Professor of law Cole to discuss John Ashcroft, the future of civil liberties

David D. Cole, professor of law at Georgetown University, author of numerous books on terrorism and civil liberties, and cooperating attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights, will discuss “John Ashcroft’s Paradigm of Prevention and the Future of Civil Liberties” for the Assembly Series at 11 a.m. Sept. 29 in the Bryan Cave Moot Courtroom, Anheuser-Busch Hall, Room 310.

After graduating from Yale Law School and clerking with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Cole joined the Center for Constitutional Rights where he litigated several First Amendment cases, including the one that established protection allowing flag-burning.

As a volunteer staff attorney for the center, Cole continues to litigate First Amendment issues.

Cole’s focus includes civil rights, criminal justice, constitutional law, and law and literature. He is the legal affairs correspondent for The Nation, a columnist for Legal Times as well as a commentator on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered”

Other written works include: Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism; Terrorism and the Constitution: Sacrificing Civil Liberties in the Name of National Security; and No Equal Justice: Race and Class in the American Criminal System.

The talk is part of the School of Law’s seventh annual Public Interest Law Speaker Series, which is designed to highlight the excellence of the law school’s Clinical Education Program; expose students to public interest advocates and practitioners; illuminate the pro bono and public-interest responsibility of law students and lawyers; and engage the wider University community in an interdisciplinary discussion about social justice.

The lecture is free and open to the public and is also sponsored by Student Union. For more in-formation, call 935-4620 or go to assemblyseries.wustl.edu.