ACLU In The News

[Soldier4Christ]

ACLU: Swiss Cheese For Brains

All credit goes to Sweet Spirits of Ammonia via Washington Times

    A proposal from the Senate Intelligence Committee that would exempt federal agencies from provisions of the Privacy Act in the name of the war against terrorism has, of course, gotten the attention of the ACLU.

    “If this is enacted, the Privacy Act will look like Swiss cheese,” exaggerated ACLU legislative counsel Tim Sparapani.

    The bill would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to access personal information about Americans held by other federal departments or agencies if it is believed relevant to counter-terrorism or counter-proliferation.

    A Democratic committee staffer defended the proposal, telling UPI that the exemptions were “narrowly drawn to address the kinds of problems we found during our Sept. 11 inquiry,” when U.S. agencies failed to pool information about known al-Qaida militants who were thus able to slip into the country.

    In language that seems calculated to assuage the fears of privacy advocates, the bill states that “nothing in the amendments made by this section shall be deemed to constitute authority for the receipt, collection, or retention of information unless” it is “otherwise authorized by the Constitution, laws, or executive orders of the United States.”

    The Democratic staffer argued that “this is lawfully collected information. What sense does it make not to share it in an appropriately limited fashion,” as envisaged in the bill?

    Not good enough for the paranoia poster boy from the ACLU. Sparapani contends that in the wake of the revelations about the National Security Agency program of warrantless counter-terrorist surveillance, the time for giving the administration the benefit of the doubt on such issues was past.

    Meanwhile, the threat of domestic terrorism grows as evidenced by what happened in Canada recently. CBS NEWS, only three days ago, reported that U.S. officials believe recent incidents point to an imminent threat. The article stated:

    The next attack here, officials predict, will bear no resemblance to Sept. 11. The casualty toll will not be that high, the target probably not that big. We may not even recognize it for what it is at first, they say. But it’s coming — of that they seem certain.

    But, the ACLU would have us caught with our pants down and our heads up our butts, crying “Who did that?”

    If Tim Sparapani wants to see Swiss cheese he should get a brain scan.

[Soldier4Christ]

ACLU Challenge ATT-BellSouth Merger, Ask FCC To Investigate Cooperation With NSA


Today the ACLU kicked things into gear with their obsession to destroy the NSA surveillance program. Today they interfered with the merger of ATT and BellSouth, asking the FCC to investigate the USA Today’s claims that they gave phone records to the NSA.

    The American Civil Liberties Union said today that it has filed formal comments reminding the Federal Communications Commission of allegations that AT&T and BellSouth illegally provided customer information to the National Security Agency, and pointing out that under existing law the FCC cannot permit the pending merger between those two companies to proceed without investigating the merit of those allegations.

    “As you know, a May 11th article in USA Today alleged that at least three telecommunications companies, AT&T, BellSouth and Verizon, cooperated with the NSA in an effort to collect calling information and call patterns on every American,” the ACLU said in a formal filing signed by ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero and other officials. “These actions seem to be in direct violation of statutory guarantees on the privacy of telephone calling information.”

    The ACLU also reminded FCC officials that the agency “has a statutory duty as part of its review of the AT&T-BellSouth merger application to perform a full investigation of the claims reported in USA Today.”

They also filed legal papers in preparation for their upcoming case in which they are seeking to have the NSA program declared unconstitutional.

    The ACLU submitted its latest legal memorandum late last night asking a Detroit court to find the National Security Agency’s surveillance program unconstitutional and in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The memorandum is the latest step in the ACLU’s landmark lawsuit filed on January 17 in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan.

    Oral arguments on the constitutionality of the NSA spying program are scheduled for June 12 before Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit. The hearing will mark the first time a federal court will hear arguments about the legality of the spying program. In an order issued May 31, Judge Taylor postponed until July 10 any argument on the government’s request to dismiss the case on state secrets grounds. The judge noted that the government had not bothered to submit briefs on the legality of the program, but said it would allow them to present arguments on June 12 “if they appear.”

    The ACLU memorandum details the negative effects the ongoing surveillance program has had on Americans who must communicate with individuals in the Middle East, Africa and Asia for their work. According to the memorandum, the NSA program has caused important sources to stop communicating with the plaintiffs in the lawsuit out of fear that their communications will be intercepted.

So there is your update on the ACLU’s attempt to destroy national security. Just another day for the ACLU, making America less safe.

[Soldier4Christ]

ACLU Not Happy With Specter’s NSA Compromise


It looks like things are working themselves out in the Senate for a compromise on the NSA program.

    The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has proposed legislation that would give President Bush the option of seeking a warrant from a special court for an electronic surveillance program such as the one being conducted by the National Security Agency.

    Sen. Arlen Specter’s approach modifies his earlier position that the NSA eavesdropping program, which targets international telephone calls and e-mails in which one party is suspected of links to terrorists, must be subject to supervision by the secret court set up under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

    The new proposal specifies that it cannot “be construed to limit the constitutional authority of the President to gather foreign intelligence information or monitor the activities and communications of any person reasonably believed to be associated with a foreign enemy of the United States.”

    Bush has cited his constitutional authority as president as justification for undertaking the warrantless NSA surveillance. The White House and Vice President Cheney have said up to now that no additional legislation is necessary to bring the program within the law.

    Specter’s bill, introduced yesterday at a committee meeting, was a compromise worked out with Sen. Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) and designed to gather enough Republican support so it can be taken to the floor for a vote. During a conversation with Cheney yesterday afternoon first disclosed by an administration official, Specter (R-Pa.) said he arranged to have Justice Department officials begin reviewing his proposal.

    Another part of the Specter bill would grant blanket amnesty to anyone who authorized warrantless surveillance under presidential authority, a provision that seems to ensure that no one would be held criminally liable if the current program is found illegal under present law.

    A third provision would consolidate the 29 cases that have been filed in various federal district courts challenging the legality of the NSA program and give jurisdiction over them to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, which was established by FISA. Any decision of that court would be subject to Supreme Court review and otherwise would be binding on all other courts.

Of course, the ACLU are not happy. They are calling it a blank check given to the president. Since it makes sense to most Americans, and it goes along with the best interest of national security, the ACLU don’t care for it. They were the ones calling for the Senate to review things, now they don’t like what the result was. What a bunch of whiners.

[Shammu]

ACLU tries to stop warrantless wiretapping

By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 32 minutes ago

DETROIT - Critics of the government's domestic surveillance program claim it violates the rights of free speech and privacy. The Bush administration says it is necessary and legal. Both sides were due in court Monday to argue the constitutionality of the program. The American Civil Liberties Union has asked for an immediate halt to the warrantless wiretapping program.

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor was to hear the case brought by the ACLU against the National Security Agency. The Bush administration has asked Taylor to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the litigation would jeopardize state secrets.

But Taylor said she would first hear arguments on the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, despite the government's assertion that no court can consider the issues.

The administration has acknowledged eavesdropping on Americans' international communications without first seeking court approval. President Bush has said the eavesdropping is legal because of a congressional resolution passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that authorized him to use force in the fight against terrorism.

The parties in the ACLU lawsuit, who include journalists, scholars and lawyers, say the program has hampered their ability to do their jobs because it has made international contacts, such as sources and potential witnesses, wary of sharing information over the phone.

Ann Beeson, the ACLU's associate legal director, said the administration's arguments in defense of the program don't square with the Constitution.

"The framers never intended to give the president the power to ignore the laws of Congress even during wartime and emergencies," she said last week during a conference call with reporters.

She said no state secrets need to be revealed to litigate the case because the administration has already acknowledged the program exists. The Center for Constitutional Rights has filed a similar lawsuit on the eavesdropping in federal court in New York.

ACLU tries to stop warrantless wiretapping

[Soldier4Christ]

Wakarusa inspections infuriate the ACLU

Members of the American Civil Liberties Union attempted to file an injunction to stop blanket vehicle searches outside of the Wakarusa Music Festival this weekend, saying the police action may have been unconstitutional.

But ACLU members had little prior knowledge of the traffic stops and searches, and had a difficult time finding the one thing they needed to take legal action: Someone mad enough to step forward.

“We couldn’t find a plaintiff,” Douglas County ACLU President Phil Minkin said. “Without one, we don’t go looking for a plaintiff.”

The possibility of an injunction stemmed from local attorneys contacting the ACLU after speaking to clients who believed the Kansas Highway Patrol’s searches were based on the way they looked rather than real evidence of illegal substances or wrongdoing, said Brett Shirk, director of ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri.

“I had concerns they have been stopping people based on what they looked like,” Shirk said. “There very well may have been Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure issues.”

Shirk then called the ACLU’s legal panel to see about possible legal action, including a state or federal court injunction that would have temporarily stopped the searches, he said.

But the legal board said they required a formal complaint to proceed, and neither Shirk nor officials at the Douglas County ACLU office had received one.

The Highway Patrol stopped every car using the toll lane exiting Interstate 70 at Kansas Highway 10 Thursday and Friday regardless of how the vehicle or the driver looked, Lt. John Eickhorn from the Highway Patrol said.

“We didn’t discriminate about how people looked,” he said.

Eickhorn admitted some cars received more thorough checks than others, but only when evidence of wrongdoing presented itself.

The car may have smelled like burning pot. The driver could have been nervous, more nervous than a typical driver at a traffic stop.

Or, he said, the car could have looked trashed, as if someone had lived in it for days at a time.

“Typically drug dealers don’t stop,” he said of a dealer’s driving habits. “That’s a good indication that criminal activity is afoot.”

Shirk said legal action against the Highway Patrol or other law enforcement units remains a possibility, but only if local attorneys or their clients come forward with complaints.

“If there was police misconduct, if that would happen, the ACLU may very well investigate,” Shirk said. “But the ball is in the court of local attorneys at this point.”

Kevin DeSisto, 35, Boston, who was standing outside the Douglas County Jail Monday after being released on bond on a marijuana charge, said he was considering filing a civil-rights lawsuit against the state for what he alleged was an improper search.

He said he and a group of his friends were arrested Sunday morning after officers knocked on the door of their rented RV and alleged that someone in the vehicle had sold LSD and ecstasy to an undercover KBI agent.

DeSisto said during the ensuing search of the people and the vehicle, officers found him in possession of a pipe and a quarter-ounce of high-grade marijuana, but he said it was for personal use. He said the group had $10,000 seized by police from a lock box inside the vehicle, which he said was money for their trip.

“We’re going to do a class-action lawsuit,” he said. “We’re as serious as can be.”

Elsewhere at Wakarusa this weekend, agents from Alcoholic Beverage Control spent time watching for minors with drinks at the concert.

Agent Fletcher Hill said that was part of the ABC’s statewide enforcement effort, and Wakarusa presented an opportunity to watch for underage drinkers.

“We get pretty good at spotting people who are too young to drink,” Hill said. “It’s not just random.”

All the ABC officers were undercover, he said, and turned over any violators to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department.

Hill said they were also on the lookout for people selling cigarettes and drinks at the festival without a license. The agency made at least one arrest after watching a concert attendee allegedly mixing drinks near a tent.

Only beer was sold at the concert.

And all the empty beer cans — and myriad of trash people produced — meant plenty of work for cleanup crews after the four-day event.

“It’s hundreds and hundreds of people out here taking down tents, taking down stages, picking up trash,” organizer Brett Mosiman said. “It’s a huge undertaking.”

Mosiman said he hoped to have the park back the way it was by Friday, and that the event had been another huge success, police presence and all.

And next year, Mosiman said he expected the event to be back at the park for four more days of music in the sun.

“I hope they invite us back,” he said.

_____________________

They couldn't "find" a plaintiff but they don't "go looking" for one??

[Soldier4Christ]

ACLU to fight Cuba travel ban
A new state law that restricts educational travel to Cuba and other countries faces a legal challenge.

Florida's American Civil Liberties Union plans to file a lawsuit today to challenge a new state law that bans colleges from organizing and paying for trips to Cuba and other countries that may support terrorism.

''It's not in the overall interest of the United States for individual states to meddle in matters of foreign affairs and international security,'' ACLU spokesman Brandon Hensler said Monday.

The group's legal director will announce the lawsuit at an 11 a.m. news conference in Miami.

Professors from Florida International University and the University of Florida will speak about why they believe the Travel to Terrorist States Act is unconstitutional and how it could hamper education in Florida.

The law applies to both private and public colleges and universities, prohibiting private schools from spending state money to plan such travel and preventing public schools from using any money to pay for those trips.

Professors and students at private schools would need private donations to pay for travel to countries listed as sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. Department of State.

But the politician who sponsored the new law has said he is considering a bill for next year that would withhold money from schools that sponsor any trips to terrorist countries.

Besides Cuba, the U.S. government considers Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria to be terrorist sponsors. Florida's educational travel ban law also applies to those nations.

State Rep. David Rivera, the Miami Republican who sponsored the bill, said he does not believe taxpayer money should go into Cuban leader Fidel Castro's pockets.

''The ACLU has hit a new low by filing a lawsuit that will aid terrorist countries,'' Rivera said.

''Under the Florida Constitution, the Legislature decides how taxpayer money is spent,'' he said. ``I've never heard of a constitutional right to spend taxpayer money in terrorist countries.''

Gov. Jeb Bush signed the law last month after legislators approved it during the annual session in Tallahassee.

Rivera was prompted to push the legislation after the January arrests of FIU Professor Carlos Alvarez and his wife, Elsa, an FIU counselor. They are charged with being unregistered government agents for Cuba.

Carlos Alvarez had traveled to Cuba several times, and Rivera said the arrests highlighted the danger of allowing state employees to travel to terrorist countries.

But academic scholars have argued the ban will be a disservice to educational research and to students studying foreign policy and international relations.

Also, Hensler noted there are federal provisions in place that adequately regulate educational travel outside the United States.

He said the group is confident that its legal challenge will be successful.

[Soldier4Christ]

ACLU sues over church property tax exemption


The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska is suing the state over a property tax exemption that currently benefits only the Anchorage Baptist Temple. The lawsuit was filed Monday in Superior Court in Anchorage.

ACLU of Alaska Executive Director Michael Macleod-Ball contends the measure is unconstitutional because it favors religion, and one religious institution in particular. But temple pastor Glenn Clary says the lawsuit is an attack against all religious institutions. He says the bill merely clarifies existing law.

The law, which broadens a tax exemption for clergy housing to include religious teacher housing, was passed by the Legislature in May. Such housing was exempt from taxes until Anchorage officials recently lifted its tax-exempt status because the people who live there are not clergy members.

[Soldier4Christ]

ACLU threatens to sue over limits to photographing the T

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has threatened to sue the MBTA over its unwritten policy limiting photographs on T property, saying the practice is a violation of the First Amendment and state constitution.

``We fully understand and support reasonable efforts by the MBTA to address concerns about criminal and terrorist activity," wrote John Reinstein , legal director of the ACLU of Massachusetts, in a letter sent Friday to MBTA Transit Police Chief Joseph C. Carter . ``We respectfully submit, however, that prohibiting photographs of or on transportation vehicles in full view of the public is neither reasonable nor necessary."

He said the ACLU of Massachusetts will sue the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority if the issue remains unresolved. Reinstein said he sent the letter to Carter after being approached by several amateur photographers who said they had recently been prohibited from taking photographs of the T from public property or while lawfully traveling on the system.

``There's absolutely no rationality to it," Reinstein said in an interview yesterday. ``It's generally an unwritten rule about what's allowable and what's not."

Attorney Jonathan M. Albano, who represents The Boston Globe, also signed the letter to Carter.

MBTA officials acknowledge that the T has no written policy on photography on the T system. Spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the agency handles those issues on a case-by-case basis. Tourists generally are allowed to photograph family members in key transit spots , he said .

However, Pesaturo said T police are allowed to question photographers and, if necessary, ask them to stop taking pictures.

Pesaturo said the T has made no arrests of photographers who have not abided by the restriction, which officials said has been around for at least a decade.

The T also issues photography permits, which are good for about a month and given to journalists or hobbyists working on long-term projects.

MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas said the ACLU letter was ``insulting and naive" to the T's security concerns, citing the terrorist bombings in London and Madrid as examples of the agency's need to be vigilant.

``We need to consider ourselves as prime targets for terrorism," he said. ``One of the things that has been abundantly clear in all of these attacks is that the terrorists have been meticulous . . . and cased the joint in just about every case."

Similar photography limits are in place at other transit agencies, officials said.

At the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs New York City's subways, a proposed ban on all photographs and videotaping on all subways and buses was met with so much opposition that the authority dropped the plan in March 2005. The MTA's current, unwritten policy is similar to the T's. It allows people to take pictures as long as they are not in ``sensitive " areas.

MTA spokesman Tim O'Brien said police have the right to ask a photographer to stop taking pictures.

The Chicago Transit Authority allows personnel to evaluate the actions of photographers on a case-by-case basis .

David Z. Maze , 28, a computer programmer from Somerville and a public transportation hobbyist, has taken dozens of photographs around the T system and never been stopped, though he called the T's current policy misguided. He is not among hobbyists who approached the ACLU for help.

``There's a lot of information to be had just by being observant, and by looking at pictures already available on line," he wrote in an e-mail reply to questions. ``I don't think making it difficult to get photo permits means that terrorists can't plan out evil deeds."

[Soldier4Christ]

Va. university newspapers challenge ban on booze ads

Student newspapers at two Virginia universities filed a lawsuit June 8 challenging state regulations that prohibit them from running ads for alcoholic beverages.

Virginia Tech's Collegiate Times and The Cavalier Daily at the University of Virginia claim the ban is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Richmond against the State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, which is representing the newspapers, said there is no evidence that the ad restriction achieves the goal of discouraging underage drinking.

"The state needs to show a strong link between alcohol ads in college newspapers and illegal drinking in order to justify this kind of censorship," state ACLU executive director Kent Willis said in a statement. "Freedom of the press is too important in our society to be restricted on a hunch."

Tucker Martin, spokesman for Attorney General Bob McDonnell, said the state's lawyers have not yet reviewed the lawsuit. "However, the policy of prohibiting the advertising of alcohol to underage students who cannot drink appears to be sound," he said.

Christopher R. Konschak, Virginia executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, had a similar reaction.

"Binge drinking on college campuses is a concern of ours," he said. "Anything that promotes alcohol to underage persons is certainly a problem."

The student newspapers say, however, that they have a substantial number of readers who are 21 or older. They also say the ban puts them at a disadvantage in competing for advertising revenue.

"The same businesses that are completely prohibited from placing advertisements for alcoholic beverages in The Cavalier Daily are able to advertise in competing non-student newspapers such as C-Ville Weekly, which, like The Cavalier Daily, is a free weekly paper widely available to students under the age of twenty-one," the lawsuit says.

The ACLU noted that the University of Pittsburgh's student newspaper, Pitt News, successfully challenged similar restrictions in 2004. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the ban placed an unfair financial burden on student-run publications and hindered their right to free speech while doing little to achieve its goal.

That opinion was written by Samuel Alito, now a U.S. Supreme Court justice.

[Soldier4Christ]

Detroit lawmaker pushes for all-boy, all-girl schools

ACLU threatens to sue if bill is passed

he Detroit Public Schools -- and possibly districts across the state -- could soon offer all-boy or all-girl schools, classes and other programs if legislation that's gaining momentum in Lansing is approved.

The House Education Committee has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday on a proposal that would change state law to allow single-sex public schools in Detroit. The Senate Education Committee unanimously endorsed a broader plan last week that would have applied to the entire state, despite the threat of a lawsuit if the proposal were to become law.

Advocates say single-sex schools give families more educational options, improve classroom discipline and create a better learning environment for all children.

State Rep. LaMar Lemmons III, the Detroit Democrat who sponsored the House bill, said the law could help the city draw students back into the public school system, which has lost about 20,000 students in the last two years to charter, private and suburban schools.

"I have constituents who cannot afford schools such as

U of D who have asked why Detroit doesn't have the same options," Lemmons said of the private University of Detroit Jesuit High School. "This would give them another option -- and a competitive option."

But critics, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, say the plan would violate the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution. The ACLU says it might sue if the legislation were to become law.

"It's segregation -- segregation based on gender rather than race," said Shelli Weisberg of the Michigan ACLU. "This starts us going full circle back to the area of separate but equal."

Weisberg said the underlying problem could be a tendency to put more resources into one gender-based program than another, which results in inequality.

The House bill, as introduced, would apply to only Detroit schools. The broader Senate bill would allow single-sex schools, classes or programs if a comparable opportunity were available to both boys and girls. Both bills would be needed to make the options available to the entire state, supporters said.

There are more than 40 single-sex public schools in the United States, according to the Maryland-based National Association for Single Sex Education. More than 200 public schools have some classrooms or programs that are separated by gender. The number of schools with single-sex classrooms has grown in the past few years, the association says.

Lekan Oguntoyinbo, spokesman for Detroit Public Schools, said district officials have lobbied the Legislature about the benefits of single-sex schools.

"We're always looking for a creative mix of opportunities to attract and retain students and to significantly reduce our dropout rate," Oguntoyinbo said. "We're confident and the research supports that having single-gender schools in our school system will do that.

"Urban school systems today have to come up with creative ways to keep students engaged, and there's no question that single-gender schools do that."

[Soldier4Christ]

Michigan driver's license bill violates community's civil rights

Committee (AAPAC) and the Congress of Arab American Organizations (CAAO), has joined the call of the ACLU to protest the recent approval of Michigan House Bill 6085, which passed this past week with a 76-27 vote. It will require anyone applying for a Michigan driver's license to make a statement that s/he, is a United States citizen, and that the driver's license itself indicate whether the individual is a U.S. citizen.

The ACLU says "House Bill No. 6085, a bill that would amend 1949 PA 300, so that the application by a Michigan citizen for an operator's or chauffeur's license would include a statement that the applicant is a United States citizen. This statement would be printed in a "citizenship box"on the face of the Michigan driver's license.  Recent amendments adopted in the House would add to the list of persons for whom the Secretary of State may not issue a license those whom the Secretary of State determines is in the country illegally.  An additional amendment would add that a license expires on the date that an alien's presence in the state becomes unlawful.   

"In decisions spanning more than a century, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution's guarantees apply to every person within U.S. borders, including "aliens whose presence in this country is unlawful."  Plyer v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202, 210 (1982) (Texas may not withhold funds from school districts that admit undocumented children to the public schools).  On the other hand, the Court has said that when the federal government uses its broad powers to supervise immigration into this country, it can exercise those powers in ways that discriminate on the basis of "alienage." Mathews v. Diaz,  426 U.S. 67, 80 (1976) (upholding federal regulation that denies Medicare benefits to those not yet permanent residents).

"In other words, the government has the power to decide who to let into the country and under what circumstances. But once here, even undocumented immigrants have the right to freedom of speech and religion, the right to be treated fairly, the right to privacy, and the other fundamental rights U.S. citizens enjoy."

ADC says the House Bill 6085, which was sponsored by State Representative Chris Ward (R-Brighton), will require the Secretary of State (SOS) to put considerable resources into confirming citizenship status and forces SOS workers to become immigration experts.  Although the bill does not affirm that the SOS will confirm citizenship status, the SOS will be responsible for validating information contained on the driver's licenses.  This bill invites discrimination and unwelcoming sentiments to American as well as immigrant citizens. In addition, if this bill makes it into law, Michigan will be the only state in our country to have a citizen checkbox on driver's licenses.

"Such a bill will not improve or enhance our homeland security" states ADC Regional Director, Imad Hamad.  "It would generate unjustified stereotyping against the immigrant community and it will alienate people from our government and widen the gap, thus affecting the concept of trust and cooperation that is needed as our nation copes during such trying times."

_____________________________

Does anyone else see the irony in who is objecting to this bill??!!

[Soldier4Christ]

Court Urged to Protect CIA Documents From ACLU

The ACLU was in federal appeals court yesterday attempting to achieve a reversal of a lower court ruling which protected documents that the CIA neither confirms or denies exist.

The ACLU acting upon their own paranoia and leaked newspaper reports, has demanded that a federal court grant a Freedom of Information Act request of the release of 2 specific documents. The first a Justice Department memo which allegedly details what specific interrogation methods the CIA may use when interrogating top al Qaeda terrorists. The other a document allegedly authorizing the CIA to set up detention centers in foreign countries that is allegedly signed by President Bush.

From the Washington Post:

    Citing national security, a government lawyer told a federal appeals court Monday that the CIA should not be forced to reveal whether it has been given authority to detain and interrogate suspected terrorists in overseas jails.

    The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the spy agency to turn over any documents related to secret foreign prisons. Though such prisons have been detailed in news reports, U.S. officials have never said that they exist.

-opinion-

If the CIA is telling the truth, and I’m more inclined to believe them than the ACLU paranoia, and the documents never existed, then they very well can’t turn over what they don’t have. But if they do exist, why should the United States Government make public documents which would compromise national security by tipping our hat to the enemies of this nation and endangering our men in the field? It is this point that the CIA’s attorney has made in this federal appeals court.

-end opinion-

The Post Continues:

    Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter M. Skinner urged the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold a lower court holding that the CIA can refuse to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request by the ACLU.

    He acknowledged that the CIA has the authority to assist foreign governments in the capture, detention and interrogation of terrorists, but said it cannot be forced to tell whether it is also doing so independently.

    In written arguments, he said responding to the ACLU’s request could cause serious damage to national security by giving enemies information about specific intelligence methods and activities used by the CIA.

Other papers reporting:

New York Times: Judges Press C.I.A. Lawyer Over Withheld Documents
Washington Times: CIA under new heat on secret detentions

-opinion-

It is the opinion of Stop The ACLU that the leftist organization will stop at nothing to embarrass and/or weaken the United States. This organization was founded by Socialists who were also pacifists that opposed the US involvement in World War I and their position as an organization hasn’t changed since 1920.

The ACLU has a convoluted opinion that every person regardless of national origin should be equal from birth to death. And to achieve this, they are willing to stop at nothing. They wish to grant Constitutional protections to foreign terrorists who have vowed that if released that they would kill Americans. One terrorists who was released, did carry out a suicide bombing in Pakistan shortly after being released.

The ACLU’s interests involve achieving their goals, not through popular vote, but through dictation from the federal judiciary. This is un-American and is contrary to the democratic system that they claim to be protecting. They exist solely to embarrass and weaken the United States. I say this because if they received every one of their wishes as of today, tomorrow they would have a whole new list to oppose the government about. Because without having a complaint, they are irrelevant.

We have seen this already. The ACLU fought to gain equality for after school projects so that a gay tolerance group could meet on school grounds after the school day. The fight went all the way to the United States Supreme Court and they won. Shortly after, the ACLU sent a letter to all Washington public high schools reminding them of this victory and demanded that they comply. However, when a bible study group in another state attempted to gain the same recognition, the ACLU then asked the Supreme Court to reverse itself. They can not have it both ways.

This latest attempt at weakening our nation is aimed at projecting the idea that the United States is losing the war, and that we are the bad guys, thereby strengthening the Murtha/Kerry position that the war is unwinnable. It is a sham and this appeal should be denied.

[Soldier4Christ]

Roger Baldwin founded the American Civil Liberties Union in 1920 after President Wilson, during World War I, practically suspended the right to publicly — and privately, if overheard — dissent from government actions. Years later, I met Baldwin toward the end of his life, and his solemn advice to me was: "Always remember that no civil liberties battle is ever won — permanently." But, by placing freedom of speech at the core of the ACLU's reason for existence, Baldwin believed that no civil liberties battle need be permanently lost. (Just published is a chronicle, pertinent today, of Baldwin's achievements and continuing relevance —Liberties Lost: The Endangered Legacy of the ACLU, by Woody Klein.)

While the staff of the ACLU has never been more essential to protecting the Constitution, the top leadership of the ACLU is working to prevent dissenting national board members from going to the news media with criticisms of ACLU policies.

With Executive Director Anthony Romero's backing, the board has issued a proposal for this week's agenda that I expect would have startled Baldwin. This could tarnish the invaluable work of ACLU staff members who are fighting to "keep America safe and free." (The ACLU's slogan.)

Here is that proposal, as reported last month in The New York Times: "Where an individual director disagrees with a board position on matters of civil liberties policy, the director should refrain from publicly highlighting the fact of such disagreement. ... There is always a material prospect that public airing of the disagreement will affect the ACLU adversely in terms of public support and fundraising."

Repercussions

U.S. newspapers found the irony irresistible. The Roanoke (Va.) Times, for one, noted that the proposal "appears to be a reaction by ... Romero to his failed effort to oust two board members who had criticized ACLU policies."

Actually, one principled dissenter: Michael Meyers, the director and founder of the New York Civil Rights Coalition and a longtime ACLU board member, has been forced out from the executive committee and the national board in punishment for going to the news media several times.

Wendy Kaminer, another recidivist dissenter and favorite target of ACLU's leadership, said the proposal "is preposterous — a violation of everything we're supposed to stand for."

The Times reported that in the board session, Romero furiously denounced Kaminer for having told a New York Sun reporter of her disagreement with the leadership's previous support of a bill in Congress that would regulate advertising by counseling centers run by anti-abortion organizations. Kaminer, who supports a woman's right to an abortion, was concerned with the legislation's free-speech problems. She told the Sun she was appalled "that the ACLU is actively supporting this."

After excoriating her for going to the news media, Romero demanded that another board member, Alison Steiner, "step outside the meeting room, where he chastised her for the look on her face when he was criticizing Ms. Kaminer," the Times reported.

In an e-mail to the board, Steiner wrote that Romero told her in the corridor that because "I ... did not appear ready to join him in 'getting rid of (Kaminer),' ... I was no better than she was, and then stormed off angrily," the Times recounted.

Romero, in a tepid letter to the editor that followed in the Times, did not deny that illuminating exchange but noted predictably that the ACLU "exists to defend the right of dissent and the free exchange of ideas." Then why has he not denounced the very concept of instructing board members to refrain from public dissent? And why is most of the board and ACLU President Nadine Strossen so compliant?

Costly words

Previously, there was a public objection by then-board member Meyers when in a front-page story in 2004, the Times revealed that the ACLU, which has criticized omnivorous government data basing for national security, "is using sophisticated technology to collect a wide variety of information about its members and donors in a fundraising effort."

Said Meyers to the Times: "If I give the ACLU $20, I have not given them permission to investigate my partners, whom I'm married to, what they do, what my real estate holdings are, what my wealth is, and who else I give my money to."

The American Civil Liberties Union is now free of Meyers. Does that make its national membership, and the country, any more safe — or free?

[Soldier4Christ]

ACLU challenges Davenport speed cameras



One Davenport driver is trying to get out of a speeding ticket with the help of the ACLU of Iowa.

Thomas Seymour received a speeding ticket in the mail after an automated camera snapped photos of his vehicle. ACLU of Iowa attorneys filed a motion, asking for the ticket to be dismissed as it violates state speeding laws, thus violating the constitutional rights of the accused.

"This is about government control more than citizen privacy," said Ben Stone, ACLU of Iowa executive director, in a statement.

But until a court takes action on the motion, the five cameras in Davenport will continue watching for speeders and red-light-runners in intersections with high volumes of traffic, said Davenport Police Capt. Dave Struckman.

Similar cameras are used in Council Bluffs, and Clive officials were
planning on installing them this summer.

"The ultimate goal is to reduce the number of accidents," Struckman said. "I am not an advocate of the big brother system, but I am if it gets people to drive accordingly."

[Soldier4Christ]

ACLU Couldn’t Find Any Plaintiffs Over Wakarusa Searches
by Jay on 06-14-06 @ 3:40 pm Filed under ACLU, Illegal Activities, Humor, News

I found this one pretty humerous. Via AP

    Civil libertarians wanted to make a case over police searching vehicles as they left Interstate 70 near a weekend music festival but couldn’t find anyone upset enough to complain.

    “We couldn’t find a plaintiff,” said Phil Minkin, Douglas County president of the American Civil Liberties Union. “Without one, we don’t going looking for a plaintiff.”

    The Wakarusa Music Festival drew thousands to the Lawrence area starting Thursday, with the huge crowds creating traffic gridlock that had fans taking as long as four hours to enter Clinton Lake Park.

    Police stopped cars heading for the event, searching some, and the ACLU wanted to get an injunction against the practice, which it said may have been unconstitutional. Some local attorneys had contacted the ACLU, saying clients believed the searches were based on the way people looked rather than evidence of illegal substances or wrongdoing, said Brett Shirk, director of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri.

    “I had concerns they have been stopping people based on what they looked like,” said Shirk. “There very well may have been Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure issues.”

    Lt. John Eickhorn of the Kansas Highway Patrol said troopers stopped every car using the toll lane exiting Interstate 70 at Kansas 10 both Thursday and Friday, regardless of how the vehicle or the driver looked.

    “We didn’t discriminate about how people looked,” he said.

    Some cars, he said, received more thorough checks than others but only when there was evidence of wrongdoing, such as the smell of marijuana, the driver looking more nervous than expected on a typical traffic stop or the car looking trashed, as if someone had lived in it for days at a time.

    “Typically drug dealers don’t stop,” he said. “That’s a good indication that criminal activity is afoot.”

    Shirk said he called the ACLU’s legal panel about possible action, including a state or federal court injunction that would have temporarily stopped the searches, he said. But the legal board said it needed a formal complaint to proceed, and neither Shirk nor officials at the Douglas County ACLU office had received one.

    Shirk said legal action against the patrol or other law enforcement units remained a possibility if local attorneys or their clients come forward with complaints.

    “If there was police misconduct, if that would happen, the ACLU may very well investigate,” Shirk said. “But the ball is in the court of local attorneys at this point.”

Heh! You can’t have much of a 4th amendment case when you can’t find anyone that thinks their 4th amendment rights were violated.

The story goes on to tell a humerous story about how one hippy got busted for marijuana possession. One of his buddies sold LSD to an undercover agent which lead to the search. It really will give you a chuckle, make sure to read it all.