Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression
{{Short description|American institution, 1989–2019}}
The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression was a nonprofit, nonpartisan institution devoted to the defense of the First Amendment rights guaranteeing freedom of speech and of the press. The center was founded in 1989, under the direction of former University of Virginia president Robert M. O'Neil.{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE4D6133FF93BA35753C1A96F948260&scp=2&sq=thomas+jefferson+center+protection+of+free+expression&st=nyt |title=University of Virginia President Will Resign |work=New York Times |date=1989-10-08}} J. Joshua Wheeler succeeded O'Neil as Director of the Center in 2011.{{cite news |url=http://news.virginia.edu/node/15642?id=15642 |title=Joshua Wheeler Named Director of the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression |work=UVA Today |date=2011-07-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413124637/http://news.virginia.edu/node/15642?id=15642 |archive-date=2014-04-13 }} It is named after Founding Father and third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.
The Center managed a number of programs and activities to fulfill its mission, including the drafting of amicus curiae briefs in support of First Amendment litigants, congressional testimony, educational programs, artistic exhibitions and prizes, and the Jefferson Muzzles awards.{{cite web |last1=Provence |first1=Lisa |title=Muzzled: Free speech wall creator shuts down |url=https://www.c-ville.com/muzzled-free-speech-center-shuts-down/ |website=c-ville.com |access-date=29 May 2023 |date=July 27, 2019}} It also partnered with the Ford Foundation on a program called “Difficult Dialogues, about free speech on campus.{{cite web |title=UVA Law School relaunches First Amendment Clinic |url=https://www.rcfp.org/uva-first-amendment-clinic/ |website=Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press|date=July 2019 |access-date=29 May 2023}}
The center was located at Pantops Farm, a property in Charlottesville, Virginia that was once owned personally by Jefferson.
In 2019, the Center's Board of Directors donated $1 million in assets to the University of Virginia Law School's First Amendment Clinic,{{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression |url=https://www.cvillepedia.org/Thomas_Jefferson_Center_for_the_Protection_of_Free_Expression |website=cvillepedia.org |access-date=28 May 2023}} effectively ending its existence.{{cite web |title=Muzzled: Free speech wall creator shuts down |url=https://www.c-ville.com/muzzled-free-speech-center-shuts-down/ |website=cvillepedia.org |access-date=28 May 2023}}{{cite web |title=UVA Law School relaunches First Amendment Clinic |url=https://www.rcfp.org/uva-first-amendment-clinic/ |website=Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press |date=July 2019 |access-date=29 May 2023}}