THE RULE OF LAW ORAL HISTORY PROJECT
Zachary P. Katznelson
Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project
An interview with Zachary P. Katznelson conducted March 7 and March 13, 2013 by Ronald J. Grele for the Columbia Center for Oral History, Rule of Law Oral History Project.
Zachary Katznelson’s introduction to the United States prison system began with his work as a lawyer representing clients on death row and wrongfully convicted prisoners. From this foundation, he went on to work as a senior counsel at Reprieve, representing Guantánamo Bay detainees. Today, his work focuses on cyber security for the National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union. Highlights of this interview include discussions of Katznelson’s experiences working in the South with Clive Stafford Smith and the Louisiana Capital Assistance Center, representing and befriending Muslim detainees as a Jewish American, the Central Intelligence Agency’s secret surveillance and censorship of Guantánamo Bay detainee’s courtroom proceedings, the Obama administration’s clandestine approach to the war on terror, and the U.S. government’s flawed narrative on cyber terrorism and security.
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