You wouldn't usually expect one of the authors of the Patriot Act to oppose giving the government greater access to company data. Then again, you wouldn't expect a public debate on the limits of the Fourth Amendment to take place in a jazz club either.

But that was the scene Tuesday night in the trendy Hayes Valley neighborhood of San Francisco. Michael Chertoff, the former Homeland Security secretary who co-wrote the sweeping national security law, joined forces with UC Berkeley Law professor Catherine Crump to argue that companies shouldn't weaken encryption to help law enforcement.

On the opposing side of the debate, co-hosted at the SFJAZZ Center by Intelligence Squared and the National Constitutional Center, were former Justice Department official John Yoo and former Homeland Security assistant secretary Stewart Baker. Like Chertoff, they also served during George W. Bush's administration.