Town Hall

The Fourth Amendment and Privacy: Historical Perspectives

December 05, 2019

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Three back to back panels of leading federal judges and legal scholars explore the Fourth Amendment’s guarantees against unreasonable searches and seizures—from its origins at America’s founding to its interpretation today in light of rapidly changing technologies.  

This program is presented in partnership with the Federal Judicial Center

 

 

Participants

Panel One: The History of the Fourth Amendment

  • Laura K. Donohue is a professor of law at Georgetown Law, Director of Georgetown’s Center on National Security and the Law, and Director of the Center on Privacy and Technology. She writes on foreign intelligence, biological weapons, biometric identification, drones, artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, federalism, constitutional law, and legal history. Her books include, The Future of Foreign Intelligence: Privacy and Surveillance in a Digital AgeThe Cost of Counterterrorism: Power, Politics, and Liberty; and Counterterrorist Law and Emergency Law in the United Kingdom 1922-2000.

  • Chris Slobogin is the Milton R. Underwood Chair in Law Director for Criminal Justice Program and an affiliate professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt Law School. He is the author of more than 100 articles, books, and chapters on topics relating to criminal law and procedure, mental health law, and evidence. His books include Privacy at Risk: The New Government Surveillance and the Fourth Amendment, Juveniles at Risk: A Plea for Preventative Justice, and Proving the Unprovable: The Role of Law, Science, and Speculation in Adjudicating Culpability and Dangerousness, among others.

  • ​​​​​​Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.

Panel Two: The Modern Fourth Amendment and Contemporary Issues in Privacy

  • David Gray is the Jacob A. France Professor of Law at the University of Maryland, Francis King Carey, School of Law where he teaches criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, international criminal law, and jurisprudence.  He also teaches an interdisciplinary course in the College Park Scholars Program at the University of Maryland, College Park. His books include The Fourth Amendment an Age of Surveillance and the Cambridge Handbook of Surveillance Law. He has also published dozens of articles and book chapters in leading journals and collections.

  • ​​​​​​Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.

  • John S. Cooke is the director of the Federal Judicial Center. He joined the Federal Judical Center in 1998 and previously served as its director of judicial education programs, head of the Center's Education Division, and Deputy Director. Before his 20-year career at the Federal Judicial Center, Cooke was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Judge Advocate General's Corps.

Panel Three: Judicial Perspectives on the Fourth Amendment

  • Frank D. Whitney is Chief District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

  • Lisa P. Lenihan has served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania since April 2004. From January 2000 until her appointment to the bench she served as Assistant Counsel and Corporate Secretary for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

  • John S. Cooke is the director of the Federal Judicial Center. He joined the Federal Judical Center in 1998 and previously served as its director of judicial education programs, head of the Center's Education Division, and Deputy Director. Before his 20-year career at the Federal Judicial Center, Cooke was a commissioned officer in the U.S. Judge Advocate General's Corps.

 

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