It has been a year since President Obama took office with a promise to close the detainee holding facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.  In the wake of decisions to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and other terrorist detainees in civilian courts, this is an opportune time to assess our progress in the War on Terror.  Panelists will discuss what has transpired, what has gone wrong, what has gone right, and what we should expect next.  Topics will include detention, surveillance, interrogation, trials, and more. Panelists include Mr. Steven A. Engel of Dechert LLP; Hon. Neal K. Katyal, Principal Deputy Solicitor General for the U.S. Department of Justice; Mr. David B. Rivkin, Jr., Partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP and Co-Chairman for the Center for Law and Counterterrorism; Prof. Stephen I. Vladeck of American University Washington College of Law; and Prof. Neomi Rao of George Mason University School of Law as the moderator. This event was co-sponsored by The Center for Law and Counterterrorism (A Joint Project of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the National Review Institute).

The Federalist Society's Fordham Student Chapter, New York Lawyers Chapter, and the International & National Security Law Practice Group presented this panel discussion on "Will Trying Suspected Terrorists in Federal Court Advance the Interests of Justice and National Security?" The event was held at Fordham University School of Law on January 27, 2010. Panelists included Mr. James J. Benjamin Jr., of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP; Prof. Martin Flaherty of Fordham University School of Law; Prof. William K. Kelley of the University of Notre Dame Law School; Mr. Vincent Vitkowsky of Edwards, Angell, Palmer, & Dodge LLP; and Prof. Andrew Kent of Fordham University School of Law as the moderator.

Updated March 2010
Two significant provisions of the USA Patriot Act (“Patriot Act”)¹ and a related counterterrorism authority will expire on December 31 of this year unless Congress reauthorizes them.  Despite the impending expirations, legislative action to address the subject has just begun.  The House and Senate Judiciary Committees each recently held their first hearings on this subject, on September 22 and 23, respectively.  On September 17, Senators Durbin and Feingold introduced a bill to amend two of the expiring provisions and numerous other counterterrorism authorities.  Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy also recently announced legislation to reauthorize the expiring provisions, with amendments and another sunset.  On September 14, the Department of Justice weighed in on behalf of the Administration, recommending to Congress that all three expiring provisions be reauthorized. 

Early one morning last March, I received a phone call from David Barron, who had recently begun working for the Obama Administration as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel (OLC). David and I had been colleagues at OLC during the Clinton Administration. I stayed on the OLC staff to work for President Bush, and David moved on to become a member of the Harvard Law School faculty. We remained on friendly terms. David was calling to give me a head’s up that later in the day the Justice Department would be releasing ten OLC memoranda from the Bush Administration, two of which I had co-authored. (I was, and am, very grateful to David for his thoughtfulness.) ...