Will these protesters be permitted to introduce evidence of the motivations that spurred their protest?

The vast majority of courts consider that evidence of protester motivations, like evidence of motive generally, is not relevant and is, therefore, inadmissible.  Professor West criticizes the constrained definition of relevance generally applied in protester trials and argues that exclusion of evidence of motivations underlying protester actions is neither doctrinally required nor theoretically sound.

The Cornell library staff invites the VLS community for a celebration of faculty publication. All VLS community members are welcome to attend. Light refreshments will be served and there will be time for lively discussion.