What: “U.S. Detention Policies a Decade After 9/11: Two Opposing Perspectives on Security.”

Who: Pardiss Kebriaei (CCR attorney who has represented men detained at Guantanamo) and Michael Sullivan (former Attorney General John Ashcroft's law partner)

When: March 30, 2011, at 12 noon and 7pm

Where: Western New England College School of Law, Law School Commons, Springfield (at noon) and Neilson Library Browsing Room, Smith College, Northampton (at 7pm)

 

For more information, please call: 413-665-1150

 

For nearly ten years, the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, has been a symbol of U.S. post-9/11 detention policies, yet there is still debate about what should happen with the prison and the 172 men still detained there.  On Wednesday, March 30, CCR attorney Pardiss Kebriaei and Michael Sullivan will share their opposing views on current U.S. detention policies and security, including Guantánamo Bay prison, in two conversations.  Organizers of the two events hope that the conversations will spur public dialogue on what remains a critical issue.

 

The first debate will occur at 12 noon Western New England College School of Law, Law School Commons, Springfield.  Matthew Charity, associate professor of Law at WNEC, will moderate. 

 

The second debate occur at 7 p.m. in the Neilson Library Browsing Room at Smith College, Northampton.  Alice Hearst, associate professor of Government, will moderate.  Both programs are free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.

 

Pardiss Kebriaei, a staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, has represented detainees at Guantánamo Bay and has sought accountability for torture and arbitrary detention.  Michael Sullivan, a partner at Ashcroft Law Firm, formerly served as the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts and as the Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.  As a U.S. Attorney, Sullivan prosecuted Richard Reid, known as the “shoe bomber.”

 

Organizers of the two events hope that the conversations will spur public dialogue on the issue.  

 

*The noon program is sponsored by the National Lawyers Guild WNEC Chapter, WNEC Federalist Society, South Asian Law Students Association WNEC, and Pioneer Valley No More Guantánamos.  A light buffet lunch will be served.

 

*The 7 p.m. program is sponsored by the Smith College Government Department with Pioneer Valley No More Guantánamos, Smith College Republican Club, and Smith Democrats.  Refreshments will be served.