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Harvey Silverglate

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Harvey Silverglate
Born
May 10, 1942(1942-05-10)(age82)

New York City,U.S.
EducationPrinceton University(BA)
Harvard University(JD)
OccupationAttorney
OrganizationFoundation for Individual Rights and Expression(FIRE)
Spouse
​
​
(m.1976; died 2020)​

Harvey Allen Silverglate(born May 10, 1942) is an American attorney, journalist, writer, and a co-founder of theFoundation for Individual Rights and Expression(FIRE).

Silverglate was a member of the board of the Massachusetts chapter of theAmerican Civil Liberties Unionand also taught atHarvard Law School,theUniversity of Massachusetts Boston,and at theCambridge Rindge and Latin School.[1]

He is an attorney inCambridge, Massachusetts.He practices inacademic freedom,civil liberties,criminal defense,and students' rights cases. He co-founded FIRE withAlan Charles Kors.[2]

Early life and education

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Born in New York City, Silverglate graduated in 1960 fromBogota High SchoolinBogota, New Jersey.He holds degrees fromPrinceton University(cum laude, 1964) andHarvard Law School(1967).[3]He is a practicing attorney, specializing incivil libertieslitigation,criminal defense,academic freedom,and students' rights cases. He is counsel to theBoston-based law firm Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein.

Among his more prominent clients isJohn Eastman,a fellow attorney controversial for his service toDonald Trump.[4][5]

Career

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In addition to his law practice, Silverglate is also a journalist and writer. He was a columnist for theBoston Phoenix,writing on politics, law, and civil liberties.[6]He also wrote a regular column for Forbes.com, and has written columns and op-eds for theWall Street Journal,theBoston Globe,theLos Angeles Times,theNational Law Journal,Reason magazine,Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly,and other publications.[1]He authored two books,The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses(co-authored with Alan Kors) andThree Felonies a Day,which details the extension of vague federal criminal laws into daily conduct that would not be readily seen as criminal.

Silverglate was a featured speaker at a rally byDemand Progressin memory ofAaron Swartz[7]and wrote an op-ed forMassachusetts Lawyers Weeklyabout Swartz's prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Lawyers familiar with the case told him theMiddlesex CountyDistrict Attorney'splan had been to resolve Swartz's case by having it "...continued without a finding, with Swartz duly admonished and then returned to civil society to continue his pioneering electronic work in a less legally questionable manner."[8][9]As he explained toCNET's Declan McCullagh

Under such a disposition, the charge is held in abeyance ( "continued" ) without any verdict ( "without a finding" ). The defendant is on probation for a period of a few months up to maybe a couple of years at the most; if the defendant does not get into further legal trouble, the charge is dismissed, and the defendant has no criminal record. This is what the lawyers expected to happen when Swartz was arrested.[8]

"Tragedy intervened", Silverglate wrote inMassachusetts Lawyers Weekly,"when [United States Attorney Carmen] Ortiz's office took over the case to 'send a message".[9]

Harvey sat on the board of visitors atRalston College,a new liberal arts college inSavannah, Georgia.Harvey publicly broke with the college and resigned from the board, decrying the unaccredited college as "antithetical to the whole concept of a liberal arts institution."[10][clarification needed]

2009 Harvard Board of Overseers election

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Silverglate was a candidate in the 2009Harvard Board of Overseerselections. After collecting 315 signatures from Harvard alumni, he was nominated as apetition candidatein early February 2009. His platform[11]focused on reforming the student disciplinary board, eliminating speech codes, and restoring the student voice in university outreach efforts. His campaign had been covered inThe Boston Globe[12]and theHarvard Law Record,[13]and he made an appearance on Greater Boston withEmily Rooney.[14]Election results were announced at commencement, June 4, 2009, and Silverglate finished in eighth place, with 11,700 votes, 1,600 short of winning a seat.[15]

Personal life

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Silverglate was married to theportrait photographerElsa Dorfman,who died on May 30, 2020.[16][17]Their son Isaac lives inNew York City.[1]

Books

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  • Silverglate, Harvey A. (September 2009).Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent.New York:Encounter Books.ISBN978-1594032554.OL23165254M.
  • The Shadow University: The Betrayal Of Liberty On America's CampusesbyAlan Charles Kors(Author) and Harvey A. Silverglate (Author)ISBN0-06-097772-8(1999).
  • Conviction Machine: Standing Up to Federal Prosecutorial AbusebySidney Powelland Harvey A. Silverglate (2019).

See also

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References

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  1. ^abc"Archive".Harvey A. Silverglate.Archivedfrom the original on 15 October 2023.Retrieved2023-12-05.
  2. ^Harvey Silverglate profileArchived2008-03-30 at theWayback Machine,Foundation for Individual Rights in Education website]; accessed March 20, 2008.
  3. ^Harvey Silverglate,Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.Accessed July 3, 2023. "Harvey Silverglate was born in New York (1942) and was educated at Bogota (N.J.) High School (1960), Princeton University (1964), and Harvard Law School (1967)."
  4. ^Fausset, Richard; Hakim, Danny (31 August 2022)."Conservative Lawyer a Likely Target in Atlanta Trump Investigation, His Lawyer Says".New York Times.
  5. ^Suter, Tara (2 August 2023)."Eastman lawyer says plea deal would be rejected if offered in Jan. 6 case".The Hill.
  6. ^"Harvey Silverglate profile".thephoenix.com.Archivedfrom the original on 19 October 2023.Retrieved20 March2008.
  7. ^Sacchetti, Maria (April 13, 2013)."Ralliers at Dewey Square remember Internet activist Aaron Swartz".Boston Globe.RetrievedMay 1,2015.
  8. ^abMcCullagh, Declan (2013-01-25)."Swartz didn't face prison until feds took over case, report says".CNET.Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-09.Retrieved2015-05-01.
  9. ^abSilverglate, Harvey (January 23, 2013)."The Swartz suicide and the sick culture of the DOJ".Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly.Archived fromthe originalon 2013-01-29.
  10. ^"Savannah Morning News".savannahnow.com.Retrieved2023-08-14.
  11. ^"Harvey's Board of Overseers platform".Archived fromthe originalon 2009-02-24.Retrieved2009-03-13.
  12. ^Lehigh, Scot (25 February 2009)."Free Speech at Harvard".boston.com.Archived fromthe originalon 2 March 2009.Retrieved1 May2015.
  13. ^Andrew Kalloch,"Silverglate seeks spot as university overseer"Archived2010-03-02 at theWayback Machine,hlrecord.org; accessed May 1, 2015.
  14. ^"Freedman on Greater Boston" (with Emily Rooney),streams.wgbh.org; accessed May 1, 2015.
  15. ^Robert J. Ambrogi,Lawyers Fail in Campaigns for Harvard Overseers,legalblogwatch.typepad.com; accessed May 1, 2015.
  16. ^Feeney, Mark (May 30, 2020)."Elsa Dorfman, photographer whose distinctive portraits illuminated her subjects and herself, dies at 83".The Boston Globe.Archived fromthe originalon May 31, 2020.RetrievedMay 30,2020.
  17. ^Becker, Deborah (May 30, 2020)."Cambridge Photographer Elsa Dorfman, Famous For Her Giant Polaroids, Dies At 83".WBUR-FM.RetrievedMay 30,2020.
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