| Subject: ACLU Responds to President's Signing of Anti-Terrorism Bill-Joins Freedom of Information Request |
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Date Posted: 12:31:10 12/03/01 Mon
October 31, 2001
ACLU Responds to President's Signing of Anti-Terrorism Bill
Safe and Free Update: ACLU Joins Freedom of Information Request
News and Action: Facial Recognition Technology, DC Domestic Partners
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Phil Gutis, Editor
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"We cannot as a nation allow very legitimate public anxiety to immunize the Administration and Congress from their obligation to protect the Bill of Rights and the fundamental values that document embodies."
Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU Washington National Office
As President Bush signed new sweeping law enforcement legislation last week, the ACLU pledged anew to work with the Bush Administration and law enforcement agencies to ensure that civil liberties in America are not eroded by the newly approved USA Patriot Act.
"The passage of this broad legislation is by no means the end of the story," said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director. "We will now work with ACLU affiliates around the country to monitor its implementation. The ACLU remains firm in our belief that we can be both safe and free."
On Friday afternoon, in fact, ACLU officials met with FBI Director Robert Mueller, the second meeting in what the ACLU hopes will be a continuing dialogue with the nation's top law enforcement authorities. The ACLU will use these meetings to express its continuing concerns about the anti-terrorism legislation and other government actions.
"We cannot as a nation allow very legitimate public anxiety to immunize the Administration and Congress from their obligation to protect the Bill of Rights and the fundamental values that document embodies," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington National Office.
Congress adopted the bill signed by President Bush in near record time with only one public hearing and little debate. In fact, under intense pressure from Attorney General John Ashcroft, Republican leaders in the House torpedoed compromise legislation adopted unanimously by the House Judiciary Committee in a late-night deal with the Justice Department.
"These new and unchecked powers," said Gregory T. Nojeim, Associate Director of the ACLU's Washington Office, "could be used against American citizens who are not under criminal investigation, immigrants who are here within our borders legally and also against those whose First Amendment activities are deemed to be threats to national security by the Attorney General."
To learn more about how the ACLU is working to keep America SAFE and FREE in this time of crisis, please see our special feature, Safe and Free.
Compelled by the government's refusal to answer previous inquiries, the ACLU has joined with a coalition of civil liberties, human rights and electronic privacy organizations in filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information about the individuals arrested or detained since September 11.
On October 17, the ACLU wrote to Attorney General Ashcroft, saying that it was troubled by reports that some detainees have been impeded in their ability to contact lawyers and their families. In that letter -- and in a subsequent meeting with FBI Director Robert Mueller -- the ACLU asked for information about:
* Those arrested or detained, the circumstances of their detention or arrest and any charges brought against them.
* Any lawyers representing any of the detainees.
* Any courts that have been asked to enter orders sealing any proceedings.
The ACLU recognizes that some aspects of this important investigation are necessarily and appropriately confidential. "But we also believe," Gregory T.. Nojeim, Associate Director of the ACLU's Washington National Office said, "that specific information can and should be released to assure the American public that the government's investigation is both thorough and fair."
Click here to view the text of the FOIA request online.
American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, New York 10004-2400
www.aclu.org
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ACLU URGES AIRPORT OFFICIALS TO RECONSIDER USE OF FACIAL RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY
In a letter sent last week to the Chair of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, the ACLU called on officials to reconsider their to decision to install facial recognition technology at T.F. Green Airport.
The four-page letter points out that the effectiveness of the technology is far below the highly inflated claims of the manufacturers of the equipment.. The letter also raised concerns that, although purportedly being implemented to catch terrorists, the technology would inevitably be expanded to monitor and target other Americans.
Click here to learn more about facial recognition technology.
TAKE ACTION: URGE CONGRESS TO OPPOSE ANTI-DEMOCRATIC AMENDMENTS IN D.C.!
The Senate is expected to soon consider amendments known as "social riders" to the District of Columbia appropriations bill. These amendments prevent the funding of measures approved by the D.C. government or its citizens and thereby render them meaningless.
It is likely that this year's "social riders" will include a measure to block the implementation of the D.C. domestic partners law as well as one that would prevent the use of federal or local money on needle exchange programs.
We must support the right of District of Columbia residents and their elected officials to decide policy questions for themselves. But, most importantly, we must allow them to protect their families and communities as they see fit.
Take Action! Click here to send a FREE fax to your members of Congress urging them to oppose these anti-democratic amendments.
..
"Look at the mess we've got ourselves into, just because we invited a gringo to eat some bananas."
--Col. Aureliano Buendia in 100 years of Solitude
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