(Cazenovia, NY – Sept. 2015) Zephyr Teachout, described by the Daily Show’s Jon Stewart as the “utter unknown” who “nearly overturned the primary” in the race for New York’s governorship, will deliver the next Cazenovia Forum lecture on Friday Oct. 9 at 7 p.m. at the Catherine Cummings Theatre in Cazenovia.
Admission to the event is free of charge. A reception will follow.
Teachout, a constitutional law professor at Fordham Law School and one of the nation’s leading legal experts on corruption, is best known for her efforts to limit the influence of money on politics. Her arguments were cited in the Citizens United case by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
“People want politicians who fight for them, and they don’t want politicians who are fighting for big money,” Teachout said. Despite running in the 2014 gubernatorial race with $200,000 against the incumbent Andrew Cuomo and his $32 million war chest, she won 31 of New York’s 62 counties, performing particularly well Upstate.
In its review of her book, Corruption in America: From Benjamin Franklin’s Snuff Box to Citizens United, the New York Review of Books said, “Teachout convincingly argues that corruption, broadly understood as placing private interests over the public good in public office, is at the root of what ails American democracy.”
Teachout was head of online organizing for Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign. After the market crash of 2008, Teachout co-founded a group dedicated to breaking the power of Wall Street banks.
Zephyr Teachout is a graduate of Yale University and Duke University Law School.
More information can be found at www.cazenoviaforum.com.
Zephyr I am a strong supporter of your efforts but cannot understand why you have not fought for the public school students in East Ramapo who have seen their education destroyed by a BOE totally controlled by the Hasidic leadership of the town of Ramapo.
Why have you been silent even after public school parents and clergy have finally forced the NYSBOE to send an investigative team of 3 “monitors” to report back?
Are you familiar with the detailed critique of the East Ramapo BOE sent by Hank Greenberg to Governor Cuomo now about a year ago?
He was so appalled by what he found that he recommended that no additional funds be given to East Ramapo until NYS appointed a permanent monitor to supervise the district.
Robert I. Rhodes, PhD., Chairman, Preserve Ramapo