28 January 2010
Time: 8 pm
Admission: free

Venue: Hamburg Institute for Social Research
Mittelweg 36
20148 Hamburg

Introduction: Bernd Greiner

In "Kafka in Amerika", Steven Wax reconstructs the ordeals of two men he represented who were caught up in the anti-terror measures implemented by the U.S.A. after 9/11. He weaves together the stories of Mayfield, the citizen, and Hamad, the alien, and accounts of the work of his defense team, to demonstrate where and how fundamental rights have been sacrificed in favor of a false sense of security. "Kafka in Amerika" reveals why the erosion of civil rights linked to the war on terror is a grave issue that concerns us all.

Steven T. Wax has been the federal public defender of the District of Oregon, Washington, for many years. After graduating from Colgate University and Harvard Law School, he worked as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn and as a public defender in New York state. Wax has taught at the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College. Among the awards he has received is the Judge Learned Hand Award of the American Jewish Committee (2006). He lectures and writes on constitutional and federal criminal issues.

28 January 2010, Hamburg
29 January 2010, Tübingen
1 February 2010, Köln
2 February 2010, Potsdam
3 February 2010, Berlin
4 February 2010, Nürnberg