Isn’t it nice to have something to look forward to all month? Grab your tickets while they’re hot to two exciting book talks coming up at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue:
On Monday, May 5 at 7 p.m., former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens will speak about his new book, Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution (Little, Brown and Co., $25). The third-longest serving justice began his tenure as a Midwestern conservative Republican, but eventually became one of the Court’s strongest voices on the left.
Over 35 years, Justice Stevens took part in groundbreaking decisions on issues like flag burning, free speech of students, police searches, and Bush v. Gore. In Six Amendments, he outlines six specific ways he believes the Constitution should be amended for the sake of democracy and Americans’ wellbeing.
One proposed Constitutional edit that’s already garnered discussion regards the right to bear arms. For 200 years, Justice Stevens writes, “federal judges uniformly understood that the right … was limited in two ways: first, it applied only to keeping and bearing arms for military purposes, and second, while it limited the power of the federal government, it did not impose any limit whatsoever on the power of states or local governments to regulate the ownership or use of firearms.” He adds five words to the Second Amendment to make this clarification.
There will be no book signing, but you can add a book to your $20 ticket for $8 extra. Reserve them here.
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On Wednesday, May 14 at 7 p.m., journalist Glenn Greenwald will discuss No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State (Metropolitan Books, $27). Last summer, Greenwald broke Snowden’s story on the National Security Agency’s widespread surveillance practices, overturning everything we thought we knew about information privacy.
No Place to Hide tells the story of Greenwald’s trip to Hong Kong to meet Snowden and reveals new information from the whistleblower’s never-before-seen documents. He examines the “political health” implications that NSA’s actions have for the country and how democracy can be protected in a digital era. The book also addresses the media’s general avoidance of “adversarial reporting” and their failure to serve the public.
A signing will follow the talk; one ticket can be purchased here for $17 or a ticket and a book is $30.
Tickets to both events go on sale Thursday, April 10th at noon sharp.
