Judge Patterson to discuss limits of presidential power post 9/11

RELEASED: September 13, 2007

DANVILLE, KY—What are the constitutional limits of presidential power in the post–9/11 world? This is the question Centre graduate Judge Peggy Patterson plans to address during her presentation on Monday, Sept. 17.

Current issues relating to detainees at Guantanamo Bay are only the latest round of an ongoing debate concerning presidential claims of power to detain enemies without due process, Patterson says. President Roosevelt incarcerated citizens of Japanese ancestry during WWII, and President Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus (ability to seek relief from unlawful detention) during the Civil War.

"Initially, I was drawn to the topic because on June 29, 2007, the Supreme Court granted cert on (agreed to hear) a case of two detainees at Guantanamo Bay (Boumediene & Al Odah v. Bush & U.S.), on which oral arguments are expected to be held this fall," Patterson says. "I assume from the grant of cert that at least four members of the Court have something more to say on the matter."

Patterson was the first woman named to a federal judgeship in Kentucky and was appointed magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for Eastern Kentucky in 1990. She was appointed by Chief Justice William Rehnquist to serve on the United States Judicial Conference Advisory Committee for Magistrate Judges in 1996.

Patterson, of Harrodsburg, Ky., graduated from Centre in 1972 with a double major in English and government and received her law degree from the University of Kentucky in 1976. She is a member of Centre College’s Board of Trustees.

Judge Patterson will speak in Young 101 at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 17.

- end -

Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.