Is the USA Patriot Act a critical component in bolstering our nation’s security or is it an indefensible infringement of our constitutional rights? With several provisions of the act set to expire at the end of 2005, the still-in-beta Patriot Debates will serve as a forum in which to debate whether they should continue.

Sponsored by the Standing Committee on Law and National Security of the American Bar Association, the site will serve as home to a series of what editor Stewart Baker calls “dueling essays” on the act’s most controversial provisions, all written by prominent legal thinkers. The essays will eventually be collected in a book to be published by the ABA.

[Thanks to commons-blog for the pointer.]

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.