Guantanamo Bay Detainees, Cybersecurity and Policy on Modern Piracy Topics of Upcoming ABA Meeting

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 2, 2009 – A number of decisions imminently face the current administration relative to a strategy on handling GITMO detainees, modern piracy issues and cybersecurity. President Obama has indicated that he intends to use both federal district court trials and military commissions to prosecute those detained at Guantanamo Bay. But what are the advantages and disadvantages of each?

Additionally, as heavily-armed drug trafficking organizations defy and undermine government authority and social order in Mexico, a host of policy and legal issues arise for the United States.  What are the implications for our immigration laws?

These issues and more will be explored during the American Bar Association’s 19th Annual Review of the Field of National Security Law conference, Nov. 12 -13 at the Renaissance Washington, D.C. Hotel, Renaissance Ballroom, 999 9th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

Featured keynote speakers include: James Steinberg, deputy Secretary of State; Jamie S. Gorelick, former deputy attorney general of the United States during the Clinton administration; and Janet Napolitano, secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Showcase panel topics include: Legislative Update on Developments in National Security Law, Narco-Violence along the Border, Legal and Policy Options for Handling Piracy, Cybersecurity and Cyberwarfare, and Ethics Challenges for National Security Lawyers In and Out of Government.

Additional featured speakers include: Robert Litt, general counsel, Office of the Director of National Intelligence; Stephen W. Preston, general counsel, Central Intelligence Agency; David Kris, assistant attorney general for National Security, U.S. Department of Justice; Ivan Fong, general counsel, U. S. Department of Homeland Security; Jeh Johnson, general counsel, Department of Defense; Chris Donesa, chief counsel for the minority, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Brandon Milhorn, chief counsel, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee; Tracey Bardorf, special advisor, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Philip Reitinger, deputy undersecretary of National Protection & Programs Directorate, Department of Homeland Security, Chris Painter, acting senior director for Cybersecurity, National Security Council, and Rear Admiral William D. Baumgartner, chief counsel, U.S. Coast Guard.

The conference is sponsored by the ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security. To view a full list of speakers and panel topics, go to:  http://www.abanet.org/natsecurity/home.html

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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Note to Reporters: Reporters wishing to cover the meeting should contact Jane Singleton for credentials at 202/662-1093 or singletv@staff.abanet.org.