A policy forum featuring Charles Swift, Lieutenant Commander, USN Military Counsel for Salim Ahmed Hamdan; and Richard Samp, Chief Counsel Washington Legal Foundation.
On Tuesday, March 28, the Supreme Court heard arguments in the case of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which concerns a legal challenge to the military tribunals that are seeking to try certain prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay for war crimes. The Bush administration maintains that the president can convene military tribunals to try and punish enemy combatants for offenses against the law of war. Others dispute the idea that the president can presume to decide what rights a prisoner will have and to adjudicate the prisoner's guilt or innocence. Join the Cato Institute for a debate on these matters a day before the Supreme Court heard the controversy.
Bio
Timothy Lynch
Director, Project on Criminal Justice
Under the direction of Tim Lynch, Cato's Project on Criminal Justice has become a leading voice in support of the Bill of Rights and civil liberties. His research interests include the war on terrorism, overcriminalization, the drug war, the militarization of police tactics, and gun control. In 2000, he served on the National Committee to Prevent Wrongful Executions. Lynch has also filed several amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court in cases involving constitutional rights. He is the editor of After Prohibition: An Adult Approach to Drug Policies in the 21st Century. Since joining Cato in 1991, Lynch has published articles in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, ABA Journal, and the National Law Journal. He has appeared on The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, Fox's The O'Reilly Factor, and C-SPAN's Washington Journal. Lynch is a member of the Wisconsin, District of Columbia, and Supreme Court bars. He earned both a B.S. and a J.D. from Marquette University.
Richard Samp
Chief Counsel, Washington Legal Foundation.
Charles Swift
Lieutenant Commander, USN Military Counsel for Salim Ahmed Hamdan.