Please welcome John Fund of the Wall Street Journal as he offers up a "Visitors Guide to an Alien Planet: Washington, D.C." Learn all about this strange political world in advance of the mid-term elections in November!

About the speaker:

John Fund is author of "Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy". Mr. Fund worked as a research analyst for the California State Legislature in Sacramento before beginning his journalism career in 1982 as a reporter for the syndicated columnists Rowland Evans and Robert Novak. In 1993, he received the Warren Brookes Award for journalistic excellence from the American Legislative Exchange Council. In addition, he and former Pennsylvania Rep. James K. Coyne are co-authors of the book "Cleaning House: America's Campaign for Term Limits" (Regnery Gateway, 1992). Mr. Fund attended California State University where he studied journalism and economics.

Watch as Keving Hasson of the Beckett Fund for Religious Liberty and Jeremy Gunn of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief debate the role of religion in several aspects of life. Such topics include: religion and politics, the "war" on Christmas, separation of church and state, whether the U.S. is a "Christian nation," secular humanism and the rise of secularism, and use of religion in political coampaigns. Get a chance to hear the current controversies on religious expression, and where these two heavyweights fall on the issues. Of course, lunch will be served!

This debate is part of a series of 10 debates around the country regarding the role of religion in the public square.
About the speakers:

Kevin J. ("Seamus") Hasson has specialized in religious freedom cases for 15 years. He left a large Washington, D.C. law firm in 1992 to found The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. He is a former Attorney-Advisor for the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, where his responsibilities included advising the Reagan Administration on church/state issues. He is a 1985 Magna Cum Laude graduate of the Notre Dame Law School, and also holds a Masters Degree in Theology from Notre Dame. For more information, please visit Mr. Hasson's biographical webpage.

T. Jeremy Gunn is director of the Freedom of Religion and Belief program at the American Civil Liberties Union in New York City. After being awarded a PhD in Religion and Society from Harvard University, Gunn was a senior fellow at the United States Institute for Peace, and the director of Research and deputy general counsel for the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. He has been a visiting professor at several universities in France and published numerous works on American and French legal and religious history and religious liberty themes. For more information, please visit Mr. Gunn's biographical webpage.

This event is co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the St. Thomas Moore Society.

Allyson Ho, former Special Assistant to President Bush for Legal Policy, highlights a policy debate on immigration reform. She will be debating Tara Magner, Director of Policy for the National Immigrant Justice Center. Come and find out what Ms. Ho and Ms. Magner have to say about the latest developments in immigration policy. Also find out the current state of U.S. immigration policy, where it's headed, and where each member of the panel believes it should be headed. This topic is especially timely, as President Bush has just signed a bill providing funding for a physical barrier along our southern border.

About the speakers:

Ms. Ho served from 2005 to 2006 as special assistant to President George W. Bush and from 2004 to 2005 as counselor to Attorney General John Ashcroft. At the White House, her portfolio of issues included all areas of legal policy, from tort reform to immigration. At the Justice Department, she focused on immigration enforcement and received an award from the attorney general for exceptional service. Following graduation from law school, Ms. Ho served as a law clerk to the honorable Jacques L. Wiener Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 2000-2001, and as a law clerk to Justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the United States Supreme Court, 2002-2003. She is currently an associate at the firm of Baker Botts LLP.

Tara Magner is the Director of Policy for the National Immigrant Justice Center. Her responsibilities include analyzing developments in immigration law and policy and advocating for positive reform in Congress and within Executive Branch agencies. Tara joined the staff after serving as a counsel to Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont on the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary. In her five years on Senator Leahy’s committee staff, Tara handled immigration, refugee and human rights issues. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Director of the Winston Foundation, a private foundation that awarded grants on international human rights, refugee protection, and conflict resolution.

This event is co-sponsored by the Latino Law Students Association.

The Federalist Society presents James C. Ho, Of Counsel, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and former Chief Counsel for the U.S. Senate's Subcommittee on Immigration, Border Security and Citizenship. Mr. Ho will present a defense of birthright citizenship. Comments to be provided by one of our own Northwestern professors.

Featured speaker information:

Mr. Ho has served as Chief Counsel of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights, chaired by U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas, since February 2003. In addition, he served as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas during the October, 2005 term. Previously, Mr. Ho served for two years at the U.S. Department of Justice. He was appointed Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in March 2001, and joined the Office of Legal Counsel ("OLC") shortly after September 11, 2001. Prior to joining the Justice Department, he was a law clerk for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and is currently Of Counsel at the firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

Continuing its tradition of open and informed discussion on a variety of topics, the Federalist Society hosts its annual Student Debate! Watch the fireworks fly as members of the Federalist Society match up with other student representatives having opposing and different views. A wide variety of topics will be discussed and debated, with the possibility of audience participation. So stop by and get some exposure to all sides of contemporary issues.

The Federalist Society will be offering Alan Robinson and Simar Singh. Their opponents will Charles Donofer and Joshua Press.