From left to right: ACS President Margaret Battersby, Panelist Frank Mankiewicz, Panelist Judge Abner Mikva, Dean Krent, Panelist Peter Slevin and ACS Faculty Advisor Dan Hamilton

From an article in The Commentator written by ACS Board Member, Bonnie Booth:

The American Constitution Society’s (ACS) first event of the school year drew a standing-room-only crowd to participate in a discussion on “The War on Terror, the Press and the Constitution.” The panel included Judge Abner Mikva, former chief judge of the D.C. Circuit, White House counsel and member of Congress; Frank Mankiewicz, press secretary for Robert Kennedy, campaign director for George McGovern, and president of National Public Radio; and Peter Slevin, Chicago Bureau Chief of the Washington Post. Chicago-Kent Professor Steven J. Heyman moderated the event.  The September 29th discussion was particularly timely, coming right around the time the U.S. House of Representatives, Senate and White House were negotiating legislation to guide the detention and trying of terrorism suspects. 

“When did the United States become the leading county in the world to advocate the use of torture?”  Mankiewicz asked.  “Not only do we defend it, but we seek to enlarge it.”  Both Judge Mikva and Judge Mankiewicz expressed dismay at the erosion of habeas corpus, which has been “practically torched” as far as terrorism suspects are concerned, according to Judge Mikva. Judge Mikva noted that this country has a history of turning inward when it feels threatened. He pointed to history to illustrate his point. Abraham Lincoln arrested Maryland’s legislators rather than let them vote to secede from the Union, and Japanese Americans were interred during World War II. He said the same thing is occurring now.  “We forget that there is a First Amendment and other positive rights to protect us from our fear,” he said. “Instead, we are giving into it and that’s a very, very sad thing.”  Mankiewicz noted that the American public knows as much as it does about what the Bush administration calls its Global War on Terror because they have read about it.  The laundry list of stories includes secret prisons abroad, domestic eavesdropping, extraordinary rendition and the intelligence assessment that noted that the country has not been made safer since the War on Iraq. 

Slevin noted that, after each of these stories, the administration’s reaction has not been to study or investigate the policy but to investigate the reporter, a move intended to intimidate whistle blowers.  “Not since the Nixon administration has the climate of secrecy and the demonization of journalists been at this level,” said Slevin.  “It’s a potent and insidious combination.”  Slevin said that the media believes these are important stories to publish because as a society we have a right to know about these techniques and whether they are working.  “The press feels like we have to ask these questions,” Slevin said. “I apologize if this seems like Civics 101 but it has become that fundamental.” 

Judge Mikva and Mankiewicz noted that a “war” on the press is also a “war” on the people.  Going back to the “secret” bombing of Cambodia, Judge Mikva said, “Who was it secret from? Not Cambodia, not the Vietnamese, not the Russians. They were all screaming about it in there papers.  “There is a third party involved: the public,” he continued. “And when the government starts to put a security stamp on things and starts to use the massive tools of government to keep the press from reporting, it is on very thin ice.