PAST EVENT
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM
The incoming administration has indicated that one of its first priorities will be to close Guantanamo Bay. The Scouting Report continued its weekly web chat with Brookings expert Benjamin Wittes, who answered questions about how President Obama can put a legal framework in place to end the clash over detainee rights. Politico's David Mark moderated.
Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Benjamin Wittes, November 14, 2008, CBS Evening News
In an interview with CBS News, Benjamin Wittes discusses three possible ways the Obama administration could close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Russell Wheeler, October 21, 2008, The Brookings Institution
Brookings expert Russell Wheeler offers clues to how a President McCain or Obama might affect the composition of the United States Supreme Court as well as the courts of appeals. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Justin Vaisse, October 2008, La Chronique d'Amnesty International
Justin Vaisse discusses how Obama and McCain approach human rights issues, from capital punishment to Guantanamo and torture. (French)
Read MoreRESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Russell Wheeler, September 09, 2008, The Miami Herald
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. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Matthew C. Waxman, July 24, 2008, The Brookings Institution, Georgetown University Law Center and the Hoover Institution
Matthew Waxman examines the questions underlying the discussion of administrative detention, the possible need for new laws in combating terrorism, and how to make and review detention decisions for whom to detain. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Stuart Taylor, Jr. and Russell Wheeler, July 08, 2008, NewTalk
Russell Wheeler and Stuart Taylor engage in a NewTalk discussion on whether it's possible for judges to apply the law in court cases without making or affecting social policy. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Benjamin Wittes, Andrew McCarthy and Josh Patashnik, July 03, 2008, The New Republic
Benjamin Wittes discusses recent legal developments in the war on terror with Josh Patashnik of The New Republic and Andrew McCarthy, director of the Center for Law and Counterterrorism at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. Read More
VIDEO
Benjamin Wittes, Stuart Taylor, Jr., Miguel A. Estrada and Randolph D. Moss, June 27, 2008
The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the District of Columbia’s 32-year-old ban on handguns; ruled that it is unconstitutional to execute someone who rapes a child; and backed Guantánamo detainees' habeas corpus rights. At a Judicial Issues Forum briefing on these rulings and other developments of the 2007-08 term, Benjamin Wittes and Stuart Taylor, Jr. were among the analysts who discussed the ramifications of these landmark decisions. Miguel Estrada of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; and Randolph Moss of WilmerHale also participated.
PAST EVENT
Friday, June 27, 2008
10:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Washington, DC
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. Read More
VIDEO
Strobe Talbott and Justice Stephen G. Breyer, June 24, 2008
Brookings Senior Fellow William Galston has been named the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in Governance Studies. With the support of this Chair, Galston--its first holder--will tackle some of the hardest questions in the area of political and institutional reform. The Chair was announced at a Brookings event, with a keynote address on international governance and American law from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.
PAST EVENT
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
11:00 AM to 12:15 PM
Washington, DC
Brookings hosted a speech by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer on international governance and American law. The event celebrated the Ezra K. Zilkha Chair in Governance Studies at Brookings, which is named in honor of longtime Brookings trustee Ezra K. Zilkha. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Benjamin Wittes, June 2008, Penguin Press
Six years after the September 11 attacks, America is losing a crucial front in the ongoing war on terror. It is losing not to Al Qaeda but to its own failure to construct a set of laws that will protect the American people. Now, in the twilight of President Bush’s administration, Benjamin Wittes offers an analysis of the troubling legal legacy of the Bush administration, the U.S. Congress and the Supreme Court. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Benjamin Wittes, June 13, 2008, The Washington Post
A divided Supreme Court ruled that Guantanamo Bay detainees have a right to seek release. Benjamin Wittes writes that many fundamental questions remain unanswered and urges Congress to enact a comprehensive legislative solution to the problem of detentions in the war against terrorism. Read More
RESEARCH AND COMMENTARY
Dahlia Lithwick and Benjamin Wittes, June 05, 2008, Bloggingheads.tv
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate and Benjamin Wittes of The Brookings Institution examine the military tribunals being held at Guantanamo Bay, terrorism detainees, and the legal framework on the War on Terror. Read More