Is Julian Assange a journalist? How does Bradley Manning compare to Daniel Ellsberg? How far does the First Amendment go in protecting the press when publishing classified information?
These are just some of the many questions we’ll grapple with next Monday night when The Institute of Information Law & Policy & The Program in Law and Journalism at New York Law School and Personal Democracy Forum present the latest in our series of symposiums on the issues raised by WikiLeaks.
We have a great panel of experts speaking:
* Yochai Benkler, Berkman Professor of Entrepreneurial Legal Studies at Harvard and faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society
* James Goodale, Former General Counsel of the New York Times during the Pentagon Papers case
* Gabriel Schoenfeld, Author of “Necessary Secrets: National Security, the Media, and the Rule of Law” & Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute
* Geoffrey R. Stone, Edward H. Levi Distinguished Service Professor at University of Chicago Law School
While speculation about the possible prosecution of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange for publishing classified information appears on the front pages of newspapers on a regular basis, this is the first such conversation among leading legal scholars and practitioners about the law’s reach and potential impact. Each of our speakers has weighed in already with strong arguments about the issues–if you want to prep in advance, check out:
James Goodale, “Is Assange on his way to the U.S.?” where he argues that the Justice Department is on a “fishing expedition.”
Yochai Benkler, “WikiLeaks and the Battle Over the Soul of the Networked Fourth Estate,” (note, this is a PDF).
Gabriel Schoenfeld, “Can the U.S. Bring Assange to Justice,” where he argues that a case can definitely brought under the Espionage Act.
Geoffrey Stone, “WikiLeaks and the First Amendment,” where he argues that the proposed SHIELD law to criminalize publication of classified information is “plainly unconstitutional.”
Tickets are $10 in advance and can be purchased here. We hope you can join us for what is sure to be an enlightening discussion on Wikileaks, journalism, and First Amendment. Light refreshments will be served.
Submit Questions on Twitter: If you have questions you would like asked during the audience Q & A, please tweet them to @WLLegal or join the discussion using the event hashtag: #pdfleaks
Monday March 21 | 6:00 pm
New York Law School
185 West Broadway (between Leonard and Worth Streets)
New York, NY 10013