Vermont Law Review Presents: "Free Speech on Trial: Resisting Censorship in 2025"
2025-10-03 15:30 - 2025-10-04 12:30 (America/New_York) | Chase Community Center, 164 Chelsea St., South Royalton, VT, 05068
In celebration of its 50th volume, Vermont Law Review proudly presents its annual symposium, “Free Speech on Trial: Resisting Censorship in 2025.”

This dynamic event will feature four panels examining pressing First Amendment issues—executive power and academic freedom in contemporary governance—the Pico v. Island Trees case and book banning in schools across the United States, a comparative panel with African artistic freedom of expression, and the rapidly evolving intersection of artificial intelligence and free speech in democratic societies.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Both in-person and livestream attendance options are available. The livestream links will be shared on this page prior to the event.

To view the full agenda, please see below.

You can access the livestream via the following links:

Friday, October 3 | 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. ET

Saturday, October 4 | 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. ET

AGENDA:

Friday, October 3

3:30 p.m. | Opening Remarks

Katie Scott JD’26, Symposium Editor, Vermont Law Review

Ilinca Johnson JD’26, Symposium Editor, Vermont Law Review

Keynote Address: Rod Smolla, Professor of Law, Vermont Law and Graduate School

4 p.m. | Break

4:05 p.m. | Panel One, “Executive Power and Academic Freedom”

Moderator: Siu Tip Lam, Interim Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Vermont Law and Graduate School

Michael Hurley, Government Affairs Counsel, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)

Ryan Kane JD’13, Deputy Solicitor General, Vermont Attorney General’s Office

Sam Abel-Palmer, Executive Director, Legal Services Vermont

Apratim Vidyarthi, Litigation Associate, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

5:20 p.m. | Break

5:30 p.m. | Panel Two, “Pico v. Island and Book Bans”

Moderator: Anna Connolly, Associate Professor of Law, Vermont Law and Graduate School

Rhiannon Hamam, Supervising Attorney, Mithoff Pro Bono Program, University of Texas School of Law, and Co-host, 5-4 Podcast

Michael Liroff, Creator and Co-host, 5-4 Podcast

6:45 p.m. | Social Hour

Saturday, October 4

8:30 a.m. | Check-in and Breakfast

9 a.m. | Opening Remarks

Ilinca Johnson JD’26, Symposium Editor, Vermont Law Review

9:05 a.m. | Panel Three, “African Artistic Freedom and Censorship”

Moderator: Emily Gould, Lawyer, Mediator, and Executive Coach

Sam Brakarsh, Chair, Pan-African Network on Artistic Freedom Summit

Adaobi Egboka, Director, Africa Initiative, Human Rights and Access to Justice Program, Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice

Muleta Kapatiso, Activist, Lawyer, and Development Practitioner

Lisa Sidambe, Independent Human Rights and Development Consultant

10:20 a.m. | Break

10:25 a.m. | Panel Four, “AI and the First Amendment”

Moderator: Benjamin Varadi, Associate Professor of Law, Vermont Law and Graduate School

Esha Bhandari, Deputy Director, ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project

John Coleman, Legislative Counsel, Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)

Ilan Kogan, Associate, Litigation, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz

11:45 a.m. | Closing Remarks

Katie Scott JD’26, Symposium Editor, Vermont Law Review

Ilinca Johnson JD’26, Symposium Editor, Vermont Law Review
