Susan Herman
Showing 1–2 of 2 transcripts.
- Milken Institute1h 1m
Digital Me: The Right to Privacy vs. the Public Good
Dennis Neal, Susan Herman, Stan Stahl, Susan Graham, Michelle Fenneman Dinity
Experts and legal advocates from the ACLU, Berkeley, and major tech firms convened to address the severe erosion of privacy following 9/11, highlighting how bulk metadata collection under the Patriot Act and commercial data fusion techniques create a pervasive "chilling effect" on free speech. The discussion emphasized the urgent need to replace outdated statutes like the Electronic Communications Privacy Act with modern solutions such as the USA Freedom Act and "Privacy Engineering" to combat government overreach and unregulated corporate surveillance. Ultimately, the panel concluded that without significant legal reform and technical safeguards, the current trajectory threatens individual autonomy and the foundational principles of democratic association.
- Milken Institute1h 20m
Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of Democracy
In a Milken Institute panel, ACLU President Susan Herman and Chapman Law School's John Eastman debated the post-9/11 expansion of state surveillance powers under the USA Patriot Act and the shifting legal frameworks of the Fourth Amendment. While Eastman defended expanded tools like roving wiretaps and enhanced interrogations as essential wartime necessities that successfully led to Osama bin Laden's death, Herman countered that these measures constitute ineffective "security theater" and have eroded civil liberties without proportional security benefits. The discussion ultimately highlighted deep partisan divides regarding the balance between national security and constitutional due process, particularly concerning the targeted killing of citizens and the indefinite detention of alleged combatants.