February 7, 2005

Dear Colleague:

The Center on Law, Ethics and National Security and the Program in Public Law at Duke University School of Law, in conjunction with several other departments and organizations in and affiliated with the University, will sponsor a major conference at Duke on April 7-8, 2005 , entitled “Strategies for the War on Terrorism: Taking Stock”. It will be held at the Thomas Center and Geneen Auditorium in the Fuqua School of Business. A copy of the conference program is attached and we cordially invite you to attend.

Through his reelection last fall, President Bush has claimed a mandate to continue his strategies and implementing policies in the war on terrorism. The sizable Republican gains in both houses of Congress suggest that challenges may be unlikely. Will continuation of these strategies thwart or minimize the threat of terrorist attacks in the United States and abroad? Is there a cost, either in terms of civil rights or our international credibility? Our Duke conference will examine a number of specific issues with regard to these strategies, beginning with an attempt to fathom the root causes of terrorism. We will also be analyzing the global policy implications of our war on terrorism, discussing the current controversy over methods for interrogating terrorists and whether the President must act in compliance with our international law commitments, probing the legality and propriety of using military commissions to prosecute terrorists, and considering whether the law enforcement tools authorized by the PATRIOT Act of 2001 will be continued or even expanded in the next four years. We have assembled a prestigious group of scholars, policymakers and commentators who will take an interdisciplinary approach to these and other issues from both a legal and a policy perspective.

As noted above, the conference will be held on the Duke University West Campus in Durham , North Carolina. The panel sessions will be held in the Geneen Auditorium of the Fuqua School of Business, while all meals will be served in the R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center which is immediately adjacent to the School of Business. A block of rooms has been reserved for conferees in the Thomas Center itself, but you must make your reservation by calling the Center (919) 660-6400 as soon as possible since space is limited. The single/double room group rate for these rooms at the Thomas Center is $145.00 plus tax, which includes a full hot breakfast each morning. When you call there for accommodations, please advise the Reservation Office that you are with the LENS Conference to receive the group rate. If you choose not to stay at the Thomas Center , of if rooms there are no longer available, other hotels and motels, conveniently located to campus, are available in the area. Making your reservation and guaranteeing late arrival, if necessary, will be your responsibility.

Although there is no registration fee to attend the conference, the cost for the conference meals, for those attending, is $25.00 for each of the two luncheons and $45.00 for the Thursday evening reception and dinner. Checks are to be made payable to “Duke Law LENS” and returned with the completed registration form by April 1st. In the event you should find it necessary to cancel your meal reservations, a refund will be provided if notice of cancellation in writing is received at the Center by April 6th.

I hope to see you here at Duke in April for this important conference.

Sincerely,

SCOTT L. SILLIMAN
Executive Director

Conference Program
Registration Form (.doc)