Can the National Security Agency conduct electronic surveillance without a warrant? The heated debate surrounding this question will be the focus of a panel of legal experts at Wayne State University on Monday, Feb. 13, 2006 from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Bernath Auditorium, which is located in the Adamany Undergraduate Library, 5155 Gullen Mall.

C.J. Peters, professor at the Wayne State University Law School, will speak on whether the President has the constitutional power to order surveillance without explicit authorization by Congress. Peters teaches and writes in the area of constitutional law.

Wayne State Law School Associate Dean, David Moran, will ask whether the surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which protects citizens against unreasonable searches and seizures. Dean Moran is a noted expert on criminal procedure and has just argued his fourth case before the United States Supreme Court.

Professor Brad Roth of the Law School and the Wayne State University Political Science Department will compare the claims of executive power made in the warrant-less surveillance program to other such claims by the Bush administration, most notably concerning the torture of detainees in the war on terror. Also speaking will be Michael Steinberg, legal director of the Michigan Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU recently filed a lawsuit in federal court in Detroit challenging the legality of the NSA program.

Professor Gregory Fox of Wayne State Law School will be the moderator.

The lecture is free and open to the public. A map of the Wayne Stae campus is available at http://www.campusmap.wayne.edu/. For more information, please contact Robin Dortenzio at robind@wayne.edu.

Wayne State University is a premier institution offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.