William Lietzau, deputy assistant secretary for detainee policy and rule of law affairs at the U.S. Department of Defense, will be at the Law School on Thursday, February 23, 2012, to discuss the latest developments associated with the law and policy of detention. The discussion will take place in the Eidmann Courtroom (CCJ 2.306) from 3:30 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., and will included time for questions and answers from the students. The event is sponsored by the University of Texas School of Law and the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law. The Law School’s Charles I. Francis Professor in Law, Robert Chesney, will moderate the discussion.
William Lietzau was appointed as deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee policy on February 16, 2010. He is responsible for developing and coordinating global policy guidance regarding Rule of Law initiatives and the detention of captured enemy forces. Lietzau is a retired Marine Corps officer who served primarily as a judge advocate. His most recent assignment was at the White House as deputy legal adviser to the National Security Council, where he addressed a variety of legal issues dealing with subjects such as international criminal law, counter-narcotics, interdictions, piracy, counterterrorism, weapons of mass destruction, nonproliferation, missile defense, foreign assistance, and treaty implementation. He has also led the United States negotiating team responsible for defining war crimes for the International Criminal Court. Lietzau earned his BS in political science from the United States Naval Academy and his JD from Yale Law School.