The Free Expression Foundation
America, indeed all the Western World, is experiencing an identity crisis. What does it mean to be an American? What are the dominant values of Western Culture? These are profound and difficult questions, and as we grapple with them another inquiry emerges: What are the rules of engagement for addressing these questions? Is it appropriate to develop massive surveillance capabilities to monitor the identities and actions of people with whom we disagree and to then seek to destroy their vocations, reputations, and social networks? Or do we accept that discord is inevitable in a free society and urge that our differences be addressed through open, if robust, debate and genuine dialogue?
The Free Expression Foundation, Inc. (“FEF”), a Texas nonprofit approved by the IRS for 501c3 status in July 2018, has chosen the second path, of genuine dialogue and debate. It is dedicated to providing moral, legal, and financial support to those who have been victims of the potent social forces that have chosen the un-American path of monitoring, intimidation, and destruction. FEF’s mission statement reflects its commitment to free speech:
To provide legal, financial, and moral support for persons and entities that have suffered or are at risk of suffering legal, financial, and / or social harm as a result of the exercise, attempted exercise, or intention to exercise their rights of free expression, including their rights under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and analogous rights under international, state, and local charters and laws; and to support other organizations with similar purposes.
FEF’s outlook aligns with the remarkable and precious tradition of First Amendment protections provided by the United States Supreme Court in cases such as Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992), and Snyder v. Phelps (2011). But FEF’s focus is broader than First Amendment law, strictly speaking, for it encompasses free expression as a cultural as well as a legal ideal.
If you are a victim of arrogant and overreaching thought police, please contact us. And if you support free expression and FEF’s mission, please show your support by making a tax deductible donation, by spreading the word about FEF, or by any other way you are able.
Board Members
GLEN K. ALLEN, ESQ.
Board Member
Glen K. Allen, Esq., is the Founder, Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Legal Officer of The Free Expression Foundation, Inc.
After spending most of his early life in New Mexico and Western Colorado, Glen graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy from The Colorado College. Following this, he spent a year on his parents’ farm reading The Great Books of the Western World and other classics of Western thought. He then joined the Army from which, after several tours of duty including two years in Germany, he was honorably discharged in 1982.
In 1987, he graduated near the top of his class from the University of Maryland School of Law, where he served as Executive Editor of the Maryland Law Review. After a clerkship with Chief Judge Robert C. Murphy of the Court of Appeals of Maryland, Glen joined the litigation section of Piper and Marbury (now DLA Piper), where he remained until his retirement in January 2016.
Following his retirement from DLA Piper, Glen went to work for the City of Baltimore’s Legal Department. While working there quietly and competently, in August 2016 the Southern Poverty Law Center orchestrated his firing. He later brought a lawsuit – unfortunately unsuccessful – against the SPLC, in which he made his case that the SPLC is a fraudulent hard-left fundraising operation masquerading as civil rights organization. His account of his litigation against the SPLC can be found at Breathing-Space-for-Dissent.Com.
Glen’s victimization by the SPLC, together with his longstanding concern for America’s endangered First Amendment freedoms, led him to create the Free Expression Foundation, Inc., as a 501c3 nonprofit in 2018. In his view, a wide swath of legitimate, if controversial, political and social expression is being actively suppressed and even persecuted by the Big Tech and Big Media Cancel Culture that unfortunately has gained massive power In this country. FEF was created to push back against this despotism and to provide support and solace for its victims.
Glen has been married for over 30 years to an émigré from Communist Yugoslavia. An active participant in the Senior Olympics, he has won numerous medals in various track and field events. He composes poetry and has written a novel and a novella.
He also composes music:
https://open.spotify.com/album/10aA6Vqc0P5VeAI4iNjUuf?si=RGEc4ZtHR3SkFLNM5fC4aA
MERLIN L. MILLER
Board Member
Merlin L. Miller was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY.
He served several years in the U.S. Army where he commanded two units and then worked as an Industrial Engineering Manager for Michelin Tire Company. In 1985 he graduated with an MFA degree in Cinema/Television from the University of Southern California. He subsequently became an independent screenwriter, motion picture producer/director, and instructor.
His vision as a filmmaker has been to build a viable and far-reaching alternative to Hollywood that can help shape a more positive destiny for the marginalized yet traditionally valued American majority. Merlin’s award winning films include A Place to Grow and Jericho.
Merlin has been married for over 40 years to Susan, and they have three grown daughters, three of whom also graduated from West Point and served in the U.S. Army.
CHARLES R. “RANDY” SHEPPARD, ESQ.
Board Member
Randy Sheppard is a Georgia attorney who has practiced for over 35 years. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Georgia with a degree in History and completed his legal education at Georgia as well.
Randy is admitted to the practice of law in Georgia and the neighboring state of South Carolina. For almost all of his legal career, he served as an assistant district attorney, a role in which he had primary responsibility for handling appellate litigation. He has written hundreds of briefs and has argued numerous cases in both of the appellate courts of Georgia.
Randy retired in 2012 and is now in private practice.
JOEL MARASCO, ESQ.
Advisory Board Member
Joel Marasco is an attorney and resident of New Jersey. Joel is a genuine Social Justice Warrior and tireless advocate for the Constitutional rights of his clients.
He is proud to assist the Free Expression Foundation in this David and Goliath battle against oppression.
PATRICK O’BRIEN, PH. D
Advisory Board Member
Patrick O’Brien, Ph.D., earned his Doctorate in American Studies from the University of Hawaii and his Master’s Degree in Asian Studies from Cornell, degrees he paid for himself except for modest scholarships. Pat taught American history and culture in Japan for 25 years. He and his family returned to America recently, where he can experience the cultural degeneration first hand.
Pushed out of higher education first, then high school teaching as well, due to his “silence on the social justice question,” he is now trying to double his teacher salary by driving a tractor trailer over-the-road.
JAMES RUSSELL, PH. D.
Advisory Board Member
James Russell received a B.A. in Mathematics, a Master’s Degree in the History of Christianity, and a Doctorate in Historical Theology from Fordham University. He has taught Theology at St. Peter’s University and worked as a computer programmer for AT&T.
He is the author of Breach of Faith: The Immigration Crisis and the Churches.