National Archives Sponsors debate: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency-Featuring Judge Richard Posner and Geoffrey Stone
Press Release · Thursday, September 14, 2006

Press Release
September 14, 2006

National Archives Sponsors debate: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency

Featuring Judge Richard Posner and Geoffrey Stone

Washington, DC…On Monday, September 18, at 7 p.m., the National Archives presents a debate between Judge Richard Posner and Geoffrey R. Stone entitled "The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency," in the Arleigh and Roberta Burke Theater of the United States Navy Memorial. The free program will be moderated by Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein.

Join two of the nation’s most prominent legal scholars, Judge Richard Posner and Geoffrey R. Stone, as they debate the following crucial issues: How do we balance personal liberty against public safety in the face of grave national danger? Are there inevitable trade-offs, and, if so, when must we let the Constitution bend and when must we insist that it stand firm? Are censorship measures justified in wartime that would not be justified in times of peace? Should "enemy combatants" be indefinitely detained without a hearing? Should executives be able to restrict civil liberties for reasons of national necessity, as President Lincoln did when he suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War? How can constitutional law best remain responsive to current events?

Richard Posner, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, is the author of Not A Suicide Pact: The Constitution in a Time of National Emergency, inaugural volume in the series Inalienable Rights, a new 14-volume series from Oxford University Press. Geoffrey Stone, series editor, is the Harry Kalven, Jr., Distinguished Service Professor of Law at the University of Chicago and the author of Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Act of Sedition of 1798 to the War on Terrorism. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States and author of The Haunted Wood, a study of espionage during the Cold War, will moderate the discussion.

The Arleigh and Roberta Burke Theater is in the Naval Heritage Center at the United States Navy Memorial, located on Pennsylvania Avenue between 7th and 9th Streets, across the street from the National Archives Building.

This is a Constitution Day Partnership Program with Oxford University Press and is presented in partnership with the United States Navy Memorial.

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For press information, contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.

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