Sandy Davidson

Professor Emeritus

Adjunct Professor, School of Law

221-C Lee Hills Hall
Missouri School of Journalism
Columbia, MO 65211-1200

SANDRA DAVIDSON received her J.D. from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she was a member of Law Review and graduated Order of the Coif. She received her doctorate in philosophy from the University of Connecticut-Storrs. Davidson is a member of the honor societies of Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. She is the attorney for the Columbia Missourian, the Web-first community newspaper produced by the School of Journalism. Davidson has been active in the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, previously serving as chair of the Law division.

Davidson has received many honors for her teaching and research, including:

  • Pi Beta Phi Professor of Excellence (2003)
  • Certificate of Appreciation, National Association of Black Journalists, University of Missouri-ALE Chapter (2002)
  • O.O. McIntyre Distinguished Professor (2001-2002)
  • Most Inspiring Professor Award, 15th Annual Student-Athlete Academic Awards Breakfast (2001)
  • Mystical Seven Honorary Faculty Initiate (2000)

Davidson has been a panelist for the Information Policy Taskforce of the National Conference of State Legislatures, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Associated Press Managing Editors, the Society of Newspaper Designers, the National Association of Science Writers, the Inland Press Association, the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters, the Dallas Bar, the Kansas Bar, the St. Louis Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Texas Freedom of Information Coalition, among other groups.

Her writings include the following: “Blood Money: When Media Expose Others to Risk of Bodily Harm,” published in the winter 1997 edition of the Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal, and “Statutory Language for a Model Statute for Access to Government Records,” published in the spring 2003 edition of the William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal. In 1999, Greenwood Publishing Company published the book, Bleep! Censoring Rock ‘n’ Rap Music, edited by Davidson and Betty Houchin Winfield.

Books

  • Communications Law in the Age of the Internet. This book is a broad survey of communications law, including court structure, sedition, prior restraint, school law, exercising First Amendment rights, libel, privacy, obscenity, shield law, free press/fair trial, broadcasting, advertising and copyright. Published online by Great River Technologies, Inc. (2009-Fall 2013). Currently under revision.
  • Bleep! Censoring Rock and Rap, ed. Betty Winfield and Sandra Davidson, 1st Edition, Greenwood Press, 1999. Davidson wrote two chapters: “Can’t Touch Me: Rap Music, Hate Messages, and the Law” and “Stern Stuff: Here Comes the FCC.”

Law Review Articles

  • Forthcoming: “Masking the Executioner,” St. Louis University Law Journal. (Michael Barajas as co-author).
  • “Needed: More Than a Paper Shield,” by Sandra Davidson and David Herrera, 20 William & Mary Bill of Rights Law Journal (May 2012), pp. 1277-1394. (Invitation to submit for Davidson).
  • “Leaks, Leakers, and Journalists: Adding Historical Context to the Age of WikiLeaks,” 34 Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal (Fall 2011), pp. 27-91.
  • “Blood Money: When Media Expose Others to Risk of Bodily Harm,” 19. Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal (Winter 1997), pp. 225-307.
  • “Statutory Language for a Model Statute for Access to Government Records.” 2 William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal 29-116 (Spring 1993).
  • “From Satirical to Satyrical: When Is a Joke Actionable?” 13 COMM/ENT (Hastings Communications and Entertainment Law Journal) 141-177 (Winter 1991).

Law and Scholarly Journal Articles

  • “Russert’s Rainbow and Other Unlikely Tales,” 66 Etc. 54 (2009).
  • “International Considerations in Libel Jurisdiction,” Oxford Roundtable Forum on Public Policy (September 2008). Published online at www.forumonpublicpolicy.com/papers08spring.html.
  • “FRCP Rule 11: A Wounded Remedy for Unethical Behavior?” 62 Missouri Bar Journal 16 (January/February 2006).
  • “Victor’s Victory,” 9 Communications Law & Policy 183 (Spring 2004).
  • “Is the Media Fair – or Downright Ugly?” Invited Article. 3 Nexus: A Journal of Opinion (Chapman University School of Law) 23 (Spring 1998).
  • “Age Spots: Gender Sensitivity and the Hutchins Commission.” Presented at the University of Illinois College of Communications Symposium Series: The Hutchins Commission 50 Years Later: Freedom and/or Responsibility of the Press (University of Illinois, Urbana. Oct. 11, 1997). 3 Communications Law and Policy 247 (Spring 1998).
  • “What Is a Police Investigative Report?” 51 Missouri Bar Journal 83-88 (March-April 1995).
  • “The Technological Challenge for Curriculum and Instruction,” 50 Journalism Educator 30-40 (Summer 1995).
  • “Should Missouri Retain Its ‘Ethnic Intimidation Law’?” by Sandra Davidson Scott and Tim Wynes. 49 Missouri Bar Journal 445-461 (November-December 1993).
  • “Emotion Ethics and Journalism,” 13 Feminist Issues 23-40 (Spring 1993).
  • Monograph: “Should Government Copyright Computer Software?” by Sandra Davidson Scott and Elliot G. Jaspin, 25 Law/Technology 1-24 (1992).

Book Chapters

  • Forthcoming: “The Rocky Road to Truth as a Defense: Libel Construction in the 19th Century.” An Indispensable Liberty: The Fight for Freedom of Expression in the 19th Century, edited by Mary Cronin. Southern Illinois University Press.
  • Forthcoming: “Women’s Rights and Suffrage,” Lee Jolliffe, Sandra Davidson, and Paulette Kilmer. An Indispensable Liberty: The Fight for Freedom of Expression in the 19th Century, edited by Mary Cronin. Southern Illinois University Press.
  • Forthcoming: “Journalism: Legal Situation,” Concise Encyclopedia of Communication, edited by Wolfgang Donsbach (Wiley-Blackwell 2014).
  • “Negligence and Incitement: When Media Expose Others to Physical Danger,” Missouri Media Law Handbook (Missouri Bar Continuing Legal Education series, 2009).
  • “Media Law in the United States,” 21st Century Communication: A Reference Handbook, ed. by William F. Eadie (Sage 2009).
  • “From Whiskey Ads to Rev. Jellyfish: Media Law in 1908,” Journalism 1908 Birth of a Profession, ed. by Betty Winfield (University of Missouri Press, 2008).
  • “Journalism: Legal Situation,” The International Encyclopedia of Communications, Vol. VI, ed. by Wolfgang Donsbach (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2008).
  • “Journalism: The Lifeblood of a Democracy,” by Sandra Davidson and Betty Houchin Winfield, What Good Is Journalism? ed. by George Kennedy and Daryl Moen (University of Missouri Press, 2007).
  • “From Spam to Stern: Advertising Law and the Internet,” Advertising and the World Wide Web, ed. by David Schumann and Esther Thorson. (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2007).
  • “Cyber-Cookies: How Much Should the Public Swallow?” Advertising and the World Wide Web, ed. by David Schumann and Esther Thorson. (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1999).
  • “Access to Government Information in the Computer Age,” Missouri Media Law Handbook (Missouri Bar Continuing Legal Education series, 1997).

International Employment and Programs

  • Oxford Roundtable, “The Regulation of Cyberspace: Balancing the Interests.” March 23-28, 2008, Exeter College, Oxford.
  • Global Scholar’s Program. July 2006. (Two-week educational program in Vietnam and Cambodia.)
  • Missouri School of Journalism’s London Program. Fall 2005. (Taught Issues in British Journalism class and graded papers for British Life & Culture.)
  • United States Information Agency trip to Mongolia to discuss media law, ethics and access to government information. Sept. 23-Oct. 3, 1999.
  • Visiting Foreign Expert, Beijing Review. Late May-early July 1996. (The Beijing Review circulates in 158 countries.)

Related Stories

Expand All Collapse All

Updated: November 3, 2021