Since 9/11, there has been a seismic shift in how our country views and conducts its national security efforts.  But until NSA leaker Edward Snowden came forward to tell the world about the staggering scope of that agency’s surveillance efforts within the United States and abroad, very few people were aware of it – including most of Congress.

NSA leaker Edward Snowden

Editorial pages and pundits are arguing over what many see as frightening governmental overreach, but which others see as an inevitable outcome of the real dangers faced from terrorists within and without.

Was the massive seizure of phone, internet, and web search records within the scope of the law, or are your rights to privacy as defined in the 4th Amendment being violated?

And how can we balance our civil liberties with the need to protect our citizenry?

Captain Glen Sulmasy

Captain Glenn Sulmasy, an Old Lyme resident until recently, national security law expert and popular media commentator, will speak on the issues created by this controversial surveillance at the Essex Library on Thursday July 25, at 7 p.m. in a free program that is open to all.

Sulmasy, a Fellow in Homeland Security and National Security Law for the Center for National Policy in Washington D.C., publishes and lectures widely on the law of armed conflict, international law and national security matters.  He is widely published in the news media as well as law journals and is a sought after speaker on national security matters – both domestically and internationally.

He has been on the faculty of the U. S. Coast Guard Academy since July, 2001 where he is Chairman of the Department of Humanities and Professor of Law.  He has also served on the faculty of the International Law Department at the U. S. Naval War College and has been an adjunct faculty member at the Roger Williams University School of Law since 1999.

He is the author of The National Security Court System – A Natural Evolution of Justice in an Age of Terror (Oxford University Press) and Co-Editor of International Law Challenges – Homeland Security and Combating Terrorism (2005).

The Essex Library is at 33 West Avenue; for more information or to register for this program, call the Library at 860-767-1560.