2013 Silha Lecture

The Lessons of the Pentagon Papers:

Has Obama Learned Them?

 

Date: October 16, 2013

Time: 7:30 pm

Place: Cowles Auditorium, West Bank of the Twin Cities Campus of the University of Minnesota

Cost: Free

Everyone has heard of the "Pentagon Papers" case. But only a few know what happened behind the scenes. The top-secret Department of Defense documents exposing U.S. government policies during the Vietnam war were only part of the story. The strategies, decisions and negotiations between the larger-than-life characters from the worlds of law, politics, journalism and the military that shaped the outcome of one of the most important First Amendment cases in U.S. history took place behind closed doors. When the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in favor of The New York Times and the Washington Post in 1971, it set an almost impossible standard for the government to meet to justify censoring the press -- a standard that has never been met. Yet.

As of 2013, President Obama has indicted more leakers of classified information than any other President. His administration has threatened to pursue espionage charges against WikiLeaks and Julian Assange. Do the government’s claims of secrecy and national security stand up to scrutiny today? Have we learned the lessons of the Pentagon Papers?

The 2013 Silha Lecture will be delivered by James C. Goodale, author of the new book, Fighting for the Press: the Inside Story of the Pentagon Papers and Other Battles.  Goodale is a leading First Amendment lawyer who was vice chairman and general counsel of the New York Times during the Pentagon Papers litigation. He has also been a TV host and producer; a partner in Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, a major New York City law firm; and has taught at Yale, NYU and Fordham law schools.

A book signing will follow the lecture.

For further information, please contact Elaine Hargrove at 612-625-3421 or by e-mail at silha@umn.edu.

Silha Center activities, including the annual lecture, are made possible by a generous endowment from the late Otto Silha and his wife, Helen.