Balancing Liberty and Security in an Age of Terrorism

Cato On Campus will be kicking off the school year with another fantastic speaker series with support from area universities.  The D.C. Forum for Freedom will begin its series of monthly events on September 24th, addressing to topic of Balancing Liberty and Security in an Age of Terrorism.  Students from around D.C. are invited to attend the forum held at the Cato Institute, and students from around the world are invited to attend online.  The forum will begin at 4pm (EST) and will be followed by a reception with scholars, students, and other young professionals.

Interested parties must register with the Cato institute to attend the free event.

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Balancing Liberty and Security in an Age of Terrorism

Every society must balance the tradeoff between the liberties of the individual and the security of the public. In America, society is based on a Constitution that acknowledges inherent liberties and rights. However, since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the tension between liberty and security has become pronounced. Public policy is often made at the expense of Constitutional freedoms, and the ratcheting effect of government threatens to make permanent these unconstitutional changes to our system of ordered liberty.

Continuing with the current trend in policy is the wrong path and will lead to less safety and less freedom for the American people. This Cato On Campus event, co-sponsored with the D.C. Forum for Freedom, will discuss how the protection of freedoms enshrined in the Bill of Rights may in fact be more efficient and more effective in countering the threats that terrorism presents to a free society.

Cato legal policy analyst David Rittgers will discuss the tradeoffs made and proposed in the name of terrorism, and how the threat of terrorism should not force us to abandon principles of individual liberty and fiscal restraint.

American Civil Liberties Union policy counsel Michael German will discuss the policy choices implied in the Bill of Rights and how application of constitutional standards serve not only to protect the rights of the individual but as an effective means of focusing counterterrorism resources.

Please join us Friday, September 24th at the Cato Institute for a discussion and reception.

For more details, check out the registration page: http://www.cato.org/events/100924sf.html, or contact Chip Bishop (cbishop@cato.org) to make arrangements for group reservations.