By Sarah Carrillo
Staff Writer
Heated debate filled Pepperdine’s School of Law Wednesday night as four legal professionals discussed the controversy between fighting terrorism and protecting civil liberties.
The lecture, “Combating Terrorism and the Impact on Civil Liberties,” focused on the loss of rights after Sept. 11 and featured renowned scholars Abraham Sofaer, Robert Pushaw, Karl Manheim and Steven Rohde.
“There have been a lot of laws passed in response to the terrorists acts and we were able to hear four different responses to them,” Pepperdine Federalist Society member Jason Jarvis said.
The responses were the foundation of the debate.
“The recent events have had a profound impact upon the fundamental concerns of our country,” moderator Rick Druen said. “These are very difficult issues with no easy answers.”
Rohde and Manheim were poised to protect civil liberties, and Sofaer and Pushaw were prepared to defend the government’s right to pursue terrorists.
Pushaw began the debate by establishing his views on the recent events. “No constitutional rights are absolute, all must be balanced,” Pushaw said. “Since World War I, America has been in one international conflict after another. The Federal government’s response to Sept. 11 has been more sensitive than in past conflicts. I don’t think government stereotyping is unnecessarily unconstitutional.”
Manheim rebutted Pushaw’s arguments. “George Bush said before Sept. 11 that racial profiling is wrong,” Manheim said. “Racial profiling doesn’t work and it’s illegal. Race and ethnic appearance are very poor predictors of behavior and provide a false sense of security. After Sept. 11, we need to be vigilant at all times.”
After both sides stated their opinions, debate ensued. Sofaer offered an intriguing question to Manheim and offered evidence to support his beliefs.
“What’s patriotic about 6,000 illegal Saudi Arabians living in the United States?” Sofaer said. “Four of the Sept. 11 terrorists were illegally here.”
Rohde was also given a turn to speak and described himself as “a stickler for Constitutional niceties.”
“In a series of unprecedented actions taken by the president … (and others) they have deliberately violated our basic rights,” Rohde said. “Instead of respecting the rule of law … the government has incarcerated over 12,000 Muslims without charging them.”
The debate continued with valid points coming from both sides of the issue.
“I believe it was very beneficial to have representatives of different viewpoints debating,” freshman Kellie Kanda said. “It really helped me to see all the different aspects of the issues associated with the terrorists attacks of Sept. 11.”
The lecture was sponsored by the Los Angeles Lawyers Division of the Federalist Society, the Pepperdine Law School chapter of the Federalist Society, the Libertarian Law Council, and the Bradley Foundation.
February 07, 2002