Greta van Susteren speaks in Shriver

CNN legal analyst Greta van Susteren spoke last Sunday night in Shriver Hall as part of the 2001 MSE Symposium. The even was co-sponsored by the Johns Hopkins University Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Van Susteren, like many speakers before her in the Symposium, discussed the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, but also focused a great deal on the 2000 Presidential Election.

Van Susteren said that the original title of the Symposium, "A Nation Divided: Politics and Power in the 21st Century," was a perfect title before Sept. 11.

"The country was still bloody from the knockout fight on Election 2000," said van Susteren. "And that is a polite way to characterize it."

Van Susteren went on to say that the election created an environment of "us versus them, or you versus your political opposition."

She likened the atmosphere of the Florida recount to a war that America was fighting against itself. She said that the fighting was not a good, passionate debate inspired by our Constitution, and both Republicans and Democrats are to blame. Though the Florida recount was fascinating to van Susteren, in retrospect the lawyer-turned-legal analyst said, "Now that I think of it, what were we thinking?"

Van Susteren cited the previous election as an embarrassment to the country, especially in regard to the Florida recount.

"Children can count. What did the adults tell them?" said van Susteren. "Many knew about potential voting problems before the election and did nothing because it would cost too much. How can you put a price tag on democracy? People were divided for the sake of being divided - that's not what democracy is about. I'm not proud of what happened."

Van Susteren said that the election undermined the threshold of democracy - every man should get one vote.

However, van Susteren did point out some positives to draw from the "We're strong and we'll persevere. We got knocked down, but we'll pick ourselves up and we'll win. We always do," said van Susteren.

Van Susteren did point out that the current state of affairs in the world demonstrate that the United States needs to focus on making the country better than it already is, and that starts with addressing the problem of America's dependency on oil in the middle east. She said the country needs to figure out ways to harness different energies in order to develop a very solid energy plan.

"American ingenuity is extraordinary and has no limits," said van Susteren. "If we can create mechanical hearts we need to find a way to free ourselves from the shackles of oil."

Van Susteren stressed that there are many difficult problems that the country will face, and she doesn't have all the answers. But she said the country needs to have focused direction. She noted that the country has had a difficult time recently deciding when and where to be involved across the globe.

Said van Susteren: "Once we've put terrorism behind us, we must decide what we want to do in the world."

After speaking, van Susteren took several questions from the audience. Among the issues she addressed were the O.J. Simpson trial, her opinions concerning the recently passed Patriot Act, what to do if America captures bin Laden and her career.

Before any questions were asked, van Susteren said, "Before I start, everyone always asks me - did O.J. do it?"

Without going into detail about the case, she later said, "I won't go into it, but while he appeared factually guilty, I can argue that [the not guilty verdict] was a good verdict."

Van Susteren also commented on the Patriot Act, a newly passed anti-terrorism bill, saying she did not like the provisions that allowed for extended detention of foreigners.

"When we get [foreigners] let's charge them and get them a lawyer," said van Susteren. "I'm not in favor [of indefinite detention]."

Van Susteren also said that some provisions of the law were "silly," such as the huge penalties for harboring terrorists. She said that there are plenty of laws on the books to deal with such issues.

Van Susteren did praise the section of the Patriot Act that calls for allowing the tapping of a person as opposed to one phone.

"Before you had to go from judge to judge and it took a long time. Criminals these days aren't going to keep using the same phones. Criminal law has caught up with technology," said van Susteren.

The CNN legal expert also outlined four possible courses of action, should the United States capture Osama bin Laden. These options included a domestic trial, a military tribunal, an international tribunal or a tribunal formed by affected countries, similar to the tribunal formed after World War II. However, van Susteren stressed that she does not believe bin Laden will be taken alive.

Van Susteren also told audience members about her progression from attorney to CNN legal analyst. She began giving some legal analysis to various members of the media, because they knew her from following her out of courthouses when she was a defense attorney. One day she went to work for CNN and never went back to practicing law. She now works on her own show, "The Point with Greta Van Susteren," as well as another CNN program, "Burden of Proof."

After fielding questions, van Susteren attended a reception in the Clipper Room of Shriver Hall.

The sponsors were pleased with the event.

"She spoke very well about how Sept. 11 changed the tone of America," said Hopkins ACLU President Ishwaria Chandramohan. "And she really highlighted a lot of the dangers that may come from legislation that results from it."

MSE Symposium Co-Chair Gregor Fiege said, "She did a really good job of discussing the role the legal community is going to play [in response to the terrorist attacks]. Hopkins is very diverse and these things are going to affect people we know. At the same she brought in her CNN background. It was a good balance and everyone who wanted to ask a question was able to.