ACLU National Legal Director to Speak on Maui

David Cole. Photo courtesy UH Maui College.

The national legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union David Cole will present a keynote lecture on Liberty’s Defense: Lessons from the Legal Resistance at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 4, in ʻIke Leʻa 144 (science auditorium) at the University of Hawai‘i Maui College.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Admission is free and open to the public.

The keynote lecture is co-sponsored by the Department of American Studies and the William S Richardson School of Law with support from the ACLU of Hawaiʻi.

Cole has been named the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals. He supervises a network of nearly 2,000 attorneys and oversees more than 1,400 state and federal lawsuits. He has litigated extensively before the US Supreme Court and has won cases on immigration, free speech, education and extrajudicial detentions.

Cole is the George J Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy at Georgetown University, an essayist and the author of several award-winning books: Less Safe, Less Free, Enemy Aliens and No Equal Justice.

As the Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals, Cole will speak on assaults on civil liberties in Washington, from immigrant rights to LGBT equality, as well as his views on necessary steps to preserve the vitality of American democracy. He follows in a long line of visitors to Hawai‘i, including: John Hope Franklin, dean of African American history, civil rights icon Angela Davis, business executive Richard Parsons and esteemed economist Christina Romer.

The Dan and Maggie Inouye Distinguished Chair in Democratic Ideals distinction was established in 2005 by the UH Board of Regents.  The program brings significant public figures to Hawaiʻi to foster public discourse regarding democratic ideals and civic engagement. It honors US Senator Daniel Inouye and his wife, Maggie for their lifetime of public service. The chair is housed in the UH Mānoa Department of American Studies in the College of Arts and Humanities and the William S Richardson School of Law.