Law professor criticizes ‘constitutional extremism,’ compares the NRA to Planned Parenthood

Drake University Law School is applauding Professor Mary Anne Franks for providing “a constitutional perspective” on campus, though her perspective vilifies Republicans and Democrats for their “obsessive focus” on the First and Second Amendments.

The lecture “Guns, Speech, and Sex: The Rise of Constitutional Extremism” on Sept. 15 will “explain how extremists of all political stripes invoke an oversimplified interpretation of the U.S. Constitution to quash reasonable policy discussion designed to protect vulnerable populations.”

Franks criticized “constitutional extremism” for how it benefits the privileged. “Though their targets are different, constitutional extremism on both the Right and Left is united in the privileging of the powerful,” she said.

She teaches on the subject at the University of Miami School of Law, along with classes on criminal law, criminal procedure, and family law. Franks also teaches on the First Amendment, though she speaks of its limitations.

“While the Left is extremely concerned about the potential chilling effects on First Amendment rights, free speech fundamentalists have very little to say about the range of ways women and racial minorities are silenced by sexist and racist harassment, from ‘revenge porn’ to hate speech,” she said. “We should be much more reflective about the First Amendment, its complexity, and its limitations.”

Franks also targeted conservatives who “often rely on oversimplified understandings of the Second Amendment to halt discussion of legislation that would increase gun safety—particularly, again, for minority populations.”

“The Right’s passionate defenders of the right to bear arms are notably silent when black men bearing arms are stopped, harassed, and killed by police and when women use firearms to defend themselves against domestic violence,” she said. “Such selective and self-interested appropriation does not honor either the text or the spirit of the Constitution. Principled commitment to the Constitution must be both grounded in the promise of equal protection and developed through reasoned debate.”

Campus Reform reported that Franks also defended Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion provider, and said the NRA should be investigated for “profiting from dead children.” Franks misses the stark reality that abortion is what kills so many minority populations, including and especially those performed by Planned Parenthood.

The lecture will take place in time for Constitution Day on Sept. 16 and is sponsored by the Drake Law School’s Constitutional Center, which the statement boasts is “one of only four such centers established by the federal government.”

Constitutional Law Center director Mark Kende praised Franks’ work.

“Mary Anne Franks is one of the nation’s leading experts on the issue of ‘revenge porn,’ among many other significant and timely issues that challenge our interpretation of the First Amendment,” he said. “She is a Harvard Law graduate, a Rhodes Scholar, a significant player in the nonprofit Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, and a very engaging speaker. It will be an honor to welcome her to Drake Law School.”