Topic
When you think of what “the arts” are providing our society today, do you think the arts advance liberty? In this unique Hayek Group talk, John Kramer will reflect on his efforts to advance individual liberty through the arts. He will share specific examples of movies, music and paintings he has helped create or has created on his own to promote freedom and push back against the power of the state. During the Q&A time, you will have opportunity to learn about the other efforts has undertaken to promote liberty and justice.
Speaker: John Kramer
John Kramer joined the Institute for Justice in 1992. His work in strategic media relations work and one the litigation pursued by the Institute for Justice has protected the individual rights of Americans nationwide.
He he has helped property owners successfully challenge eminent domain for private gain, secured the rights of entrepreneurs who fought against government-enforced monopolies, helped extend First Amendment protections to the Internet, and directed the successful PR effort to strike down a federal law that made it a felony to compensate bone marrow donors—a victory that has the potential to save thousands of American lives each year.
Kramer has directed the media relations in 10 landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases. His work has been featured on 60 Minutes, in the The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The New York Times. He has earned numerous national awards for his PR and media relations. He was featured as a “Voice of Authority” in the nation’s leading public relations textbook, The Practice of Public Relations by Fraser Seitel. In 2018, Kramer received The Thomas Roe Award, the highest honor presented by the State Policy Network.
Relative to his unique Hayek Group talk, it is especially relevant to note that John Kramer is also a novelist, librettist, film producer and oil painter. His novel, Blythe, has been transformed into a three-act opera in Italian, titled Isabella, which earned the following unsolicited review from Maestro János Ács—who conducted with The Three Tenors— “Isabella is a masterpiece! From its story to its orchestration and vocal writing, this opera will leave audiences inspired, deepened in their faith in humanity and themselves, and moved by the bravura of its creators.” Kramer was portrayed in the Hollywood movie Little Pink House, starring Catherine Keener. (He was paid a fifth of bourbon for his life rights for the movie, the same amount paid to John Wayne when he appeared on the television show The Beverly Hillbillies.)
John Kramer is a graduate and distinguished alumni of New Mexico State University.