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 J. Powell, 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.
Next Event
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May 22, 2008 - Next Breakfast Program - Featuring Rep. Jim Cooper (TN-05), on "Congress in the Roles and Missions Debate" Click here for more info. |
Recent Events
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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:
Please click here to listen to the podcast, (running time 73 minutes) Please click here to watch to the C-SPAN video. |
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December 19, 2007 |
Keynote address by Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey before the Standing Committee. Click here. (running time 40 minutes) |
Annual Review of the Field of National Security Law
| 11/15 | Welcoming remarks and Panel I - Executive Branch Perspectives (partial panel-full panel to be posted soon) Click here to listen (running time: 1 hour) |
| Panel IV – Extraordinary Rendition Moderated by Scott Silliman, panelists include Robert Chesney, John Radsan, Margaret Satterthwaite and Michael Scheuer. Click here to listen Part 1 (running time: 59 minutes) Click here to listen Part 2 (running time: 54 minutes) |
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| Panel V – National Security Strategy for a New Administration Moderated by John Norton Moore, panelists include Kurt Campbell, Jeffrey Smith, Nicholas Rostow and Marin Strmecki. Click here to listen Part 1 (running time: 101 minutes) Click here to listen Part 2 (running time: 39 minutes) |
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| Luncheon Keynote Speech:
Major General Charles J. Dunlap Jr., USAF, Deputy Judge Advocate General, United States Air Force “Lawfare and Warfare” (click here to listen) (running time: 103 minutes) |
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| Luncheon Keynote Speech: Congressman James Cooper, Chair, Special Committee on Roles and Missions of the Armed Forces, House Armed Services Committee Click here to listen (running time: 45 minutes) |
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| Dinner Speech by the Honorable James Comey, SVP and GC, Lockheed Martin and Former Deputy AG, Justice Click here to listen (running time: 45 minutes) |
Full panels will be posted as soon as they become available.
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Nov. 15-16 2007 |
MCLE Conference Materials Day1(9.1MB) |
Renaissance Hotel 999 Ninth St., NW Wash., DC (Metro accessible) |
Contact
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: hmcmahon@staff.abanet.org
National Security Law Report
The March 2008 National Security Law Report has been released.
The March 2008 National Security Law Report opens with an exchange of views between Gabor Rona (Human Rights First) and David B. Rivkin, Jr., and Lee A. Casey (Baker & Hostetler LLP) concerning the U.S. government's approach to the "enemy combatant" concept. We also provide a reprint of a recent debate between the Honorable Richard Posner (Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals) and Juliette Kayyem (Undersecretary for Homeland Security for the Commonweath of Massachusetts) as to whether the U.S. should adopt the "MI-5" model of domestic intelligence.
Volume 30, Number 1 March 2008
- Enemy Combatants in the "War on Terror?" A Case Study of How Myopic Lawyering Makes Bad Law by Gabor Rona
- Combatant Status Under the Laws of War by David B. Rivkin, Jr. & Lee A. Casey
- Intelligence Agency? Does the U.S. Need a Domestic Intelligence Agency? Judge Richard Posner and Juliette Kayyem Debate the Question (from CFR.org - Reprinted with permission)
- Committee on Law and National Security Available Resources
- In Case You Missed It
Recent Publications
Due Process and Terrorism
A Post Workshop Report, November 2007
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A discussion by legal experts from the government, the private sector, and academia on the question of the appropriate process due to individuals detained as suspected terrorists, especially as the lawsuits arising out of the detention of “enemy combatants” at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, (Boumediene v. Bush and Al Odah v. United States) set to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in December 2007. |
Click here for a copy of the full report.
On December 5, 2007, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Boumediene case.
The transcript is posted here:
The audio is posted here:
Patriot Debates
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The discussions over the USA PATRIOT Act continue. Read Patriot Debates and be informed about both sides of the debate. The book contains detailed essays by noted legal experts on 16 provisions of the Act. |
Hurricane Katrina Task Force Subcommittee Report
This report evaluates the current legal authorities available to prepare and respond to catastrophic incidents, whether from terrorism, accident or natural causes.
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It is the result of a joint effort between the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security, the ABA Section of State and Local Government Law and the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice |
Understanding the Privatization of National Security
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House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform continue to examine the use of private security contractors. Read the Standing Committee's Conference Report on "Understanding the Privatization National Security." Click here to read the May 2006 Report. |
Patriot Debates Online!
Read the online version of Patriot Debates, containing detailed essays by noted legal experts on 16 provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act.
