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Jason DeSanto

Department of Communication Studies

Jason C. DeSanto brings years of communication experience in the fields of law, government and politics.

Primarily teaching courses in communicative freedom, he is particularly interested in the application of the First Amendment to emerging technologies and during times of war. He previously served as a litigation partner at Chicago’s Freeborn & Peters LLP, specializing in cases implicating the intersection between speech and law, including defamation and First Amendment controversies. He also handled cases involving the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, and represented a series of individuals and public entities in cases of public controversy. He has appeared as a First Amendment expert on national radio, acted as Special Assistant Attorney General of Illinois, and served as an English teacher in the former Czechoslovakia during that country’s first year of post-Communist governance.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, he was an Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, an H. Clayton Louderback Legal Writing Instructor, and the winner of the George Schechtman Prize.

DeSanto also teaches courses in speechwriting, and -- through the Master of Science in Communication program -- in language, leadership and persuasion. He served for more than a decade as a political speechwriter, debate strategist and communications adviser. He has written for United States Senators, members of Congress, and the Democratic National Committee. He also was the chief speechwriter for the governor of Illinois.

A graduate of the Second City Conservatory, he also periodically appears as a political satirist and commentator on Chicago radio.

Education

J.D.	University of Pennsylvania

Courses

Courses in The First Amendment
330-1	Contemporary Problems in Freedom of Speech I
330-2	Contemporary Problems in Freedom of Speech II: The Challenge of Technology
395	The First Amendment Goes to War
Courses in Speechwriting, Language and Persuasion
221	Speechwriting: Foundations and Practice
494	Power and The Written Word