YNOT – Free Speech Coalition Executive Director Diane Duke will be among the experts debating censorship and First Amendment issues as part of the Law School of the University of North Carolina’s 2010 Symposium. The symposium is scheduled to take place Friday on the university’s Chapel Hill campus.Duke will be a featured speaker on the “Censorship v. The First Amendment” panel. She said she will represent a pro-sexually-explicit-speech viewpoint opposite Duke University Law School professor and anti-adult entertainment advocate Katharine Bartlett and Parents’ Television Council President Tim Winter.

“While considered controversial, sexually explicit speech is a protected form of speech and contributes to establishing freedoms for other forms of expression,” Duke said. “Censorship is a slippery slope if you begin taking away an individual’s right to freedom of expression. Those rights should not be infringed upon by any group’s agenda, over the rights of the individual.”

Hustler founder and free speech advocate Larry Flynt will appear as the Symposium’s keynote speaker on Thursday.

FSC board chairman and attorney Jeffrey Douglas also will participate on a panel scheduled to occur Friday. Douglas is expected to discuss issues of free speech and sexually explicit content with former U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan and First Amendment attorney Larry Walters. College of William & Mary Law School professor William W. Van Alstyne will moderate the discussion.

The Free Speech Coalition is the national trade organization of the adult entertainment industry. Its mission is to lead, protect and support the growth and well-being of the adult entertainment community.