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Saturday November 21, 2009

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  • Guantanamo Detainees: Is a National Security Court the Answer?

    Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • March 17, 2009, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    President Obama’s decision to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp has left many thorny questions for his administration to resolve. On March 17, the Brookings Institution hosted a Judicial Issues Forum in partnership with the Progressive Policy Institute to examine these questions.

  • Immigration and the Courts

    Fri, 20 Feb 2009 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • February 20, 2009, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    The Justice Department’s immigration courts have been the object of attention not only for how their judges have been selected but also for their heavy caseloads and shortage of resources, including the inadequacy of legal representation available to aliens. On February 20, Russell Wheeler moderated a discussion on these issues with Judge Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and other immigration law experts. 

  • Legal Policy in the Obama Administration

    Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • November 12, 2008, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    Key legal and constitutional policy issues from the Bush administration will no doubt carry over to the Obama administration: protecting national security with due regard for civil liberties, achieving an immigration policy that secures the nation's borders and treats lawful immigrants fairly, and identifying the proper extent and limits of presidential authority.  On November 12, Brookings Visiting Fellow Russell Wheeler moderated a panel of experts to discuss what this will mean for the Justice Department and other law enforcement agencies.

  • Preview of the 2008-09 U.S. Supreme Court Term

    Mon, 06 Oct 2008 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • October 06, 2008, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    The constitutionality of a key Voting Rights Act provision, the FCC’s ban on broadcasting “dirty words" and many other cases are on the docket for the U.S. Supreme Court's 2008-09 term. The Brookings Judicial Issues Forum hosted a panel discussion with leading legal scholars and practitioners who offered their insights on the upcoming court term and discussed some of the biggest cases the justices will hear.

  • Restore Civility to the Selection of Federal Judges

    Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

    Restore Civility to the Selection of Federal Judges
    Hot-button social topics often dominate voters' views of where presidential candidates stand on judicial appointments. Plus, as in much of U.S. politics, the process of getting judges on the bench has become cantankerous and divided. Russell Wheeler says that the next president should try to work with the Senate to restore civility.

  • The Next Administration and the Future of the Judiciary

    Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • September 04, 2008, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    The next U.S. president may well have to reconfigure both the Supreme Court and the U.S. courts of appeals. On September 4, the Brookings Judicial Issues Forum hosted a discussion of how John McCain or Barack Obama might approach this opportunity differently and how they might address the challenges associated with appointing judges and shaping courts.

  • Briefing on U.S. Supreme Court Rulings

    Fri, 27 Jun 2008 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • June 27, 2008, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    In June 2008, the Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns and ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who rapes a child. The Court also ruled in favor of Guantánamo detainees' habeas corpus rights. On June 27, Brookings Fellow Benjamin Wittes moderated a briefing on these rulings and other developments of the 2007-08 term.

  • Terrorists and Detainees: Do We Need a New National Security Court?

    Fri, 01 Feb 2008 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • February 01, 2008, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

    In a conference co-sponsored by the American University Washington College of Law and Brookings, panelists discussed the pros and cons of establishing a special National Security Court for the purpose of conducting major terrorism trials, and what jurisdiction should be assigned to such a court.

  • The Politics and Law of Voter ID: Previewing the Supreme Court Arguments in Crawford v. Marion County Election Board

    Mon, 07 Jan 2008 14:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • January 07, 2008, 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM

    Questions about identification requirements for voting continue to inspire rancor from both sides of the aisle as policy-makers seek to prevent voter fraud and address concerns that such rules disenfranchise poor and minority voters.  On January 7, two days before the Supreme Court arguments, the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project and the Brookings Judicial Issues Forum hosted a discussion previewing the arguments and exploring the legal issues underlying the cases.

  • Prosecutorial Misconduct and Abuses

    Wed, 10 Oct 2007 09:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • October 10, 2007, 9:00 AM to 10:30:00 AM

    Brookings's Judicial Issues Forum hosted a discussion on prosecutorial misconduct, examining its frequency at the state and federal levels, the circumstances under which it is most likely to occur and strategies to minimize its impact.

  • Is the Right to Bear Arms an Anachronism?

    Mon, 11 Jun 2007 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • June 11, 2007, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    Brookings continued its Judicial Issues Forum series with a discussion of the practical and constitutional arguments for and against various forms of gun control. Panelists included Josh Sugarmann, executive director of the Violence Policy Center; Randy Barnett, Carmack Waterhouse professor of legal theory at the Georgetown University Law Center; Jens Ludwig, professor of public policy at Georgetown University and nonresident senior fellow at Brookings; and Benjamin Wittes, guest scholar at Brookings.

  • Politics and the Justice Department: Finding a Path to Accountability

    Fri, 20 Apr 2007 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • April 20, 2007, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

    Brookings continued its Judicial Issues Forum series with a discussion on lessons learned from the attorney general firings and other legal controversies. Panelists discussed the trial and conviction of Scooter Libby, former White House chief of staff; the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act; prosecution of voter fraud; and the replacement of all U.S. attorneys by the Clinton Administration in 1993.

  • Does the Clean Air Act Require the EPA to Combat Global Warming?

    Mon, 04 Dec 2006 14:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • December 04, 2006, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

    On November 29, 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on one of the most important environmental cases in decades, Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The justices reviewed a federal appeals court ruling in favor of the Bush Administration's refusal to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. On December 4, Brookings continued its Judicial Issues Forum series with a discussion on the case and the larger issues around global warming.

  • Polarizing the House of Representatives: How Much Does Gerrymandering Matter?

    Mon, 30 Oct 2006 14:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • October 30, 2006, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

    The 2006 mid-term elections presented new questions about gerrymandering—particularly how Election Day results would be affected by congressional redistricting designed to provide an electoral edge to certain political parties and incumbents, or to disadvantage racial groups as the Supreme Court recently ruled Texas had done.

  • What Should Be the Future of the Death Penalty?

    Tue, 05 Sep 2006 14:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • September 05, 2006, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

    Brookings continued its Judicial Issues Forum series with a discussion on whether the death penalty deters crime, whether it is administered fairly, whether death row exonerations prove the system a failure, whether federal courts should provide more-or less-supervision of state death sentences, and whether the abhorrence of our death penalty regime overseas should tip Americans of mixed views toward the abolitionist position.

  • Are Judges Political?

    Tue, 20 Jun 2006 11:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • June 20, 2006, 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM

    Brookings continued its Judicial Issues Forum series with a discussion of whether judges are political, examining the impact of ideology on the federal judiciary. A group of leading legal analysts discussed the Brookings book, Are Judges Political? An Empirical Analysis of the Federal Judiciary.

  • Presidential War Powers: Has the Government Gone Too Far?

    Fri, 17 Mar 2006 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • March 17, 2006, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

    President Bush's authorization of National Security Agency eavesdropping on communications between the United States and other countries that are said to involve Al Qaeda is helping bring to a boil the long-simmering debate over the president's expansive assertions of presidential war powers. Brookings continued its Judicial Issues Forum series with a look at the both current and historical debates—going back to the colonial era and the framing of the Constitution—about the extent of the president's war powers.

  • Scrutinizing Judge Alito: Does the Process Work?

    Tue, 17 Jan 2006 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • January 17, 2006, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    Brookings hosted a Judicial Issues Forum discussion on the battle to confirm Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito and what it says about the state of the confirmation process.

  • Detention and Interrogation of Captured "Enemies": Do Law and National Security Clash?

    Mon, 12 Dec 2005 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • December 12, 2005, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    Controversial interrogation techniques such as waterboarding have become flash points in the debate over the limits of U.S. interrogation policy. Stuart Taylor, Jr. moderated a panel discussion on whether the nation can protect itself against terrorism while giving captured terrorists traditional protections of federal and international law.

  • Active Liberty: Interpreting Our Democratic Constitution

    Mon, 17 Oct 2005 15:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • October 17, 2005, 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM

    Associate Justice Stephen Breyer, an influential voice on the Supreme Court since 1994, spoke at Brookings. Justice Breyer discussed the Constitution and how the Supreme Court interprets it; the relationship among the Supreme Court, Congress and the executive branch; and recent Supreme Court decisions on religion, free speech, affirmative action and privacy.

  • Reshaping the Supreme Court

    Fri, 16 Sep 2005 09:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • September 16, 2005, 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM

    As the U.S. Senate debated the nomination of Judge John Roberts, Jr. to become the 17th chief justice of the United States, the Brookings Institution held a panel discussion on the issues likely to be raised in the Senate floor debate on the nomination as well as the important issues the court is expected to decide over the next twenty years.

  • Can an Independent Judiciary Be Accountable?

    Fri, 10 Jun 2005 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • June 10, 2005, 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM

    A panel discussion with six leading legal experts on why the judiciary now finds itself so reviled in Congress; the role of the appointment process as a form of democratic accountability; the conflict over filibustering of nominees; the efforts to strip federal courts of jurisdiction over some issues; and the talk of impeaching judges for perceived usurpations of power.

  • Darfur, War Crimes, the International Criminal Court, and the Quest for Justice

    Fri, 25 Feb 2005 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • February 25, 2005, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    A Judicial Issues Forum discussion among leading experts on the calamity in Darfur and the international community's failure to empower a suitable war crimes tribunal. The session reviewed the gravity of the situation in Sudan, the controversy over efforts to grant jurisdiction to the International Criminal Court, and the limited potential of other options—such as turning to the Rwanda genocide tribunal in Arusha, Tanzania, as an alternative.

  • Executive Power and Due Process: Supreme Court Rules on "Enemy Combatants"

    Thu, 08 Jul 2004 10:00:00 GMT

    Event Information:

    • July 08, 2004, 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

    In one of the most important decisions in many decades on the tensions between the president's wartime powers and civil liberties, the Supreme Court upheld executive detention of "enemy combatants" during wartime. Four former high-level government officials—who served in both Bush administrations as well as under Presidents Reagan and Clinton—discussed the decisions and their implications for future actions by the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.

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