CIA Admits to Destroying Torture Tapes - Via ACLU Blog:

Late yesterday, The New York Times broke a story that the CIA in 2005 had destroyed two videotapes of al Qaeda suspects being tortured in U.S. custody. The CIA claims the tapes were destroyed because they ''no longer had intelligence value'' and, should they be leaked to the press or public, would pose a security risk to interrogators and their families from retribution by al Qaeda operatives.

Back in October 2003, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act request asking the government to release all documents and information pertaining to the treatment of detainees held in U.S. custody overseas. None of the agencies complied. We brought a lawsuit in district court against those agencies to compel it to comply with the request. In August 2004 the district court ordered those agencies to identify records that were responsive to the FOIA request, and to either produce them or explain in specific terms why they could not be produced.

But now it looks like instead of either releasing or explaining why they couldn't release these tapes depicting the torture and abuse of detainees, the CIA decided to destroy them. [ Read more ... ]

ACLU Slams Department of Justice Spy Opinions - Via American Civil Liberties Union:

Washington, DC – Today, following revelations by Senate Intelligence Committee member Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on secret legal opinions regarding the administration's domestic spying program, the American Civil Liberties Union called on Congress to reject excessive surveillance powers for the administration. The opinions, from the Office of Legal Counsel, were written by the request of the administration as it was searching for new law enforcement and intelligence techniques. [ Read more ... ]

All in a Day's Work - Via ACLU Blog:

Tomorrow, the Bush administration's trinity of abuses — unlawful detention, interrogation and torture of detainees captured in the "war on terror" — will be under a magnifying glass, as three major scenes unfold. From Cuba to Manhattan, the ACLU will be present to observe, record and comment on the events:

National Security Project staff attorney Hina Shamsi is in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where she'll observe tomorrow's military commission hearing of Salim Ahmed Hamdan (of Hamdan v. Rumsfeld fame). Allegedly Osama Bin Laden's driver, Hamdan is one of the very few prisoners at Guantánamo who has actually been charged with a crime: [ Read more ... ]

Stop Telecom Immunity, Demand Individual Warrants - Via ACLU Alerts:

Tell Your Senators to Stop Telecom Immunity & Demand Individual Warrants

[...]

You can start your call by saying something like this:

Please stand up against FISA gutting legislation that lets the telecom companies off-the-hook for illegal activity by making sure no bill that caves into President Bush on telecom immunity moves forward in the Senate. [ Read more ... ]

This Week's Top Snitch Scandals: Speaking With Forked Tongues - Via ACLU Blog:

Once again, a steady parade of informant scandals has been making top headlines across the country.

You probably already heard the tragic story earlier this year of the gruesome murder of college student Imette St. Guillen, who was found bound, gagged and raped on the side of the road in Queens, New York. But you may not be aware of a disturbing new development in the case, uncovered by Ethan Brown, author of a forthcoming book, Snitch. Radar Magazine Online reported: [ Read more ... ]

Tell Senator Reid: Stand Up to Bush on Spying - Via ACLU Alerts:

Tell Your Senators: Don't let phone companies off the hook, and demand individual warrants when Americans are spied on.

(Read Original Article - Via ACLU Alerts.)

ACLU Wants Cell Phone Tracking Docs - Via Threat Level:

The ACLU wants to know when and how federal agents are convincing courts to let them get real-time tracking information from U.S. ciitzens' cell phones without actually proving probable cause to a judge.

The civil rights group filed a government sunshine request Friday asking for information on how often federal investigators asked for real-time updates on the locations of Americans by simply telling a court the subscriber was relevant to an investigation. This  lower evidentiary standard that can be used to get call records -- but not the contents of calls.

The issue first gained attention in 2005 after a handful of lower court judges published opinions denying such requests and questioning the legal reasoning behind them. The full extent of such requests is unknown since approved orders are kept secret so as not to tip off the targets. [ Read more ... ]

Fredrickson, on FISA, on Firedoglake - Via ACLU Blog - Government Spying:

This morning ACLU Legislative Director Caroline Fredrickson participated in an online chat on Firedoglake about the ongoing FISA fight and upcoming Senate floor debate. The discussion includes a list of phone numbers of the senators who need to hear from their constituents. You can also use our FISA Flood petition to contact them, which can be found at action.aclu.org/fisaflood.

(Read Original Article - Via ACLU Blog - Government Spying.)

Turkey Day Talking Points: It's been a big year for civil liberties, with issues like waterboarding, spying, and executive abuse of power in the news almost every day. In advance for the big 'round-the-turkey family discussion, ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero has prepped some talking points in HuffPost for those of us who might face some disagreement in between bites of bird. It's perfect reading (and re-reading) while you're waiting for your plane to take off. Or the train to leave. Or traffic to clear.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

"

(Read Original Article - Via ACLU Blog - Civil Liberties News.)

ACLU Responds to Federal Court Ruling in "State Secrets" Lawsuit About Warrantless Wiretapping: "SAN FRANCISCO - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled today that a charity that sued President Bush for engaging in unconstitutional surveillance can pursue its case in court. The Bush administration had asked the appellate court to dismiss the suit on the grounds that the very subject matter of the litigation - the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program - was a state secret. The Ninth Circuit rejected this argument, [ Read more ... ]

Patriot Act Victim Speaks Out on Spy Bill: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 202-675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

Washington, DC – Brandon Mayfield, an Oregon attorney falsely linked to terrorism, sent a statement to Congress this month urging the body against legislation that would overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Mayfield was subject to unconstitutional surveillance under the Patriot Act and subsequently arrested and held without charge. Mayfield wrote a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee members Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Russell Feingold (D-WI) asking that they consider the effect that the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 would have on innocent Americans. [ Read more ... ]

ACLU Cheers No Telecom Immunity Vote from Judiciary Committee, Lauds Chairman Leahy, Sen. Feingold and Rep. Holt’s Actions: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: (202) 675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union is delighted that the Senate Judiciary Committee chose not to address telecom immunity in its version of a bill updating Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Although the rest of the bill does not pass constitutional muster, the ACLU applauds the Committee for not letting the bells off the hook. [ Read more ... ]

The First and Fifth Amendments are Not Optional: "Ponder this: A U.S. citizen joins an organization to advance political goals. Some in the group engage in illegal activity but the citizen's own goals and activities are legitimate. The government blacklists the organization and says that working for it or taking a leadership role in it is a crime. May the government prosecute the citizen for her activities even though she didn't intend to do anything wrong? May the citizen challenge the blacklisting in her criminal trial? After all, if it weren't for the blacklisting, her activity would not be criminal and would be protected by the First Amendment.

You might think the scenario Orwellian and the answers clear — no to the first question, and yes to the second. But the statutory scheme governing 'material support' for a terrorist group, last amended by Congress in 2004, says otherwise, and a similar scenario is now playing out in federal district court in Brooklyn. [ Read more ... ]

From Outrage to Submission: Congress Ready to Roll Over on Wiretapping?: "Today ACLU Legislative Director Caroline Fredrickson sounded the alarm in HuffPost on Congress's next act of capitulation: approving and even expanding the White House's [ Read more ... ]

ACLU Says Spy Law Still Needs Work: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 202-675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

Washington, DC - After proposals to alter portions of a surveillance bill were released by the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday, the American Civil Liberties Union once again urged meaningful constitutional protections be added to the legislation. The FISA Amendments Act seeks to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and was written in response to the so-called Protect America Act that was rushed through Congress in August. The bill as drafted by the Senate Intelligence Committee includes immunity for the telecommunications companies for their role in the administration's domestic spying program. The Judiciary Committee is expecting to take up that provision next week. [ Read more ... ]

Deja Vu, Plus 20,000 New Records: "Hanging around Capitol Hill tends to induce a feeling of déjà vu. The House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing today on the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) Watch List — a rerun of last month's hearing in the Senate on the same topic. Little about the watch list has changed since then, except that it has grown by another 20,000 records, and counting. At the rate they're going, the list will hit 1 million just in time for the holiday travel season! You can bet TSC's checking it twice! [ Read more ... ]

Make That Three Torture Memos: "The frustrating thing about doublespeak is not its untruth — lies can be called out and disproven. No, the frustration with doublespeak is that there is no position to pin down at all. The Bush administration continues to say 'we don't torture' out of one side of their mouths while saying 'it's necessary' out of the other. It's just damn near impossible to wrestle with that level of untruthiness without losing a little piece of your mind every time. [ Read more ... ]

Mukasey, Torture and the Abuse of Presidential Power: "Late Friday, Senators Chuck Schumer and Dianne Feinstein announced they will vote in favor of confirming Judge Michael Mukasey for the attorney general post. And over the weekend, there's been a lot of chatter on the blogs.

The Democratic duo are taking nearly as much criticism as the judge himself for not denouncing waterboarding. (Torture hasn't gotten this much attention since Abu Ghraib.) [ Read more ... ]

ACLU Asks Senate to Take Stronger Stand on Freedom of the Press: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: 202-675-2312 or media@dcaclu.org

Washington, DC - In a letter to Senate leadership, the American Civil Liberties Union called for a vote on the House version of the federal reporters' shield law. The House passed H.R. 2102, the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, by a veto-proof majority of 398 to 21.

"Freedom of the press means exactly that - freedom," said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "Reporters' access to confidential sources leads to the kind of groundbreaking stories that shape our history. Thanks to confidential sources, we learned about unlawful government programs including warrantless wiretapping, torture, illegal detention, and the violation of millions of Americans' privacy. Congress must make sure that the crucial relationship between journalists and their sources is safeguarded." [ Read more ... ]

ACLU of Texas Expresses Concern Over Surveillance Database: "AUSTIN, TX - The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas expressed continued concern today that the intelligence database provisions in a recently passed state House bill do not go far enough in protecting the privacy of Texans. After passing the House two weeks ago, HB 13 has now passed the Texas Senate. The bill received a flurry of attention for its border security provisions and for putting the massive database into the governor’s hands, but many privacy protections have been stripped from it. [ Read more ... ]

We Must Try Every Stupid Idea at Least Twice!: "The Indianapolis Star reports today that next week, the Indiana state Bureau of Motor Vehicles will begin sending out 'No Match' letters to Hoosiers with discrepancies in their records. The letters will go out to anyone whose license information doesn't match their Social Security records — over 200,000 people that the BMV has identified so far.

If this sounds crazy, that's because it is.Indiana is one of the only states that has decided to implement the federal Real ID Act, and this is the result. Alabama tried something similar last year and it was a disaster [ Read more ... ]

The Informants Are Watching Us…But Who's Watching the Informants?: "Today the ACLU's Drug Policy Reform Project launched the website 'Unnecessary Evil,' the online component of a new campaign that highlights the systemic problems with today's use of informants in drug law enforcement and the critical solutions needed to address them. Unlike witnesses, informants are motivated by self-advancement. Informants work for the government, often secretly, to gather and provide information or to testify in exchange for cash or leniency in punishment for their own crimes. Preliminary research indicates that up to 80 percent of all drug cases in America may be based on information provided by informants, and yet there currently exist virtually no oversight mechanisms to ensure that informants are telling the truth. [ Read more ... ]

ACLU, MoveOn, People For the American Way and 250,000 Americans tell Congress - “Don’t Let the Bells Off the Hook”: "Washington, DC - After the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to consider domestic surveillance legislation, activists sent a clear message to Capitol Hill - don’t let the bells off the hook for domestic spying. [ Read more ... ]

Court Reviews President's Wartime Power Grab: "Does the President want to implement a policy of presidential prerogative trumping the Constitution, international law, and… well…everything — not just on foreign soil, but in America's heartland as well?

It sometimes seems that way. It was smack dab in the heart of the Midwest that Ali Saleh al-Marri was arrested in 2001. At the time, al-Marri was living with his wife and five children and studying at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill., He was arrested by the police in December and first charged in the civilian justice system for financial fraud. As a civilian, al-Marri should have enjoyed all the constitutional protections people expect when they are in the United States legally — a speedy, and fair trial for example. [ Read more ... ]

ACLU of Southern California Settles Free Speech Lawsuit Over Cable TV Censorship: "LOS ALAMITOS — The Los Alamitos City Council voted unanimously yesterday to settle a lawsuit over its censorship of public-access television programming last year. The city agreed to adopt new policies to protect free speech at Los Alamitos Television Corporation, whose LATV Channel 3 is available to Time Warner customers in Los Alamitos and Rossmoor."

(Read Original Article - Via American Civil Liberties Union.)