Counterterrorism and the Constitution

Speakers:

• Prof. Bob Turner, Center for National Security Law, University of Virginia School of Law.
• Prof. Sandy Levinson, W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law, University of Texas School of Law

How do we keep our nation secure from terrorism within the constraints imposed by the very Constitution we seek to preserve? This debate will feature a lively exchange between two distinguished scholars on that topic, one of the most pressing of our day. The panelists will address timely issues affecting counterterrorism intelligence gathering, including constitutional issues affecting the permanent revision of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which is currently being debated in Washington.

Professor Bob Turner received both his J.D. and S.J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where in 1981 he co-founded the Center for National Security Law. A former Stockton Professor of International Law at the Naval War College, he served in the Senate when FISA was enacted in 1978 and later was the senior White House lawyer charged specifically with overseeing compliance with FISA and other intelligence laws. Dr. Turner also served as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs and as President of the U.S. Institute of Peace. A former three-term chairman of the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security, he has chaired or co-chaired the Federalist Society's National Security Law Subcommittee since its inception. He is an author or editor of more than a dozen books, including the casebook/ National Security Law/, and has testified before more than a dozen congressional committees.

Sandy Levinson holds the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr. Centennial Chair in Law at the University of Texas School of Law, which he joined in 1980. Previously a member of the Department of Politics at Princeton University, he is also a Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Texas. Levinson is author of over 250 articles and book reviews in professional and popular journals and four books including, most recently, Our Undemocratic Constitution: Where the Constitution Goes Wrong (and How We the People Can Correct It). He has edited or co-edited books include a leading constitutional law casebook, Processes of Constitutional Decisionmaking, and Torture: A Collection, which includes reflections on the morality, law, and politics of torture from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. He has taught a course on "Torture, Law, and Lawyers" at the Harvard Law School. He is also a regular participant on the popular blog, Balkinization.

Cost is $15 for Federalist Society members and $20 for non-members

1 Hour CLE Credit Pending

RSVP by Friday, February 1st to (512) 533-0125 or [email protected].

If you RSVP affirmatively and do not cancel, you will be charged even if you do not attend. Reservations are transferable.