Bill of Rights Defense Campaign

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Dissent Is Patriotic

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

July 2007, Vol. 6, No. 6

In this issue:

  • Government Abuses Are Nothing New
  • Grassroots News: June 26: Rallies to Restore Habeas Corpus and End Torture, Independence Day 2007 Events, Why Pass a National Security Letters Resolution? and News From Brighton, NY, San Jose, CA, Portland, OR, Fort Collins, CO, Taylor, TX, Tacoma, WA, Colorado Springs, CO, and Friday Harbor, WA
  • In Brief: Osama Bin Laden Video Introduced at Jose Padilla Trial, Supreme Court Issues Contradictory Decisions on Freedom of Speech, Human Rights Abuse Database—Abdallah Higazy, and Report Finds Current Surveillance Comparable to the COINTELPRO Era
  • Legislation: Bills to Restore Habeas Corpus

The BORDC needs your help. Please contact info(at)bordc.org if you'd like to start a local BORDC. Please help BORDC bring the post-9/11 civil liberties to new communities and states by helping to fund a BORDC field organizer to work in Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. To contribute funds or stock online, go to www.bordc.org/donate.php, or mail a check or money order to:

8 Bridge St., Suite A
Northampton, MA 01060

Your purchase of buttons, bumper stickers and booklets also helps. See our catalogue to order materials.

Government Abuses Are Nothing New

The Central Intelligence Agency’s (CIA’s) heavily censored release of the so-called “family jewels” is a reminder of how easily administrations have utilized federal agencies for politically motivated domestic spying and illegal acts with confidence that they’d suffer no consequences. General Michael V. Hayden, the CIA’s current director, assures us that all the CIA’s misdeeds are in the past, but we know better. Despite U.S. and international laws, the CIA has kidnapped persons of interest located anywhere in the world and transported them to secret CIA “black sites” in countries known to use torture in interrogations, and to the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. At worst, Congress has supported the abuses. For example, the Military Commissions Act exonerates the torturers and allows coerced testimony to be used in tribunals. At best, Congress has failed to provide adequate oversight. For example, when Congress began considering the PATRIOT Act reauthorization in April 2005, it relied on the testimony of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who said, “There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse,” despite having received at least six reports of FBI violations within the three months prior to making his statement. In some cases, Congress’s laws prohibiting abuses have simply shifted the practice to other government agencies. The CIA’s warrantless domestic spying, for example, has shifted to the National Security Agency (NSA).

Congress’s attempts to prevent government abuses of our rights cannot succeed without a vigilant public that is determined to hold the government accountable. We at BORDC extend a warm pat on the back to all of you who have demanded that the government be held accountable for its persistent illegal actions. Thanks to your efforts, congressional committees are increasingly demanding answers to questions on a range of post-9/11 legal issues, from NSA warrantless wiretapping to the treatment of detainees. And while the administration continues to stonewall, a growing number of former officials, including military officers, have been stepping up to fill the void. Let’s applaud them, too, for the boost their truth-telling provides for our work and for the well being of our country and the world.

Here is a roundup of highlights from the last few weeks.

NSA Warrantless Wiretapping:

Court Decides Secret Program Is Safe from Scrutiny. In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Judge Anna Diggs Taylor’s decision last year that the Bush Administration’s wiretapping program is unconstitutional. Two of the judges decided that the plantiffs—dozens of academics, journalists, and attorneys—lacked standing because they could not prove their telephone calls or emails were monitored as part of the secret program. The judges did not consider whether the program is illegal. Read the opinion here.

Documents Subpoenaed. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-3 to issue subpoenas to the offices of President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, the national security advisor, and the Department of Justice for documents related to the NSA wiretapping program. Although White House spokesman Tony Fratto attributes the subpoena to “congressional Democrats,” the committee’s senior Republicans—Senators Arlen Specter (PA), Orrin Hatch (UT), and Charles Grassley (IA)—voted in favor of seeking the subpoenas.

Former FISA Chief Criticizes NSA Wiretapping Program. At the American Library Association’s convention, Washington District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, who headed the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court from 1995 to 2002, criticized the President’s warrantless wiretapping program because it was hatched without the involvement of the judiciary. Said Lamberth, "What we have found in the history of our country is that you can't trust the executive."

What you can do: The recent 6th Circuit opinion vacating Judge Taylor’s earlier decision is a reminder that we cannot rely on the courts to restore Bill of Rights protections. Here are a few suggestions for what you can do:

  • Thank your senator if he/she is one of the Senate Judiciary Committee members who voted in favor of seeking the subpoenas by calling or sending a handwritten note of thanks. The Committee’s ten Democratic and three Republican Senators—Arlen Specter (PA), Orrin Hatch (UT), and Charles Grassley (IA)—supported the measure. Find the list of members and contact information here.
  • If your senator or representative serves on the House Intelligence Committee or the Senate Intelligence Committee, call him/her to ask that the committee fully investigate the administration’s NSA wiretapping program, including holding more open hearings, and reject the administration’s “FISA Modernization Act,” which would legalize the program. Information on the administration’s draft measure is available at the Center for Democracy and Technology website.

FBI’s National Security Letter (NSL) Abuses:

Judge Orders Release of Documents Pertaining to Misuse. An FBI internal audit reported more than 1,000 abuses of the agency’s NSL powers expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act. The abuses, found in a sample of records, are in addition to the findings of the Department of Justice Inspector General’s report released on March 9. A federal judge has now ordered the FBI to turn over documents that reveal how it used the NSL powers to obtain telephone and Internet records. The judge ordered the FBI to provide monthly releases of the documents beginning July 5, to comply with the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

What you can do: Find the first batch of documents here and ask your city or town to join a growing number of locales protecting their residents’ private information from these types of warrantless searches. Find links to sample resolutions and background here.

Guantánamo and Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs):

Supreme Court Will Review Guantánamo Detainees’ Rights to Challenge Detentions. On June 29, the Court announced it will review the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which agreed with the Bush administration that the Military Commissions Act denies U.S. federal courts the right to hear Guantánamo detainees’ challenges of their detentions. The announcement reverses the Supreme Court’s April 2007 announcement that it would not review the decision. No explanation accompanied the reversal. We at BORDC credit national and international repudiation and the declaration of a former CSRT judge, Stephen Abraham, that the CSRTs were a complete sham.

Lieutenant Colonel Blows Whistle on Combatant Status Review Tribunals (CSRTs). From 2004 to 2005, Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Abraham’s duty at Guantánamo was to “gather or validate information relating to [Guantánamo] detainees for use in CSRTs.” His decision to prepare a declaration about his findings was precipitated by statements that Rear Admiral (Retired) James McGarrah filed in Bismullah v. Gates about the CSRTs. Abraham’s declaration sheds light on why the CSRTs have declared as “enemy combatants” hundreds of innocent men who have been released years later without any charges. Here is an excerpt from Abraham’s declaration:

“I was specifically told on a number of occasions that the information provided to me was all that I would be shown, but I was never told that the information that was provided constituted all available information. On those occasions when I asked that a representative of the organization provide a written statement that there was no exculpatory evidence, the requests were summarily denied.”

In fact, when Abraham and two other officers assigned to a CSRT panel found “no factual basis for concluding that the individual should be classified as an enemy combatant,” they were questioned by McGarrah and the Deputy Director, directed to write out their questions, and ordered to try again. After refusing to agree with the classification of “enemy combatant” for the detainee, Abraham concludes, “I was not assigned to another CSRT panel.”

What you can do: Despite evidence that the CSRTs fall far short of due process for Guantánamo detainees, including hundreds sold to the U.S. military for bounties, many members of Congress stand by the Military Commissions Act and its denial of habeas corpus. If your representative or either of your senators fits that description, call his or her office or set up an in-district meeting with the member or staff. As evidence that the CSRTs are unfair, provide the member with a copy of any of the following documents:

Antonio Taguba and Abu Ghraib

BORDC salutes Antonio Taguba, Army Major General (Retired), who sacrificed his military career by following an order to report on the abuses by military police at Abu Ghraib, to the extent that his order allowed. (He was not permitted to investigate the involvement of high-ranking officers.) Knowing that his report would end his career, Taguba carefully protected the careers of his staff from the taint of his careful investigation. In a recent interview with Seymour Hersh, Taguba described what he knew or suspected about the involvement of senior defense officials, including then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, about the abuses and the cover-up.

Scholars Present Bush with Letter Urging Torture Ban. Presidential Scholar Mari Oye used the presidential photo-op she’d earned through her excellent scholarship to make an important statement: The night before the scholars’ photo-op with President Bush, Oye penned a letter to the President. The letter said, “We do not want America to represent torture. We urge you to do all in your power to stop violations of the human rights of detainees, to cease illegal renditions and to apply the Geneva Convention to all detainees, including those designated enemy combatants.” Forty-nine other Presidential Scholars signed the letter, which Oye handed to Bush at the ceremony.

After reading the letter, Bush repeated the mantra, “America doesn’t torture people,” but Oye was not satisfied. She referred to the renditions and to the President’s signing statement regarding the McCain torture ban.

In one of many interviews Oye has given, she said, “I really felt I could not just go down and smile for the camera and not say anything. There are some things that are more important than the decorum of protocol." Read Boston Globe article, including the text of the letter.

In the face of our government’s failure to provide real checks and balances, it will take the continued work of all of us, along with courageous military officers, elected officials, whistleblowers at all levels of government, and government watchdog agencies to win back the human rights of everyone detained by or on behalf of the U.S., and restore Bill of Rights protections for every U.S. resident.

Grassroots News

June 26 and July 4 Actions

June 26: Rallies to Restore Habeas Corpus and End Torture. Grassroots activities in June focused on marking the day of June 26—the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. Many religious, social justice and political groups joined forces to raise public awareness and rally support for legislation that would restore the right of habeas corpus to all who lost that right when the Military Commissions Act was passed last fall. See photographs of events from around the country at BORDC's action photo page.

  • In Washington, DC, at least four thousand people rallied and delivered 200,000 petition signatures to Congress to restore habeas corpus in an action led by the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. Many from nearby states rode buses for hours to attend the rally, and then went on to make visits to their congressional representatives on Capitol Hill, urging them to co-sponsor legislation that will guarantee anyone imprisoned by the U.S. government (Guantánamo detainees and U.S. residents) the right to a hearing before an impartial judge. See BORDC’s legislation page for detailed information about bills that have been introduced.
  • Survivors of torture in other countries who are living in the United States also marked June 26 as a day of solidarity with all victims of torture. Former BORDC organizer Mohamed Elgadi is featured in this video produced by the Group Against Torture in Sudan.
  • Local actions around the country on June 26 included rallies in which grassroots groups took thousands of petitions to senators and representatives, prayers, vigils and interfaith services. You can learn more about those actions by clicking here.
  • In Northampton, MA, members of the Pioneer Valley Coalition Against Secrecy and Torture dressed up in orange jump suits, representing Guantanamo detainees, and conducted a “Burma-Shave” sign display on the Coolidge Bridge during morning and evening rush hours. The signs read: "Stop Torture. Close Guantanamo. Restore Habeas Corpus. Call Congress. 202-224-3121." Watch a 36-second-video of the action.

Independence Day 2007 Events. July 4 is an annual event for Bill of Rights Defense Committees and allies throughout the country. In communities from coast to coast, backyard barbeques, parades, and firework displays were punctuated with neighborly conversations, signs and flyers on issues such as habeas corpus, National Security Letters, warrantless wiretapping, Guantánamo, torture, and extraordinary rendition. Photos from around the country are posted on BORDC's action photo page. For a full range of the planned activities, click here.

  • In Boulder, CO, the Rocky Mountain Peace & Justice Center handed out more than 1000 flyers asking for calls to their senators on habeas corpus.
  • At the Carrboro, NC, Fourth of July celebration, members of Orange County and Durham Bill of Rights Defense Committees staffed a table under a banner that read, "Do You Know Where Your Civil Liberties Are Today?" They presented a large display on the advocacy and watchdogging NC Stop Torture Now has done to demand investigation of Aero Contractors Ltd.—the North Carolina CIA contractor that flies "suspects" to locations for imprisonment and torture. Passersby signed a petition urging the North Carolina congressional delegation to co-sponsor S 576 and HR 1415, which would restore the right of habeas corpus and protect against torture.
  • In Corvallis, OR, for the fourth year in a row, the Benton County Bill of Rights Defense Committee marched in the annual Fourth of July parade, carrying signs in "Burma-Shave" style, which spelled out “Help protect ... the Constitution ... and Bill of Rights ... Be vigilant.” The Benton County BORDC also handed out 500 Bill of Rights scrolls to parade-goers. Their effort was reported in the local newspaper.
  • In Wichita Falls, TX, local members of the Bill of Rights Defense Committee joined the city's parade, reminding residents of their duty to protect the Bill of Rights. Wichita Falls has not yet passed a civil liberties resolution, but activists like Joy Parsons (holding the sign, "Ring for Liberty" in a photo on BORDC's action photo page) continue to go to city council meetings to educate members about the need for local protection of the Bill of Rights from federal excesses.

Photos of Local Actions. Don’t forget to send BORDC photos of your local actions, so we can highlight the work you are doing to restore the Bill of Rights on our upcoming 2008 calendar. We want to demonstrate that grassroots opposition to excessive powers and abuse of power by the government is alive and thriving in our communities. So, show us your stuff! To submit photographs, please see our photo submission guidelines.

National Security Letters

Why Pass a National Security Letters Resolution? Evidence of Bill of Rights abuses has been both decisive and overwhelming. In the past six years, we’ve learned of aggressive and illegal National Security Letters (NSLs), warrantless wiretapping, public information clampdowns, indefinite detentions, secret prisons, confessions coerced by torture and much more. The scope and audacity of these offenses strains our attention and tests our capacity for outrage.

Why then highlight any one abuse knowing there are so many more? One reason is that local governments, to which grassroots activists have the greatest access, can have a more direct effect on some abuses, such as NSLs, than others. It is a local government’s business to ensure that every request for information it receives respects civil liberties. In March, we learned from the Department of Justice Inspector General's (IG’s) scathing report that in the years 2003 through 2006, the FBI issued more than 143,000 NSL requests to public libraries, phone companies, and many other organizations demanding they hand over nonpublic information on ordinary people. The FBI has gagged NSL recipients from discussing the letters and has maintained its right to share the vast information it collects with businesses and other government agencies.

Municipal governments and libraries also keep this kind of information, which makes them both vulnerable to NSLs and well positioned to resist them. Following the IG's report, Brighton, NY, and Eureka Springs, AR, passed resolutions instructing municipal officials to learn how to respond to NSLs and to consider challenging them in court if they “determine [that] compliance would be unlawful.”

It may be a good time for your group to assert the right of local communities to take action against federal abuses of power by organizing a grassroots coalition for a city, county, or state resolution against NSLs. The flagrantly unconstitutional practices that the IG’s report documents can help convince your city council that NSLs are extremely pertinent to local government. These actions not only amplify public outcry against known abuses, but they can also tangibly impede the unconstitutional acts of federal agencies that are out of control. Finally, they send an unmistakable message to Congress that it must restore Bill of Rights protections by clamping down on these excessive powers.

To get involved contact: Ben Grosscup in the eastern U.S. [east(at)bordc.org] or Hope Marston in the western U.S.[west(at)bordc.org].

Award for NSL Resolution. Brighton, NY—On June 27, Rochester civil liberties advocates presented an award for Brighton, NY’s resolution—the first in the nation to challenge National Security Letters. Town Supervisor Sandra Frankel received a plaque on behalf of the town council, honoring its passage of the March 2007 resolution. The plaque reads, “The Rochester Civil Liberties Coalition (RCLC) recognizes the Brighton Town Board for upholding the U.S. Constitution by vowing to safeguard the privacy rights and other civil liberties of Brighton residents from intrusion by the federal government.” Frankel complimented the RCLC for the “watchdog” role it plays. Coalition member and documentary filmmaker Deborah Magone is shooting a film detailing how the RCLC persuaded the Brighton City Council to pass the first resolution to directly challenge NSLs.

Torture and Rendition

Coalition to Stop Torture Submits Resolution. San Jose, CA—On June 26, the South Bay Coalition to Stop Torture submitted its resolution to the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission. The resolution asks the commission to recommend to the Board of Supervisors that it support federal legislation HR 1352, the Torture Outsourcing Prevention Act. The Commission tabled the resolution until its August meeting. The South Bay Coalition came together to oppose and condemn the activities of a local company, Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc., which, according to media reports, handles the logistics for CIA torture flights. The group continues its weekly protests in front of the Jeppesen Dataplan offices in San Jose. Meanwhile, at the end of May the ACLU of Northern California filed a lawsuit against the company for participation in 70 CIA kidnapping and torture flights.

For more information about the South Bay Coalition to Stop Torture’s upcoming events, see the San Jose Peace Center Calendar and the South Bay Mobilization Calendar.

UU General Assembly Passes Resolution to Stop Torture. Portland, OR—On June 24, the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly passed a resolution to "Stop U.S. Sponsored Torture—A Religious Call to Action." The Assembly resolved to "reject torture by anyone for any purpose under any circumstances without exception" and to "stand in opposition to all U.S. sponsored torture, secret prisons, and rendition for torture."

Local Impeachment Proceedings Charge White House with Torture. Fort Collins, CO—On June 16, Strength Through Peace conducted a simulation of impeachment proceedings against President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Kevin Cross, who also wrote the script, plays the judge in the videotaped street theatre piece, with Zach Heath as Bush, and Richard Conn as Cheney. Though many of the impeachment points were about how the Bush administration led the U.S. into illegal war in Iraq, some of the impeachment charges are for torture and treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Click here for video or visit Strength Through Peace's website to see the group's entire video gallery.

Detention Centers

Hundreds Protest Detention Center. Taylor, TX—On June 23, hundreds from communities surrounding Taylor, TX, gathered to protest at the T. Don Hutto Detention Facility as part of World Refugee Day. Jill Flores from San Marcos reports, “It was a highly spirited protest with many human rights groups present. Three young boys from Somalia were there. Their mother has been incarcerated on some technicality for the last six months. They are living with their father in Dallas. They said a few words to the crowd and it was very moving.”

The work to create humane living conditions and outright release for many detainees continues through the ACLU, Texans United for Freedom, Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law, Texans for Peace, and other groups and individuals.

Roundtable Meets to Reform Detention Facility. Tacoma, WA—The Northwest Detention Center Roundtable continues to meet and push for solutions at the detention facility in Tacoma. The roundtable is a coalition of such groups as BORDC-Tacoma, Hate Free Zone-Washington, Centro Latino, the Federal Public Defenders Office, Northwest Leadership Foundation, and Tacoma Community House. Tim Smith from BORDC-Tacoma reports that representatives from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and Health and Human Services also attend the quarterly meetings, which are called to discuss issues of the care of children whose parents are in detention, requests among roundtable groups to have contact with detainees, and housing and bus tickets for those who are released. The next roundtable meeting is scheduled for July 17.

What You Can Do:

  • For more resources on organizing around detention centers, click here.
  • To learn whether there is a detention center in or near your community, click here.

Government Surveillance and Arrests

Mayor Stands Up for Immigrants Arrested by Federal Officials. Portland, OR—On June 12, federal officials arrested 150 undocumented immigrants at a local produce company, Del Monte Fresh. Mayor Tom Potter decried the action, issuing a statement that said, “Immigrants provide more than mere labor in our community. They have long enriched our history, our culture and our city. My heart goes out to families dealing with the aftermath of this morning. In this morning’s raid, no Portland police officers participated, and our Crisis Response Team was activated to help families affected.”

Herman Frankel, from the Portland group Rights 101, wrote a public letter thanking the mayor for his “courage and integrity in defending the dignity and human rights of the people in our community.”

Film Documents Government Disruption of Environmental Group. Colorado Springs, CO—The Pikes Peak Justice and Peace Commission, along with other local groups, showed the film The Forest for the Trees on June 28, following film showings in Denver, Fort Collins and Boulder earlier in June. The film documents the trial of Judi Bari, an environmental activist accused by the FBI of planting a bomb that severely injured both Bari and the passenger in her car, Darryl Cherney. The film also indicates the strong possibility that the FBI may have been involved in attempting to disrupt Bari’s work through sabotage.

What You Can Do: Show the film in your area. Activist groups can purchase the film from Bullfrog Films for $59. Learn more here about showing the film in your community.

Habeas Corpus

Plan to Engage Tourists in Civil Liberties Issues. Friday Harbor, WA—The Washington ACLU chapter, which also works with the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, is planning to reach out to county fairgoers on civil liberties issues. Equipped with Bill of Rights bookmarks, flyers, a habeas corpus library display, and a “Find Habeas” lost-and-found ad to be run in the local paper, the group continues to generate ideas for making sure the 20,000 visitors who swell the town’s streets during the August 16-20 festivities go home informed and activated.

Submit Articles on Your Grassroots Activities

BORDC invites you to submit news on your grassroots activities to be published in the Grassroots News section of our monthly e-newsletter. Articles should be 100-200 words. Please see our contributors’ guidelines.

In Brief

Osama Bin Laden Video Introduced at Jose Padilla Trial

The prosecution has rested in the terrorism-support trial of U.S. citizen and former “enemy combatant” Jose Padilla and two other defendants who are accused of “conspiracy to torture, kill, and maim” and “providing material aid to terrorists.” The prosecution played phone conversations selected from 300,000 calls between the defendants and others, which had been recorded by the FBI. The prosecution asserted that the conversations included “code words” for violent “jihad.” However, upon cross-examination, an FBI agent admitted that Padilla had never used code words for jihad. Similarly, the prosecution succeeded in convincing the judge to allow a 1997 video of Osama bin Laden to be shown to the jury, but there is no evidence that Padilla ever saw the video.

Recordings made while Padilla was living in Egypt are even less helpful to the government’s case. None of the conversations include code words. Instead, Padilla complains of trouble adapting to life in Egypt and difficulty learning Arabic.

Evidence brought up in the defense’s cross-examinations is also damaging to the prosecution’s case. In a radio interview, Padilla discusses his conversion to Islam and rejects extremist interpretations. In addition, the defense challenged the prosecution’s most damning piece of evidence, a Mujahadeen application form, claiming that Padilla’s fingerprints appeared on the form only after it was handed to him during his interrogation.

Despite the central role that recorded conversations play in the government’s case, Padilla appears in very few of them; furthermore, the tapes offer only limited support for the government’s allegations. The defense claims that the defendants were discussing providing humanitarian aid to Muslims living in war-torn regions and that there is no evidence of intent to murder or support terrorists. Indeed, the FBI admitted that its lead agents do not speak Arabic and that one of the Bureau’s own translators believed that the conversations could have been about relief work.

Supreme Court Issues Contradictory Decisions on Freedom of Speech

On June 25, the Supreme Court issued a pair of contradictory rulings on freedom of speech, the first expanding speech rights for big money and corporations, and the second curtailing student speech that advocates certain ill-defined “dangers.” Both cases were decided by 5-4 votes.

Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life Inc. involves the application by federal regulators of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law. At issue were the FEC’s actions in response to a Wisconsin Right to Life 2004 campaign ad. While not explicitly criticizing Senator Feingold, the ad’s intention was obvious, and a Federal District Court ruled that it was not constitutionally protected. The Supreme Court disagreed. The majority ruled that regulators cannot use the law to ban politically oriented “issue ads” before elections unless the ads are “susceptible of no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate.”

In Morse v. Frederick, the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” case, the Court took an opposite stand, restricting free speech. Ruling against a student who displayed a banner reading “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” during a school-sanctioned event, the Court found the principal’s decision to suspend the student constitutional. Chief Justice Roberts wrote that “failing to act would send a powerful message to the students in her charge, including Frederick, about how serious the school was about the dangers of illegal drug use.…The First Amendment does not require schools to tolerate at school events student expression that contributes to those dangers.” What exactly constitutes such “dangers” is unclear. However, a worse outcome could have resulted had the Court backed Justice Thomas’s regressive and extremist opinion that “In light of the history of American public education…it cannot seriously be suggested that the First Amendment ‘freedom of speech’ encompasses a student’s right to speak in public schools.”

Justice Stevens, in his dissent in the Morse case, quipped that under the Morse ruling, “the Court would support punishing Frederick for flying a ‘Wine Sips 4 Jesus’ banner,” because, despite its religious connotation, alcohol, too, is a “danger” to teenagers.

Human Rights Abuse Database—Abdallah Higazy

BORDC will unveil its Human Rights Abuse Database later this year, so that journalists, civil liberties activists, and others will be able to search it for stories of unwitting victims in the U.S. government’s post-9/11 "war on terror." Until then, we will regularly commit space in this newsletter to one individual whose life has been harmed by U.S. government policies.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, Abdallah Higazy was awakened in his Millennium Hilton hotel room by a noise he mistook as a sonic boom. The sound, he quickly discovered, was the first plane colliding with the World Trade Center across the street. Mr. Higazy and the rest of the guests were evacuated. Several months passed before he was allowed to return to the hotel to collect his belongings.

When Mr. Higazy did return, he was presented with a list of items a security guard claimed to have found in his room. One item on the list was a radio transmitter Mr. Higazy did not own and had never seen before. Despite his protests that the radio transmitter was not his, the FBI took Mr. Higazy into custody.

During questioning, the FBI informed him that the radio transmitter allegedly found atop a Koran in his room’s safe was capable of communicating with the 9/11 hijackers. Mr. Higazy denied owning the transmitter and offered to take a polygraph test to prove to the agents that he was telling the truth. After ten days of solitary confinement, he was transported from the Metropolitan Detention Center to an office in Manhattan. During the five-hour questioning, he was denied food, water, and access to his lawyer, and was repeatedly badgered by FBI agents.

Mr. Higazy eventually fainted from the anxiety induced by the FBI interrogator’s pressure tactics. When revived, Mr. Higazy asked the FBI interrogator to stop the polygraph, which was inconclusive. However, the FBI agent was determined to continue. He told Mr. Higazy, “We can show ties between you and September 11. You’re smart, you’re an engineer, a pilot's radio was found in your room; it doesn't take a genius to figure it out.” The agent also threatened to scrutinize Mr. Higazy’s brother in upstate New York and claimed that Egyptian Security forces would “give [his] family hell” if he didn’t confess.

Faced with what he thought was the choice between going to prison and going to prison after harming his family, Mr. Higazy confessed.

Mr. Higazy was charged with lying to the FBI, but before his trial started, he was suddenly released. The pilot who owned the transmitter had come to collect it, and the security guard who said he found the transmitter in Mr. Higazy’s room admitted to lying. Abdullah Higazy was freed, and we are left to wonder what might have happened as a result of his coerced false confession, and what has happened to the many other victims who have been forced to falsely confess but were not so fortunate.

Report Finds Current Surveillance Comparable to the COINTELPRO Era

Betty Ball from the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center in Boulder, CO, reports a 2006 survey on government surveillance was recently released, showing that the government is doing as much spying on activist groups as during the COINTELPRO era. The report concludes, “We were most struck by the intensity and extent of surveillance on pacifist groups, and by its disruptive effects on their work.” The survey was conducted by the Institute for the Study of Dissent and Social Control, and the report can be found in its entirety at: www.dissensio.org.

Legislation

The restoration of habeas corpus was the focus of nationwide and local rallies and actions on June 26. During a national call-in to Congress that same week, individuals called upon their elected representatives to co-sponsor and support habeas corpus legislation. The July 4 congressional recess provided another opportunity to speak with representatives while they were back in their home districts.

Because there are numerous bills seeking to address the Military Commissions Act’s abolition of the right of any Guantánamo detainee or U.S. resident who is not a citizen to seek a hearing, it can be confusing to know which bill most clearly restores the constitutional right of habeas corpus.

The most recent habeas bill was introduced on June 22 by Representative Ike Skelton (D-MO). Because Skelton is chair of the House Armed Services Committee, some believe that HR 2826 possesses an ingredient lacking in four House bills: the power to reach the House floor.

On June 7, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11-8 to move a habeas bill (S 185) sponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT) to the Senate floor. Specter was the only Republican to vote for the bill. The bill may reach the Senate floor for a vote as soon as the week of July 9. If Senator Lindsey Graham calls for a fillibuster of the bill, sixty votes would be needed to bring the bill to a floor vote. Please call both your senators’ offices to make sure they will support bringing the bill to the floor for an up or down vote.

Here is a synopsis of five House bills (two of which are linked to Senate bills) on habeas corpus:

  • HR 267, sponsored by Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18th), would repeal the restrictions on habeas corpus in the Military Commissions Act.
  • HR 1189, sponsored by David Wu (D-OR-1st), would restore habeas corpus for all U.S. residents.
  • HR 1415, sponsored by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-8th), would restore habeas corpus for those detained by the U.S. government, and would dismantle several key provisions of the Military Commissions Act relating to torture, the naming of enemy combatants, and U.S. government accountability for human rights. Senate companion bill: S 576, sponsored by Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT).
  • HR 1416, sponsored by Jerrold Nadler (D-NY-8th), would restore habeas corpus for those detained by the U.S. government. Senate companion bill: S 185, sponsored by Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA) and Patrick Leahy (D-VT)
  • HR 2826, sponsored by Ike Skelton (D-MO-4th), would restore habeas corpus for Guantánamo detainees.

HR 2826 and S 185 are positioned to represent what Congress is willing to pass right now. To get a stronger bill—one that is powerful enough to undo the human damage of the Military Commissions Act—there must be more public outcry. Surely the simple call to “Restore Habeas Corpus” cannot appease the public outrage that followed the passage of the entire Military Commissions Act, which abets torture by allowing evidence gained by coercion, absolves inhumane actions by U.S. personnel since 9/11, and allows the President to name enemy combatants and to ignore the Geneva Conventions.

  • For more information on the Military Commissions Act, click here.
  • For more information about legislation on Bill of Rights issues, click here.

Editor: Nancy Talanian, Director
Managing Editor: Susan Heitker, Administrator
Contributing Writers:
Hope Marston, West Region Organizer
Ben Grosscup, East Region Organizer
Sam Litton, Intern

Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Inc.
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