ROM Welcomes Global Thinker Jameel Jaffer
For 11th Annual Eva Holtby Lecture on Contemporary Culture
Constitutional lawyer and civil liberties advocate talks about “Going Dark”
November 15, 2016 at 7:00 pm
The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) will present its annual Eva Holtby Lecture on Contemporary Culture on November 15, 2016 at 7:00 pm featuring Jameel Jaffer, Executive Director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. In his talk, Going Dark, Jaffer will explore the phenomenon of official secrecy and the legal, political, and social repercussions of allowing democratic governments to withhold information about national security policy from the public.
Since 9/11, the impulse to protect “national security” has led democratic governments to become increasingly secretive. With many of their most consequential decisions—about war, interrogation, detention, and surveillance—being made behind closed doors, democratic governments are “going dark.” Should we accept official secrecy as a necessary response to new security threats—or has official secrecy itself become a threat? With new wars abroad, and new surveillance programs at home, the question is more pressing than ever.
As Deputy Legal Director at the American Civil Liberties Union, Jameel Jaffer argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as multiple appeals courts, and supervised the organization’s work on national security, free speech, privacy, technology, and international human rights. He has litigated challenges to the National Security Agency's call-tracking program, the Patriot Act's "national security letter" provision, and “targeted killing” by the CIA. He also litigated a landmark case under the Freedom of Information Act that resulted in the release of the Bush administration's "torture memos.”
Tickets to the Eva Holtby Lecture are available at rom.on.ca and priced at: ROM Members ($18.00 plus HST), General Public ($20.00 + HST) and Teachers and Students ($15.00 + HST).
Jaffer's new book, The Drone Memos Targeted Killing, Secrecy, and the Law will be for sale and signing during the post-talk reception.
The Eva Holtby lecture is generously supported by the Holtby and Schury Families.
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Amanda Fruci, Publicist
416.586.5558
About Jameel Jaffer
Born in Canada, Jameel attended Upper Canada College before graduating from Williams College, Cambridge University, and Harvard Law School. He served as a law clerk to Hon. Amalya L. Kearse on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and then to Rt. Hon. Beverley McLachlin, Chief Justice of Canada. Foreign Policy magazine labeled him one of the 100 “top global thinkers” for his advocacy against the U.S. drone program, and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression recently awarded him the Vox Libera award for his “sustained contribution to the principle of free expression.” His new book, The Drone Memos, will be published by The New Press in November.
About Knight First Amendment Institute
The new institute is a response to the digital revolution, the rise of new technology giants, the waning power and resources of traditional media companies, the promise of new communications platforms, the reach of the surveillance agencies, and the requirements of accountability journalism, among other things. It will work to preserve and expand First Amendment rights in the digital age through litigation, research, and public education.
About the ROM
Opened in 1914, Canada’s largest museum of natural history and world cultures has six million objects in its collections and galleries showcasing art, archaeology and natural science. The ROM is the largest field research institution in the country, and a world leader in research areas from biodiversity, palaeontology, and earth sciences to archaeology, ethnology and visual culture - originating new information towards a global understanding of historical and modern change in culture and environment. For 24-hour information in English and French, please call 416.586.8000 or visit the ROM’s web site at www.rom.on.ca. Tickets are available online at www.rom.on.ca.
About the Eva Holtby Lecture on Contemporary Culture
Supported by the Holtby and Schury Families and now in its 11th year, the Eva Holtby Lecture on Contemporary Culture brings powerful voices to the Museum to discuss provocative and engaging contemporary ideas.