On Friday, April 4, 2008, ACS hosted a panel discussion on issues surrounding the state secrets privilege. The privilege allows the government to prevent the disclosure of certain information in legal proceedings, whether or not a federal agency or employee is a party to the proceeding. While the privilege’s rationale has been to avoid disclosures damaging to national security, recent invocations of the state secrets privilege in court have left some observers to claim that the doctrine is being abused by the Executive branch. The situation has raised many legal and policy questions, including: Is the state secrets privilege being improperly invoked? How can national security concerns be balanced with the need to preserve meaningful access to justice in our nation’s courts? What issues should Congress consider as it weighs bipartisan reform legislation, such as the State Secret Protection Act of 2008 in the House and a similar bill in the Senate?

The panel featured:

• Justin Florence, Fellow, Georgetown Center for National Security and Law
• Aziz Huq, Director of the Liberty and National Security Project, Brennan Center
  for Justice at New York University School of Law
• Richard Samp, Chief Counsel, Washington Legal Foundation
• Michael Vatis, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson LLP; formerly Director of the National Infrastructure Protection Center at the FBI and Special Counsel at the Department of Defense
• Ben Wizner, Staff Attorney, American Civil Liberties Union
• Moderator, Jonathan Turley, Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School

Friday, April 4, 2008
12 - 2 p.m.
Room 2237
Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20510