The Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice and area chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of Women Voters will stage a debate Thursday on whether the threat of terrorism justifies the USA PATRIOT and Homeland Security acts.

Alleen VanBebber, a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney, will support the acts; David Burress, the Kansas and Western Missouri representative on the national ACLU board of directors, will oppose them.

Kansas University professor Robert Rowland will moderate.

The debate, beginning at 7 p.m. at Lawrence Public Library, 707 Vt., is free and open to the public.