Dear Friend, Please join the Constitution Project on September 8, 2008, as we sponsor a discussion of Jonathan Mahler's new book, The Challenge: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld and the Fight Over Presidential Power. Joining Mahler will be Georgetown professor Neal Katyal and former Navy JAG Charlie Swift, who succesfully argued Hamdan's case before the United States Supreme Court. Swift went on to represent Hamdan in the just-concluded military commission proceedings. Amazon.com Best of the Month Review: "There have by now been many insider accounts of the Bush Administration and its War on Terror. Jonathan Mahler's The Challenge, on the other hand, is very much an outsider's account: the story of two lawyers and their attempt to scale the walls of the American government and overturn the system of military commissions set up to try the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. One observer called Hamdan v. Rumsfeld "the most important decision on presidential power and the rule of law, ever," and Mahler's focus on the odd-couple lawyers - the blustery, impulsive Navy JAG who made defending Hamdan his mission and the brilliant and tireless Indian immigrant's son who risked a meteoric career with his obsession with the case - and his ability to communicate the grave constitutional consequences of the case and the often bizarrely circuitous path they must take to reach the Supreme Court make for a thrilling and moving drama of justice, democracy, and the patriotism of challenging your own government." You won't want to miss this fascinating inside account of the Hamdan litigation. George Clooney's film production company has just purchased the rights to the book, and Clooney is apparently interested in playing Charlie Swift. A light lunch will be served. There is no charge for attendance. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience, as seating is limited. Copies of the book will be available for sale at the event. DATE: Monday, September 8, 2008 TIME: Lunch, 12:00 pm; Discussion 12:30 - 2:00 pm LOCATION: Arnold & Porter LLP 555 Twelfth Street, NW Washington, DC 20004 SPEAKERS: Jonathan Mahler is a contributing writer at the New York Times Magazine. He is the author of The Challenge and Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning. Neal Katyal is the Paul and Patricia Saunders Professor of National Security Law at the Georgetown University Law Center, where he also directs the Center on National Security and the Law. Professor Katyal served as lead attorney in the argument of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld before the United States Supreme Court. Charles D. Swift is a Visiting Associate Professor and Acting Director at Emory Law School's International Humanitarian Law Clinic. He served as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy, Judge Advocate General's Corps, assigned to the Department of Defense Office of Military Commissions. He served as defense counsel for Salim Hamdan before the U.S. Supreme Court and the recent military commission.