Blueprint for Accountability

Accountability is crucial to democracy. At a time when grave challenges threaten American democracy, only a groundswell of public engagement can restore American values and moral standing in the world. At this crucial moment, Culture Project presents Blueprint for Accountability, a series that asks “How can we empower ourselves to hold our leaders – in government, education, and corporate institutions – accountable for the events of the past and the conditions of the future?” In a bold new hybrid of investigative journalism and theater, Blueprint for Accountability brings the world’s leading experts in politics and journalism together with visionary artists to create an architectural plan for restoring accountability into our culture. Rule of Law: Torture, Democracy, Privatization, Habeas Corpus, the most recent installation of the Blueprint for Accountability series, played to a sold out audience on June 7, 2010 at New York University’s Skirball Center. The event featured provocative panel discussions with CIA Officer Valerie Plame Wilson, retired Iraq commander Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, best-selling author and investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind, and Center for Constitutional Rights Executive Director Vince Warren. Punctuating the experts’ discussion, Director Fisher Stevens screened vital archival footage and directed theatrical scenes starring acclaimed actors James Spader, Liev Schreiber, Julianna Marguiles, Mariska Hargitay, and Matt Dillon. The event assembled some of the nation’s most influential voices to debate and examine the unprecedented events, policies, and circumventions of the Bush administration. The forum fused theater, film, debate, and discussion to call attention to these crimes, urging policy makers, elected officials, and world citizens to craft a decisive moral response capable of restoring America’s dignity and standing throughout the international community. Organizations and artists associated with this project include: Fisher Stevens; James Spader; Live Schreiber; Julianna Margulies; Mariska Hargitay; Matt Dillon; Kathleen Chalfant; Brian Jones; John Leguizamo; Noah Emmerich; Culture Project; and Link TV.