Criminal Law, National Security and the First Amendment Conference Set for Oct. 29 at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A conference on the intersection of criminal law, national security and the First Amendment will be conducted Oct. 29 at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum, presented by the law firms Arnold & Porter LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP in partnership with the First Amendment Center at the Newseum.

The conference will examine First Amendment implications and national security concerns in controversial cases ranging from the Pentagon Papers to the AIPAC Espionage Act case to WikiLeaks and the latest leak case, United States v. Stephen Kim.

Moderators include John Nassikas, Abbe Lowell, and Baruch Weiss, lead defense lawyers in the AIPAC Espionage Act case. General Michael Hayden, former director of both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, will speak at lunch.

Conference registration begins at 9:30 a.m. EDT, Oct. 29, at the Knight Conference Center at the Newseum, Seventh Floor, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C. Attendees should use the Sixth Street entrance to the Newseum. Parking is available in the area. Although there is no fee for attending, registration is required. Please RSVP to Ashlie Hampton at [email protected], or 202-292-6288.

Among the issues and panelists at the conference:

• The news media and national security: Panel members include Jeffrey H. Smith, former CIA general counsel; Lucy Dalglish of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Mark Mazzetti The New York Times; Gabe Schoenfeld, author and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Walter H. Pincus of The Washington Post.
• Prosecuting and defending cases involving classified information: Panel members include Michael Isikoff, NBC News; William Leonard, chief operating officer of the National Endowment for Democracy and former director of the Internal Security Oversight Office; Eric Lieberman, general counsel for The Washington Post; and Kenneth L. Wainstein, former assistant attorney general for national security at the Department of Justice.

About the First Amendment Center

The First Amendment Center is a program of the Freedom Forum, and affiliated with the Newseum. The First Amendment Center's nonpartisan work supports the First Amendment and builds understanding of its core freedoms through education, information and entertainment. The center does not lobby or litigate.

SOURCE First Amendment Center