The Navy’s retired top lawyer and a retired brigadier general and psychiatrist will join Michigan Law graduate Elisa Massimino for a panel discussion on how best to keep the United States safe in a post-Guantanamo Bay world.
The panel discussion, organized by the Law School‘s Office of Public Service, is set for 4-6 p.m. Nov. 5 in Honigman Auditorium, Room 100 of Hutchins Hall. Panelists will be available for a question-and-answer session with the audience after the discussion.
President Barack Obama’s call to close Guantanamo by January has generated heated discussions about the impact on American security. In response, Human Rights First — a 30-year-old organization that has vigorously advocated against torture, the indefinite detention of terror suspects and human rights violations around the world — mobilized such experts as Rear Adm. John Hutson, a retired Judge Advocate General of the Navy, and Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis, a retired Army psychiatrist and an expert on military medicine, medical ethics and the treatment of detainees. Massimino, who graduated from the Law School in 1988, is HRF’s CEO and executive director.
Organizers say they hope the panelists’ visit to the Law School will keep people thinking about difficult issues.
“This is an excellent opportunity for discussion about our nation’s approach to a problem that shows no signs of going away,” says Assistant Dean for Public Service MaryAnn Sarosi. “These are exactly the kinds of public policy dilemmas our graduates will be grappling with in the future.”
