2008 IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Lecture Announced

Chicago, IL — October 3, 2008 —

Harold H. Bruff, the Charles Inglis Thomson Professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder Law School, will discuss his award-winning book, Bad Advice: The President's Lawyers in the War on Terrorism, at the 2008 Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize Lecture. Professor Bruff will speak on October 10 at 1 p.m. in IIT Chicago-Kent's Judge Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Courtroom, 565 West Adams St. (between Clinton and Jefferson Streets in Chicago). The program is free and open to the public.

The IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer, Civil Liberties Prize, was established in 2007 by Chicago-Kent alumnus Roy C. Palmer and his wife, Susan, to honor an exemplary work of scholarship exploring the tension between civil liberties and national security in contemporary American society. Roy Palmer, a lawyer and real estate developer, is a 1962 honors graduate of IIT Chicago-Kent and a member of its board of overseers. The IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law/Roy C. Palmer, Civil Liberties Prize, is designed to encourage and reward public debate among scholars on current issues affecting the rights of individuals and the responsibilities of governments worldwide. The first prize was awarded to constitutional scholars David D. Cole and Jules L. Lobel for their book Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror (The New Press).

This year's winner, Bad Advice: The President's Lawyers in the War on Terrorism, presents a political and historical analysis of the complex relationship between American presidents and their legal advisors – particularly in times of crisis. The book examines President George W. Bush's unprecedented claims of unilateral executive power in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks through a discussion of the administration's authorization of warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency, the detention and trials of “enemy combatants,” and the methods of interrogation used on detainees.

The author asserts that strict interpretation of the constitutional separation of powers by presidential legal advisors could lessen the tensions between national security interests and the rule of law. Bad Advice: The President's Lawyers in the War on Terrorism will be published in May 2009 by the University Press of Kansas.

Harold H. Bruff has been a member of the University of Colorado at Boulder Law School since 1996. Professor Bruff's research and teaching interests include constitutional and administrative law. He has co-authored two casebooks on the administrative process and separation of powers and has written numerous law review articles.

A native of Colorado, Professor Bruff received his B.A. in American history and literature from Williams College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was editor of the Harvard Law Review. After graduation, he enlisted as a lieutenant in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve in the San Francisco District, serving as an assistant district legal officer.

From 1979 to 1981, Professor Bruff served as senior attorney and advisor for the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice. In this position, he advised the Justice Department, the White House, and executive agencies on issues of constitutional and administrative law. He also served as a consultant to the chairman of the President's Commission on the accident at Three Mile Island.

Founded in 1890, IIT is a Ph.D.-granting university with more than 7,300 students in engineering, sciences, architecture, psychology, design, humanities, business and law. IIT's interprofessional, technology-focused curriculum is designed to advance knowledge through research and scholarship, to cultivate invention improving the human condition, and to prepare students from throughout the world for a life of professional achievement, service to society, and individual fulfillment. Visit www.iit.edu.