ACLU, Sincerely

Ever wondered what the ACLU gets up to? I have taken the liberty of posting their newsletter under my name, forgive me but you will see why.

Phil

###

ACLU Online
October 2, 2009
******************************
In This Issue:

Do You Read Banned Books?

It's Time to Reform the Patriot Act

Obama Administration Will Not Seek Indefinite Detention Legislation

New State Secrets Policy: Like the Fox Guarding the Henhouse

ENDA Hearing Marks a Momentum-Boosting Turning Point

Fighting for Free Speech at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh

Law & Order Tackles Accountability for Torture. Will We Have It in
Real Life?

******************************
Do You Read Banned Books?

What do The Grapes of Wrath, Little Red Riding Hood, Webster's Ninth
New Collegiate Dictionary and Playboy have in common?

Every one of these works has been censored somewhere in the United
States. Censorship comes in many forms. Whenever a school board
librarian, newspaper editor, politician, or store owner tries to take
away your right to decide what you want to see, hear or read, that is
censorship.

In honor of Banned Books Week, which ends to tomorrow, October 3, take
our quiz to see which of the following classic novels of the 20th
century have also been banned or challenged.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=1g00HPZKVu-C4LMEC7_LFw [1]..

******************************
It's Time to Reform the Patriot Act

Three provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act are set to expire on December
31, 2009. These impending sunsets are a perfect opportunity for
Congress to re-assess the government's unchecked spying powers
and to make crucial changes to ensure that innocent Americans'
most private information will remain just that -- private. The Senate
Judiciary Committee just marked up a bill that would amend the Patriot
Act and the NSL statute on Thursday. Legislation to reform the Patriot
Act is moving fast. Let your members of congress know that you support
bold action on Patriot Act reform.
Take Action: Please contact your members of Congress right now
and tell them it is high time to reform the PATRIOT Act and do away with overbearing surveillance policies.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=E9GwyXItjpwV9xk8qUEysA [2]..
Learn more about the Patriot Act.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=8mky4XQLtUo_gUJXQ3Ug5A [3]..
******************************
Obama Administration Will Not Seek Indefinite Detention Legislation

It was reported last week that the Obama administration will not seek
legislation or issue an executive order to institute a system of
indefinite detention without charge or trial which would have made it
more permanent and harder to end. According to the reports, the
administration backed away from seeking legislation because it
believes the federal government already has the power to detain
terrorism suspects indefinitely under the congressional resolution
passed after 9/11 authorizing the president to use force against Al
Qaeda and the Taliban.

This isn't the end of this issue by a long shot. The U.S. is
still holding people without charge at Guantánamo Bay, and it's
critical that once the prison camp is closed, the administration does
not continue to indefinitely imprison detainees elsewhere for
terrorism crimes. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit seeking more
information about indefinite detention at Bagram Air Force Base which
could become the new Guantánamo -- except with more prisoners, in
harsher conditions, and no access to lawyers.

"While the Obama administration is wise not to seek legislation or
issue an executive order that would formalize an unconstitutional
system of indefinite detention, it remains deeply troubling that the
administration continues to maintain a de facto system in which
detainees are held indefinitely without charge or trial,"
commented Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Executive Director.

Locking people up indefinitely without charge or trial violates our
most fundamental laws and values. The American system of justice
demands that we don't simply imprison people when they are suspected
of a crime; we try them in a court of law where real justice can be
achieved without compromising fundamental rights.
Last week, the ACLU filed a lawsuit seeking more information about the
indefinite detention and treatment of detainees at Bagram Air Force Base, which could become the next Guantánamo -- except with more
prisoners, in harsher conditions, and no access to lawyers. Learn more.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=QHcnJwR1G7qRtT6Z3lkRHw [4]..

******************************
New State Secrets Policy: Like the Fox Guarding the Henhouse

Months after Attorney General Eric Holder said he would release the
Obama administration's new policy on the use of the state
secrets privilege, it's finally out. The thrust of the new rule:
Holder must approve any invocation of the privilege.

Unfortunately, that's not much different from the Bush
administration's policy, which was to invoke the privilege to
terminate entire lawsuits at the outset.

Ben Wizner, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project,
filed two cases challenging the CIA's extraordinary rendition
program. In the first case, brought on behalf of Khaled el-Masri, the
district court and appeals court both accepted the government's
state secrets claim, and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
In the second case brought against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen
Dataplan, the district court sided with the government when it invoked
the state secrets privilege, but the appeals court reversed that
decision. The Department of Justice is now asking the appeals court to
rehear the case before a full panel of judges.

"On paper, this is a step forward. In court, however, the Obama
administration continues to defend a broader view of state secrets put
forward by the Bush administration and to demand that federal courts
throw out lawsuits filed by victims of torture and illegal
surveillance," said Wizner. "In recent years, we have seen
the executive branch engage in grave human rights violations, declare
those activities 'state secrets,' and thus avoid any
judicial oversight or accountability. It is critical that the courts
play a meaningful role in deciding whether victims of human rights
abuses will have an opportunity to seek justice. Real reform of the
state secrets privilege must affirm the power of the courts to reject
false claims of 'national security."

Real reform must start in Congress. House and Senate bills were
introduced a few days after DOJ lawyers invoked the state secrets
privilege before the 9th Circuit in our Jeppesen case.
Take Action: It's time for Congress to reassert its role
as a check on executive power. Without state secrets legislation, we'll only have more secrecy and less accountability.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=2l5nhO5A-Kc7Gi2MZxZrfQ [5]..

******************************
You Are Invited: Reckoning with Torture

Writers, artists and others read from recently released secret
documents -- memos, declassified communications, and testimonies by
detainees -- in a public event to promote awareness of acts of torture
and abuse carried out by the U.S. since 9/11.

Featuring special guests: Matthew Alexander, former senior military
interrogator; Jack Rice, former CIA special agent and operations
officer; and Amrit Singh, former ACLU attorney who litigated post 9/11
abuse cases and Senior Legal Officer for the National Security and
Counterterrorism Program at the Open Society Justice Initiative; with
a special presentation by artist Jenny Holzer.

WHEN: Tuesday, October 13 at 7 p.m.
WHERE: The Great Hall, Cooper Union, 7 East 7th Street at Third
Avenue, NYC
TICKETS: $15/$10 for PEN/ACLU Members & Students with valid ID.
Learn more about this event and how to purchase tickets.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=BSzQYOapgKpvQjcjAP5afw [6]..
******************************
ENDA Hearing Marks a Momentum-Boosting Turning Point

Last week, the House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on
the recently introduced Employment Non-Discrimination Act (H.R. 3017).
This legislation, which now has the bipartisan support of 181 members
of the House of Representatives, would prohibit employment
discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation (which
remains legal in 29 states) and gender identity (which remains legal
in 38 states). The legislation will provide sorely needed and long
overdue federal protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) individuals, who unfortunately still face widespread employment
discrimination.

If the huge line of people attempting to get into the hearing was any
indication, this legislation has certainly generated a lot of interest
on the Hill. From the outset, it was apparent just how far the
momentum had swung to those who support the passage of this critical
legislation.

Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisconsin), one of just three openly
gay Members of Congress, spoke with pride about how Wisconsin was the
first state, in 1982, to ban employment discrimination based on sexual
orientation. Additionally, in her testimony in support of ENDA, she
specifically cited the ACLU's 2007 report entitled
"Working in the Shadows: Ending Employment Discrimination for
LGBT Americans."

There is a very strong possibility that the full House of
Representatives will soon be voting on ENDA, and then it will go to
the Senate which already has 40 co-sponsors for its bill. Please
contact your representative and senators and urge them to support this
common sense legislation. Fundamental fairness demands nothing less!
Take Action: Urge Congress to support the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act. http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=D3Pq6-GwuPmP9DcskD3VwA [7]..

******************************
Fighting for Free Speech at the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh

After the ACLU successfully sued to force the city of Pittsburgh to
allow several groups to hold demonstrations around the G20 Summit, it
seemed that free speech would prevail in the Steel City.

Unfortunately, that was not the case. Following the court ruling, the
Pittsburgh police department engaged in a pattern of harassment of G20
demonstrators, singling out the Seeds of Peace Collective, one of
several groups providing food support to the protestors.

The police repeatedly tried to intimidate members of the collective,
citing them with minor traffic violations, illegally searching their
bus, towing their legally parked bus, detaining and charging members
walking home with loitering, repeatedly demanding identification, and
pressuring private property owners to rescind their permission for the
collective to park its bus.

Despite evidence of systematic harassment, a federal judge refused to
grant a temporary injunction to stop the harassment in a second
lawsuit.

The ACLU and the National Lawyers Guild dispatched over 150 legal
observers to monitor law enforcement's treatment of the
protestors throughout the week.
Learn more about the ACLU and the G20.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=Ec3WLO9m14--pDJl_HRxRA [8]..
Read The New York Times blog post about the G20 protests, which includes a
video featuring an interview with ACLU-PA Legal Director Vic Walczak. http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=nmsofEzRCxRu9Q8p2aZWPw [9]..

******************************
Law & Order Tackles Accountability for Torture. Will We Have It in
Real Life?

"Jack, you want to prosecute a member of the Bush administration for
assaulting suspected terrorists?"

"The word is 'torturing.' And yes -- it's about time
somebody did."

If you watched Law & Order last week, you saw that the "Jack"
laying down the gauntlet on accountability for torture is veteran
district attorney Jack McCoy. What McCoy understands is that in
America, the rule of law applies to everyone. No one is above the law,
not even (and some might say especially) the most powerful.

In this fictionalized but typically "ripped from the headlines"
episode, McCoy decides to prosecute an author of a Justice Department
legal memo authorizing torture, as well as his co-conspirators up the
chain of command, including Vice President Cheney.

In real life, there has yet to be an investigation into the high-level
authorization of torture, a crime that has stained the reputation of
our nation at home and abroad.

Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder appointed a special
prosecutor to conduct a preliminary review into whether federal laws
were violated in connection with the interrogation of some specific
detainees. It was a good first step and a positive sign given
President Obama's commitment to "looking forward" at the
unfortunate expense of enforcing the law. But a narrow investigation
limited to interrogators and contractors in the field is woefully
inadequate.

Last Friday's Law & Order episode, through its script, takes
on the need to look ourselves squarely in the eye. "It's
hypocritical to defend our values with torture," says the retired Army
captain. Toward the end of the episode, the assistant D.A. declares,
"[I]t is not disloyal to hold our officials to the highest standards
of conduct."

Indeed. In fact, it is the epitome of loyalty and patriotism to do so.
Now the question is, in real life, will Attorney General Holder rise
to the occasion?
Learn more accountability for torture.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=ADIhvKyHreYdr2TrdR40ew [10]..
******************************
Send to a friend

http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=0NZNmzPBCiN3XMbJJ4WNGw [11]..

Do you know somebody who would be interested in getting news about the
ACLU and what we're doing to protect civil liberties? Help us spread
the word about ACLU Online -- forward this newsletter to a
friend.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=V_7qNA-_XNGN3JHItvJ4sw [12]..

******************************

American Civil Liberties Union
125 Broad Street, 18th Floor
New York, New York 10004-2400
Geraldine Engel, Lisa Sock and
Shannon Scanlan, Editors

Privacy Statement
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=hANtNP_5Qnf5fWZbzVRdhw [13]..

Privacy Statement
This mail is never sent unsolicited. You, or someone on your behalf,
has subscribed to receive this information from the American Civil
Liberties Union. At the ACLU Web site, the ACLU gathers anonymous
summary statistics on the responses to our email newsletters in order
to better serve list subscribes and ACLU members. To review our
Privacy Statement, click here.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=jXuy7TiZsvWmX0tFbx5X8A [14]..

Click here to forward this message.
http://action.aclu.org/site/R?i=WkvhlCjiRUPZgK6kJnIQpQ [15]..