The Sarasota Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union will join WSLR Community Radio in sponsoring “Championing Democracy and Justice: An Evening with Heidi Boghosian” on Saturday, Aug. 25, from 6 to 8 p.m. at WSLR’s headquarters, 525 Kumquat Court.
Boghosian is the executive director of the National Lawyers Guild and the co-host of the weekly civil liberties radio show, “Law and Disorder.” The show airs every Sunday at 10 a.m. on WSLR.
Boghosian received her law degree from Temple Law School, where she was the editor-in-chief of the Temple Political and Civil Rights Law Review.
Tickets for the event are $10 and are available online at www.wslr.org or by calling 941-894-6469.
Boghosian and other members of the National Lawyers Guild from across the country regularly attend National Special Security Events (NSSEs) such as the Republican and Democratic national conventions, a WSLR news release says. In addition to setting up a legal office, dispatching trained NLG legal observers and providing legal defense to protesters, Boghosian and fellow NLG members document patterns of police interference with First Amendment-protected activities, the release says.
The guild also has issued a report, The Policing of Political Speech: Constraints on Mass Dissent in the U.S., cataloguing practices “that chilled free speech at the 2009 G-20 Summit and the 2008 Republican National Convention,” the release adds. The report is available at http://www.nlg.org/publications/the-policing-of-political-speech/.
During the Aug. 25 event, Boghosian will address the tactics guild members have witnessed at such events over the years and offer an overview of court victories in the aftermath of NSSEs.