Professor James Hurtgen will moderate a discussion, “The President’s Authority During a Time of War,” Thursday, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m. in S-104 of the Williams Center. Panelists will be Political Science Department faculty members Jonathan Chausovsky, Richard Jankowski, and Adam Nye.
The event is one of many ways U.S. educators and scholars around the nation are illustrating the significance of the U.S. Constitution, which was signed Sept. 17, 1787. National Constitution Day has been observed on Sept. 17 since 1997.
“Presidential authority during wartime is not a new question in American politics and has been debated by historians and scholars for decades,” Dr. Hurtgen said. “The question has been raised anew during the Bush Administration, as it exercises its authority to counter terrorism.”
Constitutional scholars are currently debating the legitimacy of some of these actions, and the American Civil Liberties Union has brought suits to federal court declaring them unconstitutional. In August, a federal district court judge ruled in ACLU v. the National Security Agency that a surveillance program authorized in 2002 by President George W. Bush to intercept international telecommunications is a violation of the First and Fourth Amendments. The Bush administration is appealing this decision, and while it has not disclosed the extent of this program, the administration maintains that it is highly selective in choosing subjects for surveillance.
Following presentations by the panel members, discussion will be opened with members of the audience. This event is open to all members of the campus and community and is sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Department of Political Science.
