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Dissent Is Patriotic

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee's e-mail newsletter

April 2005, Vol. 4, No. 3

In this issue:

The Grassroots and the Civil Liberties Debate

When Congress officially began to debate reauthorization of the sunset provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act in early April, virtually every media story mentioned the five statewide resolutions and the more than 370 local resolutions that demonstrate widespread public concern for civil liberties and accountability.

As the debates kicked off in the Senate and House Judiciary Committees on April 5 and 6, respectively, it was immediately clear that the legislative, legal, grassroots, and many other efforts to defend the Bill of Rights have had an impact. At both meetings, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales stated his willingness to make minor changes to the USA PATRIOT Act, and committee members asked pressing questions, reflecting a marked differences in their attitudes from October 2001, when they overwhelmingly passed the USA PATRIOT Act (see members' statements praising the Act, immortalized on the DOJ's www.lifeandliberty.gov web site)

Throughout the hearings, many members expressed frustration that nearly four years of the DOJ's stonewalling Congress had prevented them from meeting their obligations to oversee the DOJ's use of the new powers and to determine whether all of the new powers are actually necessary. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA) echoed that frustration when he publicly rebuked Gonzales for coming empty-handed to a closed-door briefing that was to have uncovered how the DOJ has used its expanded powers under the USA PATRIOT Act. See New York Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/13/politics/13patriot.html.

Although Gonzales was cordial under the Committees' questioning, many of his answers were less than satisfactory. In response to one House Judiciary Committee member’s question about roving wiretaps, Gonzales admitted that all that is needed to obtain a FISA warrant is probable cause that the person under investigation will use a particular telephone. This revelation undermines the DOJ’s stance that the standards for obtaining a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) are high. In fact, in 2004, not one of the 1758 applications for FISA warrants for electronic surveillance and physical searches was denied (http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/2004rept.pdf). In response to questions about the Brandon Mayfield case, he initially denied that the USA PATRIOT Act was used. Later he changed his answer, stating that Section 218 was involved.

While the USA PATRIOT Act dominated much of the conversation, other sections of the law and many other post-9/11 issues within the DOJ's jurisdiction also were discussed, such as U.S. use of torture and "extraordinary rendition," the mass secret arrests and detentions of Arabs and Muslims after the 9/11 attacks, and the holding of U.S. citizens incommunicado as "enemy combatants." Those and other post 9/11 concerns about rights and liberties are listed in a letter by the Rights Working Group to members of the House and Senate Select Committee on Intelligence http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/files/pa_com.pdf. More than 100 organizations signed the letter, including the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and 40 local groups with whom we work.

It is important that all of us who are working toward the restoration of civil liberties, civil rights, and human rights continue to demand that Congress address all issues of rights and liberties since September 11, 2001, rather than just the handful of USA PATRIOT Act sections that sunset this year.

  • See transcript of April 5, 2005, Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at the Washington Post. The transcript of the April 6 House Judiciary Committee hearing was not available at press time.
  • See schedule of Congressional hearings on the USA PATRIOT Act on the Rights Working Group web site at http://www.rightsworkinggroup.org/.

New Resources

BORDC campaign against U.S. use of torture, rendition, and ghost prisoners

Find information and links on U.S. torture, extraordinary rendition, and ghost prisoners at http://bordc.org/torture.htm.

Actions for individuals: BORDC has created three ways individuals can take action to bring U.S. use of torture, rendition, and ghost prisoners to an end:

Please consider bringing the petition to public gatherings, and forward the links to the online petition and letter to your friends. We hope to deliver hundreds of thousands of signatures to Congress.

Actions for local governments, veterans groups, retired military officers, and national organizations: BORDC has also drafted a sign-on letter to President Bush and Congress opposing torture, extraordinary rendition, and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. Last week, the Eugene, OR, City Council and the Amherst, MA, Select Board became the first two local government bodies to sign the letter, http://www.bordc.org/torturesignon.htm. To encourage more local government bodies, including human rights commissions and town select boards to sign on, we have extended our deadline to Monday, May 2.

Web sites

Patriot Debates (http://www.patriotdebates.com/) calls itself a "sourceblog for the USA PATRIOT Debate." It focuses on sections that will expire in 2005 if Congress does not reauthorize them. Bloggers include three members of BORDC's Advisory Board: David Cole, James X. Dempsey, and Kate Martin; current and former DOJ members such as James Comey, Viet Dinh, and John Yoo; and several others on both sides of the debate.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) web site contains good summaries of the sunset provisions at http://epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/sunset.html. The Center for Democracy & Technology (www.cdt.org) has posted the DOJ's analysis of why the sections should be renewed, go to http://www.cdt.org/security/usapatriot/20050401doj.pdf.

New books

BORDC has added brief reviews of the following books to our Recommended Resources page at http://www.bordc.org/recom-resources.php. The page also suggests civil liberties documentaries and other useful resources.

  • America's Disappeared: Secret Imprisonment, Detainees, and the "War on Terror," edited by Rachel Meeropol
  • Military Tribunals & Presidential Power, American Revolution to the War on Terrorism, by Louis Fisher
  • Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime from the Sedition Act of 1798 to the War on Terrorism, by Geoffrey R. Stone
  • Torture and Truth, America, Abu Ghraib, and the War on Terror, by Mark Danner
  • The War on the Bill of Rights and the Gathering Resistance, by Nat Hentoff (published in 2003 in hardcover, updated and expanded in a new paperback edition)

Grassroots News: Montana, Campuses, and More

State Resolutions

Montana Is Number 5! Senate Joint Resolution 19 passed the Montana Legislature easily on April 1, with what some are calling the strongest criticism of the USA PATRIOT Act from a state resolution (http://data.opi.state.mt.us/bills/2005/billhtml/SJ0019.htm). Paul Edwards, a writer and civil liberties activist in Helena, worked with the ACLU's Matt Bowles to draft the document based on the Alaska resolution. SJR 19 received bi-partisan support – sponsored by a Republican in the Montana House, and by a Democrat in the Senate. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0402-02.htm

Excitement following the passage of the Montana resolution may provide needed momentum for other resolution efforts in Massachusetts, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho. Visit BORDC's State Resolutions page http://bordc.org/states.htm for more information on resolutions passed and in progress.

Idaho Legislature Endorses SAFE Act. In March, Idaho's House and Senate adopted a joint memorial http://www3.state.id.us/oasis/HJM007.html#daily that "endorses the efforts of Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) to amend the Patriot Act to assure that it works well to protect our security, but that it does not unnecessarily compromise essential liberties of the citizens of the United States."

51 Campus Resolutions!

The number of campus resolutions is now 51. The resolutions have been enacted by student senates, faculty senates, and in some cases both, on 42 campuses in 20 states. The full list is at www.bordc.org/campus-resolutions.php. Visit our Campus Issues and Organizing page at www.bordc.org/student.htm for tools and information, including the BORDC Campus Organizing Handbook at www.bordc.org/campus_organizing_handbook.pdf.

Resolution: The Book

Where can you find information about your city or county resolution once it’s been passed? Residents of Multnomah County, Oregon, can find it in a book at any public library in their county and at most schools.

The Community Language and Culture Bank (CLCB) and Rights 101, who together convinced the Multnomah County Commission to pass a resolution on December 9, 2004, documented the experience in a 53-page book, Speaking Out to Protect Civil Rights and to Reduce Discrimination and Harassment in the Era of the U.S.A. PATRIOT Act, which contains the resolution text; testimony and letters written in support; a transcript of the meeting at which the resolution was passed; documentation of the negative impacts of 9/11 anti-terrorism measures on local residents; and a history of the Bill of Rights.

You may download Speaking Out at www.clcbank.org/report.pdf. After you see the historical document these Portland area groups have pioneered, you may want to create a living history of your community’s resolution effort.

Local Governments Rethink Involvement in JTTF

The actions of the Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) have raised concerns that the so-called "war on terrorism" is open warfare on protected free speech. A 2003 FBI memo to local law enforcement urged police to contact the nearest JTTF if they observed what most consider normal preparations for protest marches and rallies. After an anti-war protest planned on the Drake University campus in 2004, a JTTF agent in Des Moines delivered grand jury subpoenas to several people involved in the protest. JTTF agents conducted "voluntary interviews" with Iraqi students and Iraqi-Americans prior to the Iraq War and with mosque members before the 2004 election, and they discouraged people from traveling to the Democratic and Republican National Conventions to protest.

For these reasons, it is not surprising that questions have arisen in Denver (CO) and Portland (OR) about how those city governments can make sure their local police officers on loan to local Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs) are accountable to the communities they serve. They are learning that the FBI's secrecy rules prevent officers involved in the JTTF from telling even their supervisors about their work.

In Denver, police collected and stored photos and records of peaceful protestors for at least five decades, finally reaching a settlement about police intelligence practices in 2003. Although the city has retained an auditor to ensure that police are complying with the procedures, the FBI secrecy rules appear to prevent the auditor from ensuring the compliance of the two Denver police officers on loan to the JTTF. Read story in Rocky Mountain News here.

In Portland, the question in January and February was, 'Will Portland become the first community nationwide to reject its Joint Terrorism Task Force?' Today, it appears a compromise may be reached by next week to enable Mayor Potter (former Portland police chief) to receive top-secret clearances in order to have oversight of Portland’s JTTF officers. “That oversight is impossible as long as Portland’s task force officers aren’t allowed to explain fully to their local bosses what they are doing, or why,” said Potter in a recent opinion editorial here. On April 27, the Portland City Council plans to vote on a resolution that would require that Portland’s top civilian leaders have the same security clearances as police officers on the JTTF. It also gives the FBI 90 days to comply. See Portland Communique.

Legislation Update

Update on REAL ID

In the Senate, Senator Isakson (R-GA) had offered REAL ID as an amendment to the supplemental spending bill for Iraq, Afghanistan, and tsunami relief. At the last minute, however, he withdrew his amendment due to lack of Senate support. Thanks to everyone who called their Senators to prevent REAL ID's attachment to the supplemental. The final step is to urge members of the conference committee not to add REAL ID, which passed in the House, to the conference report.

Proposed and Reintroduced Bills

The following bills from the 108th Congress have recently been reintroduced. Please visit our legislation page (www.bordc.org/legislation.htm) for more information and links for these and other bills, and ask your legislators to become cosponsors if they are not already.

  • Freedom to Read Act (House) and Library, Bookseller, and Personal Records Privacy Act (Senate)
  • SAFE Act (House and Senate)
  • Civil Liberties Restoration Act (House)
  • Computer Trespass Clarification Act (Senate)

Several new bills that would help restore civil liberties have also been introduced. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) has led the push to introduce legislation that would strengthen the Freedom of Information Act and promote open government. He introduced the OPEN (Openness Promotes Effectiveness in our National) Government Act in February and the Faster FOIA Act in March. Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) joined in the fray on March 15, when he introduced the Restoration of Freedom of Information Act (“Restore FOIA”), along with Senators Carl Levin (D-MI), Russ Feingold (D-WI), and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT).

Meanwhile, as the media continues to expose the U.S. use of "extraordinary rendition," and the American public becomes increasingly outraged, a new set of bills seeks to ban this practice. Rep. Edward Markey's (D-MA) Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act would require the State Department to compile a list of countries known to use torture and prohibit the U.S. from transferring individuals to these countries. On March 16, the House voted 420 to 2 to attach Rep. Markey's bill to the emergency Iraq supplemental appropriation bill, which the Senate is now considering. The Convention Against Torture Implementation Act, introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), is its companion bill.

In Brief

Remembering Fred Korematsu

Fred Korematsu died on March 30, 2005, at the age of 86. The Bill of Rights Defense Committee remembers Korematsu not only for his courage in defying President Franklin D. Roosevelt's unconstitutional Executive Order 9066, which sent 120,000 Japanese-Americans on the West Coast to internment camps after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor without evidence of any wrongdoing, but for demanding justice for those who were targeted after September 11, 2001. Said Korematsu, "There are Arab Americans today who are going through what Japanese-Americans experienced years ago, and we can't let that happen again." He also filed on amicus brief on behalf of the Muslims being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. Read the Associated Press story at http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7405802/.

Critical Art Ensemble Defense Fund for Steven Kurtz

The Critical Art Ensemble (CAE) continues to be the primary support for the case of Steven Kurtz, a Buffalo, NY, artist whose wife’s death triggered an FBI search of his apartment last May. See Washington Post article here. Through the illegal search of Kurtz’s art materials, agents found what they assumed to be bio-terrorism materials. When the materials the agents found turned out not to be a threat to the public, the Ashcroft Department of Justice charged Kurtz with wire and mail fraud.

The CAE has held several benefits to help Kurtz’s legal defense, including an art auction on April 17. To write letters of support, sign the online support letter, or provide other kinds of support for this campaign, visit the CAE’s web site: http://caedefensefund.org/support.html.

The Bush Lexicon: Democracy and Open Government

At their February meeting, President George W. Bush lectured to Russian Premier Vladimir Putin that "democracies....have rule of law, and protection of minorities, a free press and a viable political opposition.” A member of the Russian media immediately used the USA PATRIOT Act to point out what he viewed as the hypocricy of Bush's lecture. See Copley News Service article here.

Earlier this month, President Bush, who heads the most closed administration in U.S. history, proclaimed to the American Society of Newspaper Editors convention that he supports freedom of information and "open government," but not at the expense of national security. At the same meeting, Bush also revealed that out of concern for his privacy, he no longer uses email to communicate with his daughters. Bush clearly missed the irony: that his laws and policies have made millions of Americans fearful of using email, the internet, and the telephone for the same reason.

Make a Gift in Defense of Civil Liberties

If you value our work, please help support it with a tax-deductible contribution to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee online or via check or money order.

Your purchase of bumper stickers, buttons, booklets, and Bill of Rights get well cards also help us to cover our expenses. Click here for our catalog.

Editor: Nancy Talanian, Director
Managing Editor: Jessie Baugher, East Region Organizer
Contributing Writers:
Hope Marston, West Region Organizer
Lizabeth Sunny Maguire

Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Inc.
8 Bridge St., Suite A
Northampton, MA 01060

Web: http://www.bordc.org/
Email: info@bordc.org
Telephone: 413-582-0110
Fax: 413-582-0116

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