On April 4, 2008, ACS hosted a panel discussion of the state secrets privilege in light of executive assertions of the privilege and congressional consideration of legislation to statutorily define the privilege. Experts from a variety of perspectives explored issues Congress should consider as it weighs bipartisan reform legislation, including whether the state secrets privilege is being properly invoked and the appropriate balance of national security concerns with meaningful access to justice.

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 School of Law

Video of the event is available here.