“The Response” is a courtroom drama based on the actual transcripts of the Guantanamo Bay military tribunals [officially known as Combatant Status Review Tribunals or CSRTs].  The film explores the tribunal of a suspected enemy combatant and the three military judges who must decide his fate. Is he an enemy combatant, guilty of providing material support to Al Qaeda and responsible for the deaths of several American soldiers? Or is he an innocent victim of circumstances as he claims?  “The Response” holds a mirror up to the tribunals and allows an audience to see and hear for themselves what went on inside Guantanamo.  While the three judges and the detainee are fictionalized composite characters, the dramatic situation of the legal process is fully accurate. The film was made with the support and assistance of the University of Maryland School of Law and Venable LLP.

“The Response” was shortlisted for the 2010 Academy Awards® and won the 2009 ABA Silver Gavel Award as best of the year in Drama & Literature. The film has screened at the Pentagon and the Department of Justice. To learn more about the movie please visit: www.theresponsemovie.com.


 Agenda:

8:00 a.m.            Registration Begins
 
8:30 a.m.            Introductory Remarks
                           Rich Curtner, Federal Public Defender, District of Alaska

8:35 a.m.            The Response: A Film Screening
                           Sigmond Libowitz, Writer and Producer, Venable LLP

 9:45 a.m.          The Government Position
                          John Winn, Associate Professor, Shenandoah University, Retired US Army JAG Officer

10:30 a.m.         BREAK
 
10:45 a.m.         Breaching International Human Rights Instruments: The Consequences for Clients
                          Denny LeBoeuf, Director of the John Adams Project,  ACLU’s National Security Project

11:30 a.m.         The US Supreme Court, Congress, and the Guantanamo Detainees: Current Update
                          Margaret Stock, Attorney, admitted in Alaska; retired Lieutenant Colonel, Military Police Corps, US Army Reserve

12:00 p.m.         Ethics:  Doing the Best with What You’ve Got
                          Steve Van Goor, Bar Counsel, Alaska Bar Association
                   
12:30 p.m.          Q & A with Panel

12:45 p.m.          Adjourn