The Institute for Free Speech is excited to welcome Eric Peterson to the External Relations team as a Senior Policy Analyst.
Prior to joining IFS, Eric was a Senior Policy Analyst at Americans for Prosperity, where he worked on issues ranging from pensions to occupational licensing reform. He graduated from Tulane in 2012 with degrees in both Political Economy and Economics.
Throughout his political life, Eric has always been a champion of fiscal restraint, but more recently he has come to see the eroding of the First Amendment and free political speech as an equally significant issue.
As Eric explains, “I had always believed there was a consensus in this country that everyone had the right to voice their opinion on anything ranging from their political views to their favorite sports teams. I was either naïve in my assessment, or the opponents of free speech are far louder than I imagined. Our country is an outlier in the world as a result of the free speech rights granted to every citizen. Unfortunately, America becomes more and more of an outlier everyday as countries are passing laws to crack down on speech deemed unpopular by the government. Regrettably, the United States isn’t immune to this problem. I want to preserve what makes America so special in the world when it comes to the expression of ideas. I am excited and humbled that the Institute for Free Speech will allow me the opportunity to focus on such an important issue.”
As a Senior Policy Analyst, Eric will be working in a variety of capacities. Primarily, Eric will be responsible for authoring policy publications on a variety of topical campaign finance issues and speech regulatory proposals. He will also monitor legislative developments on numerous political speech issues in the states and work with the Director of External Relations to conduct legislative and policy outreach on these proposals. In addition to authoring op-eds on the Institute’s behalf and regularly blogging on the organization’s website, Eric will also work with groups and individuals from across the political aisle to promote and protect free speech.
