Sonja R. West is the Otis Brumby Distinguished Professor in First Amendment Law at the University of Georgia School of Law, where she teaches and writes about constitutional law and the U.S. Supreme Court. Her scholarship examines the interpretation of the First Amendment’s press clause, legal protections for the press, and the role of the courts in protecting expressive freedoms. In recognition of her scholarly impact, West was awarded the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Harry W. Stonecipher Award for Distinguished Research on Media Law and Policy and the National Communication Association’s Franklyn S. Haiman Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Freedom of Expression. West is a graduate of the University of Chicago School of Law and clerked for Judge Dorothy W. Nelson of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals and for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens. Her other professional experience includes several years practicing media law with the Los Angeles law firms Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and with Davis Wright Tremaine.