Re-enacting the Pentagon Papers argument

A couple of weeks ago, in connection with the play "The Battle for the Pentagon Papers," which was being performed at Hancher Auditorium, the law school presented a re-enactment of the Supreme Court oral argument in New York Times Co. v. United States.  This was all the brainchild of my colleague Randy Bezanson.  Dean Emeritus Bill Hines played Solicitor General Griswold, former UI General Counsel Mark Schantz played Alexander Bickel, and eight of my colleagues and I played the Supreme Court justices.  I was fortunate enough to play Justice Harlan -- my ideal justice.

What was especially interesting was the presence in the audience of Daniel Ellsberg, the RAND analyst who copied the Pentagon Papers and leaked them to the New York Times and the Washington Post.  Ellsberg was definitely a . . . character, and I was delighted to get to meet someone once accused by Pat Buchanan of having cost the United States the Vietnam War.

Here's a Daily Iowan story about the event, which also contains a Quicktime video.