Participants in three of the most controversial and important criminal cases in recent American history will speak about the civil rights implications July 29 at the annual Whistle Blowers Summit on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.

Former Qwest Communications International Chairman and CEO Joseph Nacchio, former Secret Service White House special agent Abraham Bolden, and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy will speak on “Exposing U.S. Political Prosecutions & Dangers To Democracy” on a 4 p.m. panel moderated by this editor from the Justice Integrity Project.

The free, three-day event convenes government critics, the media, and other researchers, beginning at the Stewart Mott House July 29.

Nacchio will describe the federal government as a major threat to democracy and speaks also at a 10 a.m. news conference at the National Press Club that day.

Nacchio holds a rare combination of experience running one of the nation’s four major regional telephony companies and seeking to protect customer privacy from requests for the National Security Agency to obtain data in early 2001 (before 9/11) without then-required court orders.

The panelists’ stature and experience provides a rare opportunity for whistle blowers and other reformers in the audience to learn first-hand how the legal system can treat those of step forward, and how some are still willing to say what the public needs to hear even after their ordeals. The lecture provides those in the media also easy access to expert on controversies that remain timely and important.

In view of recent controversies regarding lax Secret Service protection of President Obama, Bolden holds a rare perspective as a strong critic of Secret Service protection afforded President Kennedy in conditions that helped enable the only presidential assassination in recent history. President John Kennedy recruited him to become the service’s first African-American to guard a president,

Scrushy is shown below in prison with one of his nine children on a visit after being victimized in the notorious federal-state frame-up that is keep former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman imprisoned. The two were convicted on corruption charges after the governor in 1999 reappointed Scrushy to a state regulatory board after Scrushy’s company contributed at Siegelman’s required to a non-profit group, the Alabama Education Foundation.

Panels at the three-day summit are free to the public. Details:

Where: Stewart Mott House 122 Maryland Ave, NE, Washington DC
When: Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at 4 p.m. EDT