The Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict

John Carlson, associate director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, will be speaking on "Guantanamo: Ethics & Law, Religion & Politics," as part of a panel discussion that will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, October 30 at Congregation Beth Israel, 10460 North 56th Street in Paradise Valley.

Carlson, a scholar of religious ethics, explores how moral inquiry informs and invigorates our understanding of political life. He has written extensively on issues of war and peace, religion and violence, human rights, and a variety of social and political issues, both domestic and international. He has co-edited and contributed to a number of significant books in this area, including From Jeremiad to Jihad: Religion, Violence, and America (2012) and The Sacred and the Sovereign: Religion and International Politics (2003).

Also appearing on the panel will be Daniel Rothenberg, a faculty affiliate of the Center and executive director of ASU’s Center for Law and Global Affairs and local attorneys Howard R. Cabot (Partner, Perkins Coie) and Andrew S. Gordon (Coppersmith, Schermer & Brockelman PLC).

Rothenberg is an expert on international human rights and the rule of law whose research focuses on human rights documentation and analysis and transitional justice, genocide, truth commissions and post-conflict reconstruction. He has led rule of law projects in Afghanistan, Iraq and throughout Latin America.

Both Cabot and Gordon bring first-hand experience with Guantanamo to the panel.

Cabot, a partner in Perkins Coie LLP and faculty associate with ASU’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, brings first hand experience as a defense attorney for one of the detainees, a Sudanese man accused of aiding terrorists. Primarily a corporate attorney, Cabot worked on this case from 2008-2011, making repeated trips to Guantanamo and ultimately working out a plea deal for his client.

Gordon served with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from 2009-2010 as a representative on three presidential commissions, “Ensuring Lawful Interrogations,” “The Guantanamo Review Task Force,” and “The Review of Detention Policy Options.” Gordon is a founding partner of Coppersmith Schermer & Brockelman and teaches law at ASU.

The panel discussion is sponsored by Valley Beit Midrash and co-sponsored by the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict and the Center for Law and Global Affairs. The event includes a registration fee of $18. Click for more information or to register.