-power FM radio stations, or entrepreneurs unable to gain permits to deploy new wireless technologies – to use First Amendment law to challenge barriers erected by the spectrum allocation system."

"I'm really pleased that the Manhattan Institute has decided to hold this conference," said Benjamin, who is The University of Texas School of Law's Rex G. and Edna Baker Professor in Constitutional Law. "There have been contentious debates about spectrum policy, but the idea behind the conference is that my thesis represents one area where groups from all over the political spectrum can agree."

The conference will feature comments by a supporter and an opponent of the privatization of the spectrum, both of whom offer support of Benjamin's thesis.

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