This event was co-sponsored by The Heritage Foundation.

President Obama has decided to close Guantanamo and reassess our counterterrorism policies.  The leader of the Pakistani Taliban has threatened “an attack in Washington that will amaze everyone in the world.”  What happens next?  What legal structures can keep America safe against terrorist attacks?  Should the law of armed conflict maintain its primacy?  Can ordinary criminal courts successfully try terrorist suspects?  Should specialized national security courts be created?  What interrogation, surveillance and intelligence tools are essential to prevent future attacks?

THURSDAY, MAY 28
9:15 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
Panel 1: Detention and Trial of Terrorist Suspects   

• Jonathan Hafetz, Esq., American Civil Liberties Union
• Elisa Massimino, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, Human Rights First
• Andrew C. McCarthy, Senior Fellow, National Review Institute
• David B. Rivkin, Jr., Partner, Baker & Hostetler LLP
• Charles D. "Cully" Stimson, Senior Legal Fellow, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation, and former Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense (Detainee Affairs)
• Moderator: The Hon. Edwin Meese, III, Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow in Public Policy and Chairman, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation
• Introduction: Vincent J. Vitkowsky, Partner, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Panel 2: Preventing Attacks through Interrogation and Transfer of Terrorist Suspects   

• Deborah Pearlstein, Associate Research Scholar, Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
• Gabor Rona, Acting Director of Law and Security and International Legal Director, Human Rights First
• The Hon. Edwin D. Williamson, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and former Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State
• Benjamin Wittes, Senior Fellow, Governance Studies, Brookings Institution
• Moderator: William Kristol, Founder and Editor, The Weekly Standard
• Introduction: Dean Reuter, Director of Practice Groups, The Federalist Society

12:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Panel 3: Preventing Attacks through Surveillance and Intelligence   

• Mike German, Policy Counsel, American Civil Liberties Union 
• Kate Martin, Director, Center for National Security Studies
• Prof. Nathan A. Sales, Assistant Professor of Law, George Mason University School of Law and former Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• The Hon. George J. Terwilliger III, White & Case LLP and former Deputy U.S. Attorney General
• Moderator: Stewart A. Baker, Steptoe & Johnson LLP and former Assistant Secretary for Policy, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
• Introduction: Vincent J. Vitkowsky, Partner, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP

2:45 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
Closing Remarks   

• The Hon. Kenneth L. Wainstein, O'Melveny & Myers LLP and former Assistant U.S. Attorney General for National Security
• Introduction: Charles D. "Cully" Stimson, Senior Legal Fellow, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, The Heritage Foundation, and former Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense (Detainee Affairs)

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