Elizabeth (Liza) Goitein

Co-Director, Liberty & National Security Program

Elizabeth (Liza) Goitein co-directs the Brennan Center for Justice’s Liberty and National Security Program, which seeks to advance effective national security policies that respect constitutional values and the rule of law. Before coming to the Brennan Center, Ms. Goitein served as counsel to Senator Feingold, Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. As counsel to Senator Feingold, Ms. Goitein handled a variety of liberty and national security matters, with a particular focus on government secrecy and privacy rights. She also worked on matters involving immigration, juvenile justice, sentencing, prisoner re-entry, and First Amendment issues. Previously, Ms. Goitein was a trial attorney in the Federal Programs Branch of the Civil Division of the Department of Justice.

Ms. Goitein’s writing has been featured in major newspapers including the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, as well as prominent outlets such as Roll Call, the National Law Journal, and the Huffington Post. She has appeared on national television and radio shows including the PBS NewsHour and National Public Radio’s On The Media.

Ms. Goitein graduated from the Yale Law School in 1998 and clerked for the Honorable Michael Daly Hawkins on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.