This past February, hundreds of scholars converged in downtown Richmond for the inaugural Association of Law and Political Economy conference. As interest in the field grows, a larger question looms: can a loose coalition on the academic left turn shared critiques of the status quo into a durable movement?

Thomas Emerson is often remembered as a leading scholar of the First Amendment, but his deeper legacy lies in his defiant stand against political repression during the Second Red Scare. Looking back on his life, we can see valuable lessons about how to navigate the treacherous waters of political persecution and rising authoritarianism.