On Money, Politics & Corruption: Scholar, Activist Lawrence Lessig to visit RWU on Feb. 23

BRISTOL, R.I., –  Author, attorney and activist Lawrence Lessig is the Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School and director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University. He is an expert on intellectual property and Internet policy, and a watchdog on government corruption. He’s also an acclaimed free thinker and visionary, and one of the more captivating voices in America today.

On Monday, Feb. 23, members of the public are invited to spend an evening with Lessig as part of the President’s Distinguished Speakers Series at Roger Williams University. In a presentation titled “Equal Citizens,” Lessig will explore political campaign funding in America, which he says has fundamentally distorted the commitment to equality instilled by our country’s framers more than two centuries ago.

Prior to rejoining the Harvard faculty, Lessig was a professor at Stanford Law School, where he founded the school’s Center for Internet and Society, and at the University of Chicago. He clerked for Judge Richard Posner on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. Lessig serves on the Board of the AXA Research Fund and on the advisory boards of Creative Commons and the Sunlight Foundation.

In 2011 he founded Rootstrikers, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting the influence of money in politics. He’s authored a number of books on the topic including Republic, Lost: How Money Corrupts Congress (2011), One Way Forward: The Outsider’s Guide to Fixing the Republic (2012), and Lesterland: The Corruption of Congress and How to End It (2013).

The Feb. 23 presentation will take place in the School of Law Appellate Courtroom (Room 283) on the University’s Bristol campus at One Old Ferry Road. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the event will begin at 7:30 p.m. A book signing with the author will immediately follow the presentation. The event is free and open to the public; no tickets are required. For more information, call (401) 254-3166.

Launched in 2011, the President’s Distinguished Speakers Series at Roger Williams University invites thought leaders from a wide range of disciplines to share perspectives, inspire conversations and enrich the intellectual lives of students, faculty and staff at Roger Williams as well as members of the local community. As part of the series, each guest is invited to devote much of the daylong visit to direct engagement with students in classroom sessions, offering RWU students unique opportunities for one-on-one interactions with some of the world’s leading authors, scholars, artists and public servants.