Harvey Allen Silverglate (born May 10, 1942) is an American attorney, journalist, writer, and a co-founder of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). Silverglate was a member of the board of the Massachusetts chapter of the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

and also taught at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

, and at the

Cambridge Rindge and Latin School The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, also known as "CRLS" or "Rindge", is a public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is a part of the Cambridge Public School District. In 1977, two separate schools, Rindge Technical Sc ...

. He is an attorney in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

. He practices in

academic freedom Academic freedom is the right of a teacher to instruct and the right of a student to learn in an academic setting unhampered by outside interference. It may also include the right of academics to engage in social and political criticism. Academic ...

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

criminal defense In the field of criminal law, there are a variety of conditions that will tend to negate elements of a crime (particularly the ''intent'' element), known as defenses. The label may be apt in jurisdictions where the ''accused'' may be assigned some ...

, and students' rights cases. He co-founded FIRE with

Alan Charles Kors Alan Charles Kors (born July 18, 1943) is an American historian who is the Henry Charles Lea Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Pennsylvania, where he taught the intellectual history of the 17th and 18th centuries. He has received ...

Early life and education

Born in New York City, Silverglate graduated in 1960 from Bogota High School in

Bogota, New Jersey Bogota is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 8,778, an increase of 591 (+7.2%) from the 2010 United Sta ...

. He holds degrees from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

(cum laude, 1964) and

(1967). He is a practicing attorney, specializing in

litigation,

, and students' rights cases. He is counsel to the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

-based law firm Zalkind Duncan & Bernstein. Among his more prominent clients is John Eastman, a fellow attorney controversial for his service to

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

Career

In addition to his law practice, Silverglate is also a journalist and writer. He was a columnist for the ''

Boston Phoenix ''The Phoenix'' (stylized as ''The Phœnix'') was the name of several alternative weekly periodicals published in the United States by Phoenix Media/Communications Group of Boston, Massachusetts, including the now defunct ''Boston Phoenix'', '' ...

'', writing on politics, law, and civil liberties. He also wrote a regular column for Forbes.com, and has written columns and op-eds for the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', the ''

National Law Journal ''The National Law Journal'' (NLJ) is an American legal periodical founded in 1978. The NLJ was created by Jerry Finkelstein, who envisioned it as a "sibling newspaper" of the ''New York Law Journal''. Originally a tabloid-sized weekly new ...

'',

Reason magazine ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation, with the tagline "Free Minds and Free Markets". The magazine aims to produce independent journalism that is "outside of the left/right echo chamber." A ...

, ''Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly'', and other publications. He authored two books, ''The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America's Campuses'' (co-authored with Alan Kors) and ''Three 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 by Demand Progress in memory of

Aaron Swartz Aaron Hillel Swartz (; November 8, 1986January 11, 2013), also known as AaronSw, was an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, political organizer, and Internet hacktivism, hacktivist. As a programmer, Swartz helped develop the we ...

and wrote an op-ed for ''Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly'' about Swartz's prosecution by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Lawyers familiar with the case told him the Middlesex County District Attorney's plan 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." As he explained to CNET'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.

"Tragedy intervened", Silverglate wrote in ''Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly'', "when nited States Attorney CarmenOrtiz's office took over the case to 'send a message". Harvey sat on the board of visitors at

Ralston College Ralston College is a private unaccredited liberal arts college in Savannah, Georgia. It describes itself as being dedicated to "freedom of thought and speech", and is associated with prominent conservative figures, with Stephen Blackwood as pr ...

, a new liberal arts college in

Savannah, Georgia Savannah ( ) is the oldest city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia and the county seat of Chatham County, Georgia, Chatham County. Established in 1733 on the Savannah River, the city of Savannah became the Kingdom of Great Brita ...

. 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."

2009 Harvard Board of Overseers election

Silverglate was a candidate in the 2009

Harvard Board of Overseers The Harvard Board of Overseers (more formally The Honorable and Reverend the Board of Overseers) is an advisory board of alumni at Harvard University. Unlike the Harvard Corporation, the Board of Overseers is not a fiduciary governing board, but in ...

elections. After collecting 315 signatures from Harvard alumni, he was nominated as
petition candidate
in early February 2009. His platform focused on reforming the student disciplinary board, eliminating speech codes, and restoring the student voice in university outreach efforts. His campaign had been covered in

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

and the '' Harvard Law Record'',Andrew Kalloch
"Silverglate seeks spot as university overseer"
, hlrecord.org; accessed May 1, 2015. and he made an appearance on Greater Boston with Emily Rooney."Freedman on Greater Boston" (with Emily Rooney)
streams.wgbh.org; accessed May 1, 2015. 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.Robert J. Ambrogi

legalblogwatch.typepad.com; accessed May 1, 2015.

Personal life

Silverglate was married to the

portrait photographer Portrait photography, or portraiture, is a type of photography aimed toward capturing the personality of a person or group of people by using effective lighting, backdrops, and poses. A portrait photograph may be artistic or clinical. Frequentl ...

Elsa Dorfman, who died on May 30, 2020. Their son Isaac lives in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Books

* * ''The Shadow University: The Betrayal Of Liberty On America's Campuses'' by

(Author) and Harvey A. Silverglate (Author) (1999). * ''Conviction Machine: Standing Up to Federal Prosecutorial Abuse'' by Sidney Powell and Harvey A. Silverglate (2019).

References

External links

Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
*
Harvey Silverglate.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silverglate, Harvey A. Living people 1942 births Bogota High School alumni Massachusetts lawyers American political writers American male non-fiction writers American free speech activists Harvard Law School alumni Harvard Law School faculty Princeton University alumni Lawyers from Cambridge, Massachusetts People from Bogota, New Jersey Writers from Brooklyn Writers from Bergen County, New Jersey

Early life and education

Career

2009 Harvard Board of Overseers election

Personal life

Books

See also

References

External links