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Genesee Valley Chapter Hosts Lively Debate on 9/11 Trials
Chapter director Gary Pudup
The Genesee Valley Chapter held a panel discussion on March 16 in Rochester examining the controversial question of whether suspected terrorists should be tried in civilian or military courts.
The chapter cosponsored the event, held at the Downtown Presbyterian Church, with the Rochester Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society, a policy group devoted to conservative and libertarian legal ideals.
It was held as the Obama administration weighs whether to move ahead with civilian trials for alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other suspected terrorists.
Panelists included Vincent J. Vitkowsky, an adjunct fellow at the Center for Law and Counterterrorism and a partner with New York City-based law firm of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge; Donald G. Rehkopf, a former JAG officer who practices with the Rochester law firm of Brenna, Brenna & Boyce; Chad N. Boudreaux, a Washington, D.C.-based attorney with Baker & Botts, who served as the deputy chief of staff of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the Bush administration; and James P. Harrington, a Buffalo-based criminal defense attorney with Harrington & Mahoney and frequent lecturer at the University at Buffalo Law School about criminal defense in death penalty cases and at Buffalo State College about constitutional law.
Rochester attorney William Clauss, a faculty member of the Law/Criminal Justice Department at Monroe Community College, moderated the discussion.
The panelists' varied perspectives and opinions made for a lively, yet respectful discussion of one of the most important and hotly contested legal questions of the day.
The event, attended by about 60 people, serves as a good example of how our chapter provides a local channel for addressing national issues of historic importance.
Donald G. Rehkopf, Jeff Wadsworth, Rochester Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society and Chapter director Gary Pudup.
James Harrington addressing the audience.
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