WTC.CivilLiberties

Endangered American Civil Liberties

Any changes to the laws which maintain our freedoms as Americans must be scrutinized very carefully. This insures that in our desire to protect our freedoms, we do not legislate them away. However, little is being done to facilitate an open and informative discussion of how we should address these crucial issues of law and freedom. Instead, people who disagree with a reduction of our constitutional rights are made to feel as though their right to free speech is already abridged and that to speak out with (perfectly valid) differences of opinion is somehow 'un-American'. That makes now, a time to be courageous. We urge you to make your voice heard, to remind those around you who might wish to enforce silence or conformity of opinion, that there is no point in protecting the freedoms of being an American from others if we do not support them ourselves. Freedom is a muscle in the body politic. If we do not exercise it, we will lose it. --The Editors

NEWS-ARTICLES-OPINIONS NEW Senate passes Uniting and Strengthening America (USA) Act 339-79 The House has also passed the bill; the two bills are ow being reconciled and are expected to pass Friday, Oct. 20 10/02/01 How the Terrorist Crisis Threatens our Personal Liberties - by Dan Kennedy and Harvey Silverglate, Boston Phoenix 10/3/01: Anti-Terrorism Bill Hits Snag on the Hill Democratic and Republican unity fails as impact of bill on civil liberties is questioned 9/19/01 No Silver Bullets: Giving Up Privacy for Security Will Leave Us With Neither Ashcroft seeks sweeping powers-- "… the administration is asking for …access to users' Internet information without a court order…" Why were the media ordered out of the room when representatives from free-speech groups were called to testify? Response to the Terrorist Attacks - by People for the American Way President Ralph G. Neas. Sacrificing the constitutional liberties that are at the core of what it means to be an American would be a victory for our nation's enemies. FITUG urges political leaders to defend citizens' freedoms "Stopping the spread of strong cryptography would amount to blasting holes into the civilized world's already-thin defense shield against digital harm." ACLU Tells House Judiciary Panel That Administration Seeks Reasonable Anti-Terrorism Tools and Troubling Provisions ALERT: Surveillance Legislation Continues to Threaten Privacy "(Electronic Frontier Foundation)believes this broad legislation would radically tip the United States system of checks and balances, giving the government unprecedented authority to surveil American citizens with little judicial or other oversight." Response by the Center for Democracy and Technology "-Surrendering freedom will not purchase security -democratic values are strengths, not weaknesses, open communications networks are a positive force in the fight against violence and intolerance." ACLU says "Urge Congress to Slow Down!" Despite the call for restraint made by our national leaders, members of Congress are threatening to pass legislation without adequate evaluation. We must now urge our lawmakers to be thoughtful and thorough in their consideration of legislative proposals designed to respond to and prevent terrorist attacks. Broad Coalition Forms to Defend Rights, Liberties in Wake of Attacks "A broad coalition of public policy organizations, law professors, technology professionals and common citizens kicked off a campaign to ensure that the "war against terrorism" does not become a war on hard-won American rights and liberties" General discussion on these issues can be found at : Slashdot: Your Rights Online ARCHIVE ACLU on the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001 Lucid exposition of the problems with this act, including secret house searches and labeling acts of civil disobedience, 'terrorism' | ACTIONS AND LINKS NEW The "Patriot Act" is on the floor of Congress...we urge you to to inform yourself about it and the possible dangers it presents to our constitutional liberties. "The compromise bill would have a long-term negative impact on basic freedom in America that cannot be justified." says the ACLU If you disagree with the provisions of the current 'Patriot' Act that abridge your civil liberties, fax your congressional representatives at http://www.aclu.org/action/anti-terrorism107.html NEW 10/01/01 Eavesdrop Now, Reassess Later? - By Declan McCullagh, WIRED News In Defense of Freedom at a Time of Crisis - Already signed by more than 150 organizations and 300 law professors, this statement calls on lawmakers to consider proposals calmly and deliberately with a determination not to erode the liberties and freedoms that are at the core of the American way of life. Sign the petition "Do not allow the guarantees of the Bill of Rights to become the next victims of terrorism. Liberty and safety are not mutually exclusive." -ACLU Links The Bill of Rights -The First 10 Amendments to the Constitution as ratified by the States Politics, Freedom & The Law -Indexes to state and federal government pages, including Congressional House addresses, legal resources and key U.S. constitutional documents. Links to Materials Relating to Freedom of Speech and of the Press ACLU Free Speech Page -Legislation related to the attack of September 11,2001 Center for Democracy and Technology EFF Online Advocacy Organization Resource Page ICLU - Your Rights in Cyberspace Student Association for Freedom of Expression (SAFE) The Declaration of Independence

> As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression.
> In both instances, there's a twilight where everything remains
> seemingly unchanged, and it is in such twilight that we
> must be aware of change in the air, however slight,
> lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.
> Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas - -

Participant Comments follow below

Todd, I hate to use this as a chat forum but given that the said forum has crumbled.... Check this out. Sean Gorman mapped out all the major business and industrial sector nodes using information that is available to the public. Now, what is more frightening? The fact that this info is there to be accessed by terrorists? Or the fact that this info is there to be accessed by government officials? --Heather. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23689-2003Jul7.html OneBigUS pyrrha01@hotmail.com 07/08/03 21:58:29 GMT

I heard on Domocracy Now on 90.7 LA radio that oregon was trying to put a bill on the floor there that would make war protest demonstrators who "blocked traffic, interfered with commerce, or education" would be liable for life sentences in prison with a minimum time to be served at 25 years. Can you tell me anything about this? Johnny Seitz jcseitz@earthlink.net 03/27/03 20:21:32 GMT

Those of you who are interested in this topic might find the following link of value; it discusses the Cyber Security Enhancement Act, or CSEA, which basically allows the gov't sweeping powers over the internet and eradicating any cyber privacy we might once have had. http://news.com.com/2100-1001-944057.html?tag=fd_top Todd Systemscanman@yahoo.com 07/16/02 17:58:58 GMT

Portland Police Stand up for Civil Liberties: Commentary from Ben Rosenfeld, Civil Lawyer, San Francisco CA The article by CNN is encouraging, so I wanted to share it. I am informed by an immigration attorney that she and her colleagues expect the DOJ dragnet will round up and disrupt the lives of many more than 5000 people (perhaps triple that), when federal and local police go to immigrants' homes and inevitably discover friends and family living there who have overstayed their visas, or have other technical immigration problems. In addition, she said it has become routine for police to pry into people's religion and politics during these interrogations (especially when local police, totally uninformed about the federal laws they are allegedly enforcing, join the inquisition). She said further that in times past, it was easy for an overstay to leave the country, renew, and return, but now, people from a list of 26, mostly mid-Eastern countries are being forced to complete long questionnaires before they can visit, and they may be refused entry for such offenses as having performed military service or done weapons training at home. Since military service is often mandatory, and they can't get exit visas from their countries to visit or study in the U.S. otherwise, many of them simply will be refused. The net result is both massive disruption in individuals' lives, splitting families, destroying people economically, etc., but also a kind of xenophobic purge, reducing the benefits we all derive from intermingling and exchanging ideas. She also said that some people who have been detained in the secretive mass detention (none of whom have been connected to 9.11 according to the FBI itself) just want to give up and leave, but in a cruel Catch-22, they aren't being allowed to leave either. So this is McCarthyism or internment for a many people. Meanwhile, pundits go on talk shows and say things like "this is a tough decision, but it's necessary in order to be safe." BS! Deciding to round up people unrelated to you is not a tough decision. Deciding to round up your own children, parents, and friends -- now that would be a tough decision. But no one in power has to make it. So much for John Stuart Mills' caution against the tyranny of the majority (one of the undergirding principles of democracy). Meanwhle, Bush continues to legislate by fiat, bypassing even the help he gets from Machiavellian democrats in Congress, just by issuing executive orders establishing military tribunals for suspected terrorists (theoretically just about every protester under the new definition of domestic terrorism), obliterating the bedrock attorney-client privelege, seizing and freezing assets without due process, etc, the "free and open" WTO meets in the police-state monarchy of Quatar to devise how best to subsume domestic environmental, human rights, and labor laws to global capitalism, etc.. One wonders how many exceptions we can make to democracy before we lose the right to consider ourselves one. One wonders if the line is in front of us still, or behind us. Ben Rosenfeld OneBigUS pyrrah01@hotmail.com 11/26/01 13:05:17 MST

The current state of McCarthyism or Bushism is disrupting homes and lives of people who have no prior record. Currently, I'm reading a book "Sooterkin" which has an interesting discussion on "physiognomy" or the practice of identifying character and personality traits based on physical construction of the face. i.e. one can look at the nose, eyes, skin color and determine whether someone has a criminal personality! Funny to think in the 1800's people -SCIENTIST- actually subscribed to such foolishness. Is it any less funny to think that today we are doing the same thing? FaceIt.com is making the big bucks to make matches between CCTV (closed circuit t.v.) images and images of criminals which they have stored in police/public records (drivers license); how much more would it take given the current decay in civil liberties in the US for them to start practicing "physiognomy"? That is they could write a program that looks for Arabic facial attributes and the search for that perfect constellation of facial features that makes one a terrorist? The only thing the terrorist of Sept 11th had in common was that they were all male-so perhaps we should just lock up all males?! Seriously, it seems crazy. Things have risen to a crisis state for some people. My Indian friends are being threatened to go home by white Americans! These are harmless people!! Our president is stooping to a similar level. But some people are standing against this craziness. Check out this story on CNN for example. http://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/11/21/inv.portland.police.questioning.ap/ Check it out. Portland Oregan police have been the first to refuse to cooperate with the Justice Dep. in its "unlawful" anti-terrorism effort. ---Heather OneBigUS pyrrah01@hotmail.com 11/26/01 13:02:42 MST

The order of Bush and Cheney and now military to shoot down Airlines with innocent passengers violates the 5th Ammendment of the Consitution. Unless this is repealed our Constitution has been nullified without a Constitutional Ammendment. My fellow Americans you have no civil liberties untill our Constition is restored. Individual right cannot be over thrown by allowing any branch of government to make a decision to same many for a few. Bill Duckworth cayuse@bmi.net 11/10/01 08:20:38 MST