News | Lionel Hogg delivers lecture at the Selden Society

Held in the Banco Court, Supreme Court of Queensland in July, Lionel Hogg delivered a Selden Society lecture on Oliver Wendell Holmes and the First Amendment. 

A Civil War hero, Holmes’ contribution to legal scholarship started with The Common Law, the foundation of the realist school of jurisprudence and the revolt against formalism. His contribution extended for over fifty years, including thirty as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court during which he authored more opinions than any other Justice has ever written. A lifelong sceptic and model of judicial restraint, his legacy nevertheless included validation on many of the great issues of his time, particularly protection of freedom of expression and the permissibility of social welfare legislation.

In the centenary year of his most famous dissent, this lecture examines a man of complexity and apparent contradictions through the prism of his approach to freedom of speech cases and seeks to identify what contemporary lawyers can learn from Holmes’ life experience, philosophy and eloquent contributions to the law.

The lecture was recorded in full and can be viewed online.