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2025 Neiman-Sieroty Lecture features talk by Asha Rangappa titled ‘A Precarious Balance’

Annual lecture was established to give USC Gould students opportunities to interact with civil rights experts.

May 5, 2025 By USC Gould School of Law
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The 2025 Allen Neiman & Alan Sieroty Lecture featured keynote speaker Asha Rangappa, Assistant Dean and Senior Lecturer for the Yale University Jackson School of Global Affairs. Her talk, titled, “A Precarious Balance: Civil Liberties in an Age of ‘Absolute Immunity’ for Executive Power,” was held April 10 at USC Gould School of Law.

Rangappa previously was an associate dean at Yale Law School, and a special agent in the New York Division of the FBI, specializing in counterintelligence investigations. Her lecture discussed the power imbalance between different branches of government, giving context to current events via historical examples and legal precedents.

The lecture series was established by a gift from Allen Neiman and Alan Sieroty, USC Gould Class of 1956 classmates and law partners. The pair shared a commitment to civil rights and the series provides an opportunity for students to interact with experts in civil liberties and civil rights.

View more photos from the event >

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