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ACLU
Litigator to Discuss 'War on Terror'
 Next week, Monday
through Friday, February 21-25, Smith will welcome renowned
litigator Jameel Jaffer as a Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.
Jaffer’s intensive weeklong visit will begin
with a public lecture, “What Is
the 'War on Terror,' and Are We Still Fighting It?” on Monday, Feb. 21, at 7
p.m. in Neilson Browsing Room.
Jaffer’s talk will explore the standing of the ‘war
on terror’ that the Bush administration launched after the September 2001 terrorist
attacks as a new kind of war—the enemy was nebulous, the battlefield was everywhere,
and no one could say what victory would look like. What was this war, and are
we still fighting it? And what does it mean for human rights and civil liberties
if we're engaged in a war that, almost by definition, is both everywhere and
forever?
As Deputy Legal Director at
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Jaffer oversees
the union's work on issues relating to free speech, privacy,
technology, national security, and human rights. He has litigated
numerous cases at the intersection of civil liberties and
national security, including challenges to the CIA's rendition
and ‘targeted killing’ programs and a challenge to the
National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program.
Jaffer is a graduate
of Williams College, Cambridge University, and Harvard Law
School.
The Woodrow Wilson Visiting
Fellows program, which is administered by the Council of
Independent Colleges (CIC) in Washington, D.C., brings prominent
artists, diplomats, journalists, business leaders, and other
professionals to campuses across the United States for a
weeklong residential program of classes, seminars, workshops,
lectures, and informal discussions.
Hosted by the Ethics
Program and supported by the Office of the Provost/Dean of
the Faculty, Jameel Jaffer’s visit will allow students
and faculty an opportunity to make new connections and create better understanding
between the academic and nonacademic worlds.
As the Woodrow Wilson Fellow,
Jaffer will have the time to explore in depth how the classroom
and campus relate to the broader society. In addition to
offering Monday’s public lecture, conducting
discussion groups and participating in classroom colloquia, Jaffer will meet
with students and faculty members informally to share his practical knowledge
in the areas of human rights and civil liberties. |
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