Monday, January 29, 2007

Secrecy Is at Issue in Suits Opposing Spy Program

The New York Times reports, “The Bush administration has employed extraordinary secrecy in defending the National Security Agency’s highly classified domestic surveillance program from civil lawsuits.” According to the report, plaintiffs and judges’ clerks cannot see its secret filings, judges have to make appointments to review them and are not allowed to keep copies, and judges have even been instructed to use computers provided by the Justice Department to compose their decisions.

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About This Page
The horrible acts of September 11th paved the way for anti-terrorism legislation that grants the federal government sweeping new powers to investigate and detain anyone deemed a threat to national security. The new laws, most notably the USA Patriot Act, signify a turning point for our nation in the value we place on our freedoms. Operation Eroding Freedom is an effort to monitor that turning point’s present and potential threat to our civil liberties.

Resources
Read the joint "friend of the court" brief filed by attorneys with The Rutherford Institute and People for the American Way in Padilla v. Hanft.

JWW: How Liberty Dies: The Patriot Reauthorization Act

Members of the Constitution Project’s bipartisan blue-ribbon Liberty and Security Initiative have released a letter calling on Congress to examine the United States’ practice of transferring terrorist suspects into the custody of other nations and the methods for ensuring that the people transferred will be treated humanely. The committee also released a statement calling on the Bush administration and Congress to create a bipartisan commission, modeled after the 9/11 Commission, to investigate the issue of abuse of terrorist suspects at detention facilities. John Whitehead's remarks concerning The Constitution Project’s recommendation are available here.

The Department of Homeland Security is proposing to exempt a vast database from legal requirements that protect privacy and promote government accountability. The agency's plan leaves individuals without the ability to correct inaccurate information and without protection against possible abuse of the database. In comments filed with the agency, more than forty organizations, including The Rutherford Institute, have opposed the plan.

The Patriot Act: Opposing Viewpoints

Letter to Chairman Roberts and Vice Chairman Rockefeller of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence sent April 18, 2005 [PDF]

First Liberties: Volume 30—Spring 2005

You Are Being Watched, and There Is No Place to Hide: An interview with Robert O'Harrow, Jr.

The Rutherford Institute supports the “Freedom to Read Protection Act of 2005,” which was reintroduced by Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and more than 100 co-sponsors. The legislation, formerly introduced as H.R. 1157 in the 108th Congress, would exempt libraries and booksellers from provisions of the USA Patriot Act that allow the federal government to access library or bookstore records without having to get a traditional search warrant.

Do you know the Bill of Rights? Do you know your freedoms? The Rutherford Institute's mini-Bill of Rights booklet provides a primer on how the Bill of Rights is only as effective as the people make it.

Rutherford Institute Response to Attorney General John Ashcroft’s “Patriot Act Tour” and Website

Read Taking Liberties in the War on Terror: The Justice Department's “Patriot Act II”

Read an excerpt from TRI's Constitutional Analysis of USA PATRIOT Act of 2001

Appendix A—Bush Emergency Proclamation

Appendix B—USA PATRIOT Act of 2001

Appendix C—Prison Monitoring

Appendix D—Military Tribunals

Homeland Security Act of 2002

Commentary by John W. Whitehead concerning the USA Patriot and the war on terror since 9/11

You'll need the free Adobe Acrobat™ Reader to view PDF files.

Take Action Now!
Make your city or town a Civil Liberties Safe Zone! Visit The Bill Of Rights Defense Committee website and help support local efforts to restore civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights of the U.S. Constitution, which have been threatened by the USA Patriot Act and Executive Orders.

People who believe their civil rights or civil liberties have been violated by a Justice Department employee can e-mail the complaint to the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General or fax the complaint to the OIG: 202-616-9898. The Inspector General's office is located at:

U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20530

People who believe that their civil rights or civil liberties have been violated by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel, or that racial or ethnic profiling has occured, may file a complaint with the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

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