Leonard Weinglass: Our Eroding Civil Liberties and the Case of the Cuban 5

Renowned constitutional law attorney Leonard Weinglass worked on the cases of Angela Davis, the Chicago 7, and Mumia Abu-Jamal, among others, and is now defending one of the Cuban 5.

This case is not familiar to many in the U.S., but it is an enlightening lesson in the politics of intelligence agencies. The Cuban 5 were part of a group of people in Florida who were gathering information during the 1990’s about a terrorist network in Miami that had launched a series of attacks against Cuba. When the Cuban intelligence service presented the FBI with this information in 1998, the FBI thanked them and said they would get back to them. Instead, they rounded up the people who had provided the dossier and charged them with espionage. Five were found guilty; three were sentenced to life. Weinglass will discuss the implications of this politically-fraught case for the future of civil liberties and constitutional law in the U.S.

$5-10 Suggested donation for the lecture benefits Cuban 5 legal defense and Peninsula Peace and Justice Center.

The talk will be preceded at 1:00 p.m. by a reception with light buffet at PPJC, 457 Kingsley Ave., Palo Alto ($20 per person includes ticket to lecture).