David cole on stopping authoritarianism's rise in the united states

Since becoming National Legal Director of the ACLU, _Just Security_ editorial board member David Cole has been spending a lot of time in _Just Security’_s home base of New York City. I

recently took advantage of this to pick his brain on the looming threat of authoritarianism here in the United States and what our government and civic institutions can do to stop it. Cole

knows a thing or two about this. His most recent book, _Engines of Liberty: the Power of Citizen Activists to Make Constitutional Law, _examines the way American citizens, outside of the

federal government and from a host of backgrounds, have been able to shape constitutional law from the ground up, thereby driving the rules that govern our way of life. In addition to being

National Legal Director of the ACLU and an editorial board member at _Just Security_, Cole is a professor at Georgetown, a volunteer lawyer for Center for Constitutional Rights, legal

affairs correspondent for _The Nation_, and a regular contributor to the _New York Review of Books._ Many thanks to Hannah Ryan for her help in preparing this recording. _Music: Autumn

Leaves by Podington Bear._ _Image: Natalie Behring/Getty_ FEATURED IMAGE: PORTLAND, OR - JUNE 04: A left wing 'antifa' protester holds up a sign in front of riot police as they

cleared a park at a rally on June 4, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. A protest dubbed 'Trump Free Speech' by organizers was met by a large contingent of counter-demonstrators who viewed

the protest as a promotion of racism. The demonstrations come in the wake of the recent violent attack on the city's MAX train line when Ricky Best, 53, and Taliesin Namkai-Meche, 23,

were stabbed to death and Micah Fletcher,21, was severely injured after they tried to protect two teenage girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab, from being harassed with racial taunts by

suspect Jeremy Christian. (Photo by Natalie Behring/Getty Images)