Robert L. "Bob" Corn-Revere is an American First Amendment lawyer. Corn-Revere is currently a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Washington, D.C. and an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute. Corn-Revere was named as one of "America's Leading Lawyers for Business" in Media & Entertainment by Chambers USA, 2005–2014 and "Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers," Top in First Amendment/Media/Advertising, Law & Politics, 2008-2014 and in Communications 2011-2014, "Best Lawyers in America" in Communications, Entertainment, First Amendment, and Media Law, 2010-2014, and has been listed by Washingtonian Magazine as one of "Washington's Top Lawyers" in Communications Law and First Amendment Law.
First Amendment advocacy
Corn-Revere has a long history of First Amendment advocacy. From 1997 to 1999, Corn-Revere served as lead counsel alongside attorneys from People for the American Way for plaintiffs in the Mainstream Loudoun v. Loudoun County Library case in which the court declared public library internet filtering to be unconstitutional. At the same time, Corn-Revere also served a co-counsel in Bernstein v. United States in which the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declared softwaresource code to be constitutionally protected by the First Amendment and government regulations, specifically export restrictions on encryption software, to be unconstitutionally vague. In 2000, Corn-Revere argued United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group on behalf of respondent Playboy Entertainment Group before the Supreme Court of the United States. In a 5-4 decision, the court struck down portions of the Communications Decency Act which required that cable television operators who offered channels "primarily dedicated to sexually-oriented programming" must scramble completely or fully block such material. In 2003, Corn-Revere successfully petitioned New York GovernorGeorge Pataki to issue a posthumous pardon for comedian Lenny Bruce, who had been convicted for obscenity in 1964. It was the first posthumous pardon in New York history. The pardon effort was inspired by the book The Trials of Lenny Bruce, by Ronald Collins and David Skover. Beginning in 2004, Corn-Revere successfully defended CBS Television and Viacom in an FCC proceeding resulting from the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy, the so-called "wardrobe malfunction" during the half time show with Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake. The FCC imposed a then-record fine of $550,000 under its broadcast indecency rules, but the penalty was reversed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. After a second trip to the Third Circuit, where the fine was again struck down, the U.S. Supreme Court denied review in 2012. Corn-Revere also represented CBS in a parallel broadcast indecency proceeding Fox Television Stations v. FCC, in which the Supreme Court invalidated indecency fines as a violation of due process. In 2006, Corn-Revere was lead counsel in Huminski v. Corsones, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that individual members of the public have a First Amendment right to attend court proceedings. In 2009, Corn-Revere served as co-counsel for respondent in United States v. Stevens in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled, a federal statute criminalizing the commercial production, sale, or possession of depictions of cruelty to animals, was an unconstitutional abridgment of the First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Also in 2009, Corn-Revere represented Michael James Berger in a suit against the City of Seattle which challenged the constitutionality of the city's restrictions of the public forum in the Seattle Center, a multipurpose cultural and entertainment venue. After an initial victory at the trial level, the city appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals where a three-judge panel overturned the lower courts' ruling. When the appeal was heard en banc by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals they reversed their earlier ruling and upheld the trial court's finding. In 2010, Corn-Revere served as local counsel for the successful legal defense of adult film producer John Stagliano. In 2012, Corn-Revere was lead counsel in Barnes v. Zaccari, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reaffirmed that a student in a state university has a right to due process before he may be punished or expelled. Following this ruling a jury in 2013 held that the university president, was personally liable, and had to pay $50,000 in damages to Hayden Barnes, the student he had wrongfully expelled.
Corn-Revere graduated with a Juris Doctor from Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law in 1983. Prior to law school, Corn-Revere obtained an M.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1980 and a B.A. from Eastern Illinois University in 1977.
