Georgetown Law home page Continuing Legal Education A-Z index Directories Search Student Services Admissions & Financial Aid Academic Programs About Georgetown Law Alumni Workshops & Institutes Library Faculty & Administration About this site Site map
Center on National Security and the Law: Events ruler

Upcoming Center Events

  • Book signing: The Untold War by Nancy Sherman

In March 2010, the Center will host Nancy Sherman and a panel of experts to discuss Professor Sherman's newest book, "The Untold War: Inside the Hearts, Minds, and Souls of Our Soldiers." The book is an analysis of the moral weight of warfare today through the lenses of philosophy and psychology. The panel will be moderated by Prof. David Luban.

Recent Center Events

  • Federal Government Security Clearances Workshop

On November 18, 2009, the Center and the Office of Public Interest and Community Service (OPICS) hosted a panel presentation to discuss the application process and the legal framework underlying security clearances. Representatives from the CIA, Department of State, and Department of Justice discussed some of the challenges in obtaining security clearances, and responded to anonymous Q + A.

A webcast of the event is available here.

  • Biometrics and the Law

On November 10, 2009, the Center hosted a panel of legal and scientific experts exploring the legal implications of biometrics.

Biometric ID systems have the capacity to automatically identify and track individuals based on stored data on their biological and behavioral characteristics, including facial features, vascular and retinal patterns, voice, gait, skull resonance, DNA, and yes – even hormones. What are the policy applications and the legal and privacy implications of recent advances in biometric technologies?

Panelists included:

Stewart A. Baker, Former Assistant Secretary for Policy at the US Dept of Homeland Security

Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)

The Honorable Herbert B. Dixon, Jr., Associate Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Dr. Joseph Campbell, Former Senior Scientist at the NSA's Biometric Technology Research Group

Professor Erin Murphy, University of California, Berkeley, School of Law

The panel was moderated by Prof. Laura Donohue, and opening remarks were presented by Prof. David Luban.

This panel was the first in a series of public discussions entitled “Emerging Technology and National Security.”

A webcast of the event is available here.

  • “Defining Human Rights: What Role does International Law Play in our Constitutional System?”

On September 17, 20009, in partnership the Constitution Project and the American Society of International Law, the Center will host an event on Constitution Day, honoring Michael Kirk for his production of Frontline’s “Bush’s War”, and discussing the role that internationl law plays in defining human rights in our domestic constitutional system.                                                                                                                                     

The panel discussion will feature John Bellinger, Partner at Arnold & Porter LLP and former Legal Adviser to the Department of State, 2005-2009; Professor David Stewart, former Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law, U.S. Department of State; Judge Patricia Wald, former Chief Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and former judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and; David Cole, Professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

A webcast of the event is available here.

  • Discussion: Are Military Commissions the Right Answer?

On September 10, 2009, the Center co-hosted a penel discussion with Georgetown Law's Amnesty International student group exploring the different options of what forum in which to prosecute detainees from the War on Terror, specifically whether military commission are the best option.  

The panelists were Matthew G. Olsen, Executive Director of the Guantanamo Review Detainee Taskforce; Major Jon Scott Jackson, Defense Counsel, Office of Military Commissions; Richard E.N. Federico, Lieutenant Commander, JAG Corps, U.S. Navy; Denny LeBoeuf, Director, John Adams Project, ACLU, and; Stephen Vladeck, Professor, American University College of Law.              

There is no public webcast of the event available.

  • Discussion: Bringing Detainees to Justice and Justice to Detainees: Remaining Questions about Detention and Trials after Obama's Executive Orders                   

On March 20, 2009, the Center co-hosted a panel discussion together with the Constitution Project and Human Rights First, exploring the legal and constitutional issues raised by President Obama's executive orders on detention and Guantanamo, including potential proposals for the establishment of a national security court and a preventive detention regime.                                        

Panelists included David Laufman, Partner, Kelley, Drye & Warren LLP and former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia; Deborah Pearlstein, Associate Research Scholar in Law and Public Affairs, Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University; Gabor Rona, International Legal Director, Human Rights First; Matt Waxman, Professor, Columbia Law School and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs; and the event was moderated by Stephen Vladeck, Professor, American University Washington College of Law.

A webcast of the event is available here.

  • Speaker: The Case Against Donald Rumsfeld

On March 18, 2009, the Center, Georgetown's International Law Society and Georgetown's Amnesty International chapter co-hosted Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, talk about his new book, The Case Against Donald Rumsfeld.  Michael Ratner’s book lays out evidence that high-level officials of the Bush administration ordered, authorized, implemented, and permitted war crimes, in particular the crimes of torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Guantánamo, and secret CIA prisons.

  • Discussion: Kiyemba v. Bush and the Future of Guantanamo

On December 3, 2008, the Center and Amnesty International co-hosted a panel discussion about the legal and policy issues surrounding the 17 Chinese Uighur detainees at Guantanamo.  Panelists include Susan Baker Manning, counsel for Kiyemba, Sharon Swingle, counsel for Bush, and Charles Stimson, the former Dep. Asst. Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs.

  • Discussion: American Blacklists

On September 23, 2008, the Center hosted a discussion of blacklists in the United States, both during the Red Scare and today during the War on Terror.  Guests were Prof. Robert Goldstein, author of American Blacklist and Lynne Bernabei, who represents Al Haramain.

  • Official Launch of the Center

On April 10, 2008, the Center was officially launched during a day long conference.  The conference, focused on national security law priorities for the next Administration, featured leading policymakers and scholars.  For a full program, please visit our conference site.

  • Conference: "The Mukasey Hearings Revisited: Legal Experts Analyze the New Attorney General’s Views on National Security and Separation of Powers"

On November 29, 2007, Goergetown hosted a conference of legal experts to discuss the new Attorney General's views on national security.  The confirmation hearings for Attorney General Michael Mukasey raised numerous legal and constitutional issues relating to national security, civil liberties, and the separation of powers.  The positions of the members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the attorney general present a rich variety of views of the constitution and the balance of power among the three branches of government.  The panelists analyzed these positions and considered what the views of the new attorney general have added to the mix. 

Panelists included Jamie Gorelick, former Deputy Attorney General; Prof. Charles Fried, Harvard Law School and former Solicitor General; Prof. Walter Dellinger, Duke Law School and former Acting Solicitor General; Prof. Viet D. Dinh, Georgetown University Law Center and former Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy; and Prof. David Barron, Harvard Law School and former Attorney-Adviser, Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel. 

The event was co-sponsored by Georgetown Law’s Center on National Security & the Law and Harvard Law School’s Heyman Fellows Program, Office of Public Interest Advising; Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

  • Discussion: "Top Secret: When Our Government Keeps Us in the Dark"

On November 28, 2007, Georgetown hosted a discussion between Prof. Geoffery Stone, former Dean of University of Chicago Law School, and author of Top Secret: When Our Government Keeps Us in the Dark, and Prof. Stephen Vladeck of American University's Washington College of Law, moderated by Prof. Neal Katyal of Georgetown.  A Webcast is available at https://www.law.georgetown.edu/webcast/.

  • Debate: "Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror"

On October 30, 2007, the Center, along with the Human Rights Institute and other Georgetown organizations, hosted a discussion and debate celebrating the publication of Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror by Georgetown Law professor David Cole and Jules Lobel.  Professor Cole provided remarks on the book, after which Neal Katyal, Professor, Georgetown University Law Center, and Lead Counsel, Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, and Bradford Berenson, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP, and former Associate White House Counsel for President George W. Bush, responded.  A reception and book signing followed.

  • Conference: "FISA Modernization:  National Security Surveillance in the 21st Century"

On September 10, 2007, in partnership with James A. Baker, Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law, and David S. Kris, coauthor of National Security Investigations and Prosecutions, the Center hosted a day-long conference featuring current and former government officials, including the chief counsel for the Director of National Intelligence.

Attendees included key government officials from such agencies as the Naval Criminal Investigative Services, Department of Justice, National Security Agency, Senate Judiciary Committee, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, Federal Judicial Center, and several senators’ offices; reporters from National Public Radio, Bloomberg News, Associated Press, CNN, Washington Post, US News & World Reports, Wall Street Journal, and others; academics; staff members from Canada’s Department of Justice; and representatives of civil society organizations such as the ACLU, the Constitution Project, Project on Government Oversight, American Bar Association, and US Bill of Rights Foundation.  It was a very promising start to what will be a regular series of events in which high-profile government officials will discuss fast-breaking legal issues in the security community.

 

Stay tuned for news on Center events and initiatives.  For more information on Center news and activities, please send us an email at nationalsecurity@law.georgetown.edu with your name and e-mail address.

Revised 10/27/09