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Standing Committee on Law and National Security

About the Committee

The American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security, founded in 1962 by then-ABA President and later Supreme Court Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., conducts studies, sponsors programs and conferences, and administers working groups on law and national security-related issues. The Committee's activities assist policymakers, educate lawyers, the media and the public, and enable the Committee to make recommendations to the ABA. The Standing Committee provides research and advice on such subjects as the legal responses to terrorism, the restructuring of the intelligence community and its role in law enforcement, and operational international law in the conduct of the military.

Upcoming Events

ABA Annual Meeting
Chicago, IL


July 31, 2009
3:45-5:15 p.m.
Obama's Detainee Policies:
Views from Inside and Out


Hyatt Regency Chicago
Columbus Hall CD, Gold Level
East Tower
151 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL
  August 1, 2009
8:30-10:00 a.m.
National Security Threats
in Cyberspace


Hyatt Regency Chicago
Water tower, Bronze Level
West Tower

151 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL
  August 1, 2009
10:45 a.m-12:15 p.m.
Careers in National
Security Law


Chicago Marriott

Purdue/Wisconsin Room
6th Floor

540 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL

Standing Committee
on Law and National
Security
Annual Conference
Nov. 12-13,
2009
19th Annual Review of the Field
of National Security Law


Renaissance Washington,
DC Hotel
999 Ninth Street, NW
Washington, DC

Opening Reception
Wednesday, November 11
Thursday,
September 10, 2009

Breakfast Program
Current Legal Issues in the
Department of Defense

Speaker, Jeh Johnson, General
Counsel, U.S. Department of
Defense and former Standing
Committee on Law and
National Security member.

University Club
1135 16th Street, NW
Washington, DC

Click here to register.

Recent Events

June 9, 2009 Breakfast Program
Scars of Intelligence Reform
Speaker, Dr. Donald Kerr, former Principal Deputy Director of
National Intelligence in the Office
of the Director of National
Intelligence.

Click here for podcast
(length 43:00 minutes).

May 6, 2009 Breakfast Program with Michael
Leiter, Director, National
Counterterrorism Center

Click here for podcast
(length 39:53 minutes).

March 30, 2009 Careers in National Security Law, George Washington University
Law School.

Click here to read program
summary.

Click here for podcast
(length: 75 minutes).

Feb. 26-27, 2009
Fourth Annual Homeland Security
Institute
sponsored by the Section of
Administrative Law and Practice and
cosponsored by the Standing Committee
on Law and National Security

 

Sept. 25, 2008

Breakfast Program with the
Honorable Stewart A. Baker
,
Assistant Secretary for Policy,
United States Department of
Homeland Security.

Click here for registration information.

Click here to listen to the podcast
(running time: 40 minutes)

   

August 9, 2008

Local Police Fighting International
Terrorism

Click here to listen to the podcast
(running time: 1 hr. 34 minutes)

Click here for list of speakers.

 


Privacy and National Security in a
Networked World: Is It Time to
Reconsider Privacy Rights in
Third Party Records?

Click here to listen to the podcast
(running time: 1 hr. 02 minutes)

Privacy introduction
http://www.goodmanrutt.com/aba_downloads/

Click here for list of speakers.

July 10, 2008
Federal Courts and Terrorists
after Boumediene

Moderated by Robert Litt.

Panelists include Richard Zabel
and Benjamin Wittes.

Click here to Listen to the Program
(duration 1 hour/15 minutes)

June 17, 2008
Program on Supreme Court Ruling
on Boumediene and Munaf
  • Click here for podcast (1:50 minutes)
  • Click here for list of speakers
  • Click here for the text of the Supreme
    Court Decision in Boumediene
  • Click here for the text of the Supreme
    Court Decision in Munaf
May 22, 2008

Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05), on
Congress in the Roles and
Missions Debate

Click here
for audio (46 minutes).

House Armed Services Committee
Panel on Roles and Missions Report

April 30, 2008

Ambassador Frank Wisner, on
Kosovo: Its Independence and U.S. Policy

Click here (47 minutes).

 
March 3, 2008
Breakfast Program on
FISA Reform featuring:
  • Kenneth Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General, National
    Security Division, DOJ
  • Wyndee Parker, Deputy Staff Director
    and General Counsel, House
    Permanent Select Committee on
    Intelligence
  • Kate Martin, Director, Center for
    National Security Studies
  • James A. Baker former head of the
    Office of Intelligence Policy
    and Review, DOJ
  • Moderated by Suzanne Spaulding,
    Chair, Law and National Security
    Advisory Committee and Principal,
    Bingham Consulting Group

Please click here to listen to the podcast,
(running time 73 minutes)

Please click here to watch to the
C-SPAN video.

December 19, 2007
Keynote address by Attorney General
Michael B. Mukasey before the
Standing Committee.

Prepared Remarks for Attorney General
Michael B. Mukasey at the American Bar
Association National Security Law Breakfast

Click here. (running time 40 minutes)

National Security Law Report

The March/April 2009 National Security Law Report is now available.

Articles include: Looking Back to Go Forward: Remaking U.S. Detainee Policy by James Durant and Frank Anechiarico, professors at the U.S. Air Force Academy, discuss the history of detainee policy.

Tying Our Hands in Combating International Money Laundering: The United States Should Loosen the Restraints, But Do So Carefully by attorney Ethan S. Burger who argues that terrorists and international organized crime organizations are a principle threat to national security.

Redefining Liberty in the 21st Century, the 2009 National Security Writing Competition, open to all law students. Deadline for submission is August 15, 2009. Winner will receive a cash prize and a free registration to the 2009 National Security Law Conference.

 

Volume 31, Number 2 Mar./Apr. 2009

Read Past National Security Law Reports

Law and National Security Writing Competition

The 2009 National Security Writing Competition, Redefining Liberty in the 21st Century, is open to all law students. Deadline for submission is August 15, 2009. Winner will receive a cash prize and a free registration to the 2009 National Security Law Conference. Click here for competition guidelines. 

Click here to read the 2008 winning paper - Covert Action and the War on Terror: Reconciling Secrecy and Public Legitimacy.

Contact

Join our mailing list

Contact Information:
Holly McMahon, Staff Director
740 15th Street, NW, 9th Floor
Washington, DC 20005-1022
Phone: (202) 662-1035
Fax: (202) 662-1032
E-mail:

Recent Publications

Due Process and Terrorism Workshop conducted October 18, 2007 by the Standing Committee on Law and
National Security.

Post Workshop Report can be downloaded here.

 

 

 

Standing Committee on Law and National Security announces: Careers in National Security Law - a resource for law students and young lawyers

Click here to read on-line version.

To order the book, visit www.ababooks.org or call 1-800-285-2221
Product Code: 3550019
Price: $19.95

Patriot Debates Online!

November National Security Law Report

Read the online version of Patriot Debates, containing detailed essays by noted legal experts on 16 provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT.

 

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