Belmont Hosts Annual Law Review Symposium

Data, Power and Security: Contemporary Issues in National Security and the Law

The annual Belmont Law Review Symposium at Belmont’s College of Law, which took place Sept. 19, highlighted the evolving challenges at the intersection of technology, policy and constitutional law, while showcasing Belmont as a hub of meaningful legal dialogue.  

This year’s symposium theme — Data, Power and Security: Contemporary Issues in National Security and the Law — focused on the rapidly expanding field of national security, particularly where it intersects with data privacy, surveillance, cybersecurity and emerging technologies. 

“We wanted a theme that both resonates with the broad societal debates about privacy, technology and civil liberties and the pressing challenges in the legal and policy landscape,” said Yatzaret Aguirre-Sanchez, Belmont Law Review managing editor. 

With the rapid rise of technology, there is a piqued interest in issues surrounding data, surveillance and cybersecurity in the legal profession.  

“National security is showing up everywhere in legal scholarship right now,” said Kristi Jensen, Belmont Law symposium editor. “By choosing this theme, we were able to join those bigger conversations and highlight how the law is adapting to fast-moving political, technological and social changes.” 

Exploring Today’s National Security Challenges 

The morning kicked off with a series of thought-provoking sessions: 

• Joseph D. Prestia on Managing the National Security Risk of Bulk Personal Data through Executive Order 

• Ryan Stoa on Vehicles as Weapons: Can the Law Prevent Vehicle Ramming Attacks? 

• Frank Rosenblatt on The Hazy Divide Between Military Disciplinary Law and Military Penal Law 

• Noah Chauvin on The Rhetoric of Law in Executive Order No. 12,333 

• Tolulope Falokun on Non-Fungible Tokens and National Security: The Private International Law Challenge 

After the morning sessions, attendees heard from Ryan Whitney, Joelle Hupp and Thomas Ritter, who offered practical perspectives from their work advising clients on cybersecurity and AI regulation in the panel Tech-Driven Risk: Privacy, Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence. 

In the afternoon, sessions continued with: 

• Deborah L. Johnson on Private Coverage, Public Risk: The Role of Cyber Insurance in National Security Governance 

• Paul R. Dubinsky on Deference in Treaty Interpretation after Loper Bright v. Raimondo 

The capstone conversation, Inside the Bush Administration: National Security After 9/11, featured John Bellinger, III and Dean Alberto Gonzales, offering firsthand insights into U.S. national security decision-making in the wake of September 11. 

“Despite it being over twenty years, the conversation touched on questions that had real-world impact,” Aguirre-Sanchez said. “It is a unique experience to hear from two knowledgeable individuals tackle issues that affect not just lawyers, but our country as a whole.” 

A Student-Led Tradition of Scholarship 

While the entire Belmont Law Review, a student –run journal, supports the Symposium planning, much of the credit goes to the leadership team: Executive Symposium Editor Kristi Jensen, Editor-in-Chief Julia Wilson, Executive Events Editor Megan Bryant and Managing Editor Yatzaret Aguirre-Sanchez. Requiring months of planning, this team coordinated theme development, author invitations, logistics and day-of execution.