September 27, 2004: Patriotism and Protest: Your Right to Dissent - ACLU-TN Meeting on Saturday, Oct 2 at Green Hills Library at 2:30 p.m.

For More Immediate Release
Monday, September 27, 2004

For More Information, call Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director
615-320-7142

ACLU-TN Sponsored Lecture: Patriotism and Protest:
Your Right to Dissent

Patriotism and Protest: Your Right to Dissent is the topic for the annual John Googin Memorial Lecture, which will be held on Saturday, October 2, 2004. Sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee (ACLU-TN), the lecture will feature Chris Hansen, National ACLU Attorney, discussing the right to protest under the First Amendment and the many ways the government is deterring people from participating in protests (i.e. free speech zones, surveillance of demonstrators).

Mr. Hansen was one of the ACLU lawyers in Acorn et al v. Philadelphia, the case challenging the "free speech protest zones" set up by Secret Service during visits by President Bush and other senior federal officials across the country. He is currently representing a West Virginia couple who were arrested at a Fourth of July presidential appearance because they were wearing t-shirts critical of the president. The event will take place at 2:30 p.m. at the Green Hills Branch of the Nashville Public Library (3701 Benham Avenue).

ACLU-TN is a private, non-profit, non-partisan membership organization dedicated to protecting individual freedoms guaranteed under the Bill of Rights to the United States Constitution. ACLU-TN promotes its goals through advocacy, education, litigation, and legislative activities. ACLU-TN programs include responding to over 2,500 inquiries regarding civil liberties concerns; organizing public education programs, lobbying at the State Legislature, and working in coalition on a range of issues, including freedom of speech, religious freedom, lesbian and gay rights, racial justice, and reproductive freedom.

The Googin Memorial Lecture was established in honor of John Googin, who served on the ACLU-TN Board from its inception until his death in 1994. A staunch advocate of civil liberties, Googin was a senior scientist/consultant for the United States Department of Energy's Y-12 Plant. He was credited with more than 50 inventions and 17 patents in chemistry, metallurgy, and chemical engineering.

The October 2nd program is free and open to the public and will be held at the Green Hills Library at 3701 Benham Avenue.

For more information, please call the ACLU-TN Office at 615-320-7142.