Directly lifted from the Electronic Frontier Foundation blog:
January 23, 2014 – 7:30pm
Berkeley, CA
Join us for “NSA Surveillance and Our ‘Almost Orwellian’ State,” hosted by St. John’s Presbyterian Church on Thursday, January 23, 2014.
Address:
St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA
The event is open to the public. A donation will be requested, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Proceeds will benefit the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
The discussion will be led by a formidable cast of advocates including:
Cindy Cohn, Legal Director and General Counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Ms. Cohn serves as counsel in First Unitarian Church v. NSA and Jewel v. NSA, each seeking to stop the ongoing dragnet warrantless surveillance of millions of ordinary Americans.
Daniel Ellsberg, the iconic whistleblower and national hero described by President Nixon as “the most dangerous man in America,” and co-founder of Freedom of Press Foundation.
Norman Solomon, Journalist, media critic, anti-war activist, co-founder of RootsAction.org, founding director of Institute for Public Accuracy, and author of War Made Easy.
Shahid Buttar, Executive Director of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, constitutional lawyer, grassroots organizer, independent columnist, musician, and poet.
Robert Jaffee, a volunteer attorney on the Hedges v. Obama case challenging indefinite detention without trial, will moderate the discussion. He and the panelists will discuss issues including:
Whether dragnet NSA surveillance is constitutional, and the dueling federal court rulings in December
The history of government secrecy, and how it relates to the mounting controversy surrounding NSA spying
How the NSA dragnet threatens not only to privacy, but also freedom and democracy
The role of the press, and the tremendous contributions of Edward Snowden, Glenn Greenwald, Laura Poitras, and others
Prospects for legislative reforms in Congress, and opportunities for grassroots action going forward
For more details about the forum, please contact Robert Jaffee at rjaffe2[at]gmail.