Columbia provost, panel to discuss civil liberties

ORONO – Alan Brinkley, Columbia University provost and noted historian, will give this year’s Senator Margaret Chase Smith Lecture on Public Affairs from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, at the Minsky Recital Hall, University of Maine.

Brinkley’s lecture, “Civil Liberties After 9-11: Lessons from Past Assaults on Freedoms,” will trace the struggle in the United States between what Brinkley calls “the demands of liberty and the demands of order and security.”

“Brinkley’s remarks will provide much-needed historical context to current debates over whether the legislation for homeland security implemented in the wake of 9-11 is warranted or goes too far,” said Kathryn Hunt of UMaine’s Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy.

Author of numerous books, Brinkley won the National Book Award in 1983 for “Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression.” His essays, articles and reviews have appeared in scholarly journals and periodicals including The New Yorker, the New York Review of Books and the London Review of Books.

Brinkley has published recently on the struggle for civil liberties throughout this country’s history.

Brinkley’s lecture will be followed by a short reception and from 4 to 5:30 p.m., a panel presentation: “Balancing Security at Home and Civil Liberties in an Age of Terrorism.” Shannon Martin from the department of communication and journalism at UMaine, Zachary Heiden of the Maine Civil Liberties Union and U.S. Attorney Paula Silsby will discuss homeland security policies that have been implemented since 9-11 – most notably the USA Patriot Act.

After remarks from each panelist, the forum will be open to questions from the audience.

Martin is a member of Maine’s new Judicial Branch Task Force on Electronic Court Records Access. She said Brinkley’s lecture is not only important but timely because of the “sunset clauses” on policies concerning homeland security. “It’s important for us at this time to examine homeland security not just in the abstract but in the present,” she said.