[Peace-discuss] Audio and Transcripts from Civil Liberties Conference

[Charles Jenks]

MEDIA ADVISORY* 

Audio and Transcripts available from Civil Liberties Conference (and more
coming)

July 28 civil liberties postings at http://traprockpeace.org:

Audio of Frank Serpico keynote address with Q and A (mp3
http://traprockpeace.org/AudioCivilLibertiesConference/SerpicoKeynote.mp3
and realaudio  
http://traprockpeace.org/AudioCivilLibertiesConference/SerpicoKeynote.ram

(More Frank Serpico - a special Q and A conference session - coming soon.)

Text of prepared remarks) by Professor Christopher -
³Towards a More Intelligent Counter-Terrorism Policy²
http://traprockpeace.org/PDFfiles/PyleCounterTerrorismPolicy.pdf
and "Remarks on Patriot Acts I and II."
http://traprockpeace.org/PDFfiles/PylePatriotPanel.pdf

Also, from July 15 pre-conference event:
"Threats to Civil Liberties (mp3 for broadband)
http://traprockpeace.org/AudioPyle/PyleTalk15july03.mp3
and  RealAudio (for slow dial-up)
http://traprockpeace.org/AudioPyle/PyleTalk15july03.ram
with prepared remarks (pdf)
http://traprockpeace.org/PyleTraprockPeaceCtr150703.pdf
Also,  Q and A by Christopher Pyle (mp3)
http://traprockpeace.org/AudioPyle/PyleQandA15july03.mp3

++++

Over the next two weeks, a wealth of Audio and Transcripts will be posted at
http:// traprockpeace.org on the just concluded Civil Liberties Conference -
"Protecting Our Civil Liberties: The Core of Democracy", including a special
Q and A session with Frank Serpico, plus interviews of experts at the
conference.  See compilation of media coverage at
http://traprockpeace.org/civil-liberties-press.html

Traprock Peace Center and the Greenfield Community College Response
Initiative collaborated on a weekend - July 25-26 -  civil liberties
conference that brought over 140 registered participants for presentations
and how-to workshops, followed by a plenary session on action planning.

Participants included:

+Frank Serpico, a former NYC detective, whistle blower, and advocate for
high principles in public service. Serpico's story was made famous
by the movie titled, "Serpico." As an honest detective in a police
department corrupted by kick-backs from drug dealers, he survived a shoot
out to testify and try to reform one of the nation's largest offices of law
enforcement. 

+ Christopher Pyle - Prize-winning journalist and professor of politics
Christopher H. Pyle will address the problems of past, present and proposed
surveillance, called total information awareness. His morning workshop
advocates for more intelligent anti-terror policies, explaining that current
law provides woefully inadequate checks against inevitable abuses. Pyle
worked with Senator Sam Ervin, Jr.'s Judiciary Sub-Committee on
Constitutional Rights, and the Senate Committee on Government Relations. He
helped write the Privacy Act in 1974. His articles have been published in
hundreds of newspapers including the New York Times, LA
Times, Washington Post, Washington Times, and Wall Street Journal.
Attorney 

+C. William Michaels of Baltimore, author of No Greater Threat, America
After September 11th and the Rise of a National Security State, teamed up
with Newman to demystify the PATRIOT Acts I & II, Homeland Security and
Presidential directives that undermine constitutional rights. Michaels is a
co-founder of Pax Christi in Baltimore. He calls upon citizens and religious
communities to consider the 12 characteristics of a national security state
and asks them to examine where our nation is headed.

+Mahsa Khanbabai, pro-bono attorney for the Political Asylum/Immigration
Representation (PAIR ) Project in Boston, will discuss illegal detentions &
the targeting of international neighbors. Khanbababai was born in Iran,
raised in western Massachusetts and graduated cum laude form Albany Law
Schol in 1998. She is a member of the Massachusetts Governor's Advisory
Council on Refugees and Immigrants and has dedicated her career to
immigration and naturalization issues.

+Bill Newman is the Director of the Western Mass Regional Office of the
American Civil Liberties Union. Newman is a speaker who deftly uses wit and
humor while addressing a wide- range of issues from military tribunals to
the loss of basic, legal due process.

+Sut Jhally, professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts
at Amherst, and founder and executive director of The Media Education
Foundation in Northampton presents a morning workshop on
Fear, Fallacy, & the Media, Spinning & Un-spinning the Fictions. He is one
of the most popular teachers at the University of Massachusetts. Over the
past ten years, Jhally has been the executive producer of more than
twenty videos produced and distributed by the Media Education Foundation. He
is co-editor of Cultural Politics in Contemporary America and has written
broadly on issues of popular representation.

With how-to workshops led by -

Irvine Sobelman -  co-founder of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee
(bordc.org) - on Town by Town, Resolutions for Constitutional Rights.

Sandra Boston - Speaking Up for Civil Liberties--Smart Skills for Dialogue

Leo Hwang Carlos--Writers' Workshop for Civil Liberties

Ezzell Floraniña-- Theater Improv for Civil Liberties

Louis Battalen--Libraries and Intellectual Freedom, Will they Endure?

The conference also featured the musical talents of the Raging Grannies and
Tom Neilson, reknowned folk singer, as well as a group of local jazz
musicians. 

Award winning film maker Robbie Leppzer ("A Matter of Conscience") is making
a documentary on this weekend conference.

Introducing the conference and GCC college President Robert Pura was
professor Ann Wiley. President Pura introduced Sunny Miller, Executive
Director of Traprock Peace Center. Other moderators  and volunteers included
Susan Callahan, Carol Letson, Abbie Jenks and Mary Siano. (with apologies to
volunteers who were not mentioned).

More information available at http://traprockpeace.org.

Thirteen local and national groups joined G.C.C. and Traprock as
co-sponsors:  Thank you!

+Interfaith Council of Franklin County,
+W. Mass A.C.L.U. 
+Pax Christi USA 
+All Soul¹s Church Social Action Committee
+Conscious Communications Institute
+Amherst Human Rights Commission,
+Peace Development Fund
+Charboneau Learning Center
+SAGE Committee 
+World Learning/School for International Training
+WMass A.F.S.C. 
+Greensboro Justice Fund
+Sierra Club

*Copyright notices:

Traprock Peace Center has copyright to the audio and any transcripts of the
audio. Such material may be downloaded, copied and distributed for
educational purposes, in fact, we encourage radio stations to play the
audio. Please give attribution to Traprock Peace Center when re-playing the
audio for the public. Any distributions must be done without the request or
payment of any fees or donations. We do not give permission for websites to
copy and post the audio, except for Indymedia sites or sites that have
worked out a mirror arrangement with Traprock Peace Center. Any such
Indymedia or mirror posting should give a live link to Traprock Peace Center
at http://traprockpeace.org for related information. Please inform us of any
such postings. Traprock retains exclusive rights to make transcriptions of
the audio. Any other permissions must be obtained from Traprock Peace
Center.

Christopher Pyle's written remarks are his property. These documents are not
transcripts of audio but are his prepared remarks. These may not be altered
in any way. Any distribution must comply with 'fair use' law and may only be
made if done so without the request or payment of any fees or donations. Any
other permissions must come from Professor Pyle. Websites are not given
permission to copy and post the pdf files. Please post links to the material
at the Traprock website. (We treat pdf files differently than audio in this
regard as there is no rationale for a mirror for text files. In other words,
there are no bandwidth issues with text files.)

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. If you do
not receive a reply by email (we're getting hundreds of emails these days)
please call.

Thank you.

Charlie Jenks

-- 
Charles Jenks, attorney at law
President of the Core Group
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-1633; Fax 413-773-7507
charles at mtdata.com
http://traprockpeace.org