Ben Wizner facts for kids

Ben Wizner (born in 1971) is an American lawyer and writer. He works to protect civil liberties, which are the basic rights and freedoms of people. Since 2013, he has been the main lawyer for Edward Snowden, who shared secret information about the NSA.

Ben Wizner's Early Life and Education

Ben Wizner was born in 1971 in New Haven, Connecticut. He grew up near Yale University, where his father was a law professor. From a young age, Ben was interested in helping people and making society fairer.

Studying Law and Helping Others

After finishing Harvard College in 1993, Ben worked with an organization that helped people who were homeless. He then went to New York University School of Law. There, he planned to work on cases for people in need and on cases involving very serious crimes. After law school, he worked for a judge before starting his career as a lawyer.

Ben Wizner's Career as a Lawyer

Ben Wizner started working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Los Angeles in 2001. At first, he focused on improving prisons. After the events of September 11, 2001, his work changed. He began to focus on how government actions related to national security affected people's rights.

Protecting Rights in New York City

Around 2004, Ben moved to the ACLU's main office in New York City. There, he worked on many important legal cases. These cases involved things like airport security checks, government lists of people to watch, and how the government collects information about people. He also visited the Guantanamo Bay detention camp several times.

Ben often found it hard to win these cases because of government secrecy. He once said that his work was sometimes about "creating a record." This meant making sure there was information for people in the future to look back on and decide if the government's actions were right.

The Khalid El-Masri Case

In 2005, Ben Wizner represented a German citizen named Khalid El-Masri. Mr. El-Masri was arrested by mistake in Macedonia because he was thought to have links to a terrorist group. He was held by the CIA in a secret detention place for five months, even though there was proof he was the wrong person.

Mr. El-Masri's lawsuit in the U.S. was stopped because of government secrecy. However, the CIA later admitted they made a mistake. The European Court of Human Rights later ruled that Macedonia had violated Mr. El-Masri's rights.

Leading the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project

In 2011, Ben Wizner became the director of the ACLU's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project. This project works to protect people's freedom of speech and their right to privacy, especially with new technologies.

Teaching and Writing

Ben Wizner is also a professor at New York University School of Law. He writes for different websites and magazines, like Time. He has also spoken to the U.S. Congress and appeared on TV news shows to share his views on important issues.

Ben Wizner's Work with Edward Snowden

In 2013, Edward Snowden contacted a journalist and a filmmaker who knew Ben Wizner. Snowden wanted to share secret information about government programs. Ben was then connected with Snowden when Snowden was stuck in Moscow.

Supporting Edward Snowden's Legal Team

Ben Wizner became the main lawyer for Edward Snowden. Snowden's legal team also includes other lawyers who work for free (this is called pro bono work). Their goal is to help Snowden stay free and continue to share his views on government surveillance.

Ben has said that working with Snowden is "the work of a lifetime." Before Snowden's actions, it was hard for lawyers like Ben to challenge government intelligence agencies in court. This was because they often lacked "standing," meaning they didn't have the right to bring a case to court. But after Snowden revealed that a company was giving phone data to the U.S. government, the ACLU finally had a strong reason to sue.

Because of his work with Snowden, the New York Times Magazine said that Ben Wizner had become a very important person in world events.

Ben Wizner's Views on Privacy and Government

Ben Wizner strongly believes in the right to privacy. He thinks that too much government surveillance can harm people's freedoms. He has pointed out that sometimes, challenging existing rules can lead to positive changes in society, like in the LGBT civil rights movement.

Defending Edward Snowden

Ben Wizner has strongly defended Edward Snowden. He believes Snowden broke the law for the public good. He also notes that no government officials have been held responsible for human rights violations that happened after 9/11.

In 2019, after Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, was arrested, Ben Wizner said that prosecuting Assange for sharing secret information could be dangerous for journalists. He explained that journalists often have to break foreign secrecy laws to get important information for the public.