Dissent Is Patriotic
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee's e-mail newsletter
May 27, 2004, Vol. 3, No. 4
More than 320 Communities Strong, Growing, and Needed More than Ever
As of May 25, 2004, four state legislatures and 320 communities in 41 states have passed resolutions and ordinances, and 51.5 million people--one in 5.5 U.S. residents--live in civil liberties safe zones. Hundreds more communities are getting involved.
And not a bit too soon. In the last month alone:
- Reports of prisoner abuse, torture, and murder at Abu Ghraib prison parallel experiences of detainees elsewhere in U.S. custody.
- Abu Ghraib whistleblower Sgt. Samuel Provance and FBI former translator Sibel Edmonds are being silenced.
- The Justice Department and FBI have continued to target people on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, and opposition to government policies. This issue looks into the wrongful detentions of Portland (OR) attorney Brandon Mayfield and U.S. Army Captain James Yee, and the DOJ's charge against Greenpeace.
- President Bush has been touting the Patriot Act on the campaign trail and in a new television ad, using misleading stories to paint the Patriot Act as a success.
- More expansions of the Patriot Act, including provisions from the leaked Justice Department draft known as "Patriot II," have been making their way through Congress.
- At a May 26 news conference, Attorney General Ashcroft warned of unspecified "credible evidence" of major attacks by Al-Qaeda this summer.
In this issue:
Recent threats and suggested actions:
- Abuse of existing laws, profiling: Mayfield, Yee, CAIR report
- Moves to expand government powers
- First amendment stories: whistleblowers, media, dissent, government secrecy
- Recent threats to privacy: FISA wiretaps, Section 215, MATRIX
- The Patriot Act on the Campaign Trail
- Thompson Wadsworth Survey of criminal justice experts
- St. Paul Passes a City Ordinance
- 25th Anniversary Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards
- BORDC welcomes Jessie Baugher to our staff
- Work for legislation to restore civil liberties
- Support 1984+20 Project: A National Reading of George Orwell's 1984
Abuse of existing laws, profiling
Prisoner abuse. Descriptions of abuse, torture, and murder at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison match experiences of detainees in prisons from Guantanamo Bay to Brooklyn and elsewhere in the United States. They demonstrate the dangers to prisoners and to the rest of us when the Geneva Conventions and the Bill of Rights are set aside as "archaic," and when intelligence gatherers are put in charge of prisoners without sufficient checks and balances. The Department of Justice (DOJ) played a key role in rewriting the rules for interrogating detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib, and elsewhere. (Salon, subscription required; Newsweek.) In light of the evidence that torture has been used in interrogations, claims that interrogations at those prisons were yielding "good information" likely means that those tortured were telling their tormentors what they wanted to hear in order to stop the torture.
Brandon Mayfield. Portland (OR) attorney Brandon Mayfield's detention under a material witness warrant (PDF) in connection with the Madrid train bombings proves that the DOJ is continuing its profiling on the basis of religion and is abusing the material witness statute to hold people in cases where there is insufficient evidence to arrest them. The FBI tied parts of Mayfield's fingerprint to a print on a bag of detonators that Spanish authorities connected to the bombing. Although Spanish officials expressed their doubts about the FBI's match of Mayfield's print from the beginning, the FBI was so sure Mayfield was the perpetrator that it ignored those doubts and did not bother to compare his print to the original at their April 21 meeting in Madrid. Mayfield has alleged the use of the Patriot Act's "sneak and peek" provision at his home after twice observing that a deadbolt lock his family never uses had been engaged. Among items that were missing after one search was a file folder labeled "Spanish documents," which contained Mayfield's son's Spanish homework. Confidential files on Mayfield's clients with "Arabic or Muslim-sounding surnames" were also seized.
Mayfield was detained on May 6 but never charged. He was released on May 20 following a positive fingerprint match to an Algerian, but the DOJ placed a gag order on the case and kept Mayfield under surveillance and forbidden from leaving his house without permission. The FBI did not compare Mayfield's fingerprints to the original print found in Spain until May 22. On May 24, a U.S. district court judge finally dismissed the case and the FBI apologized to Mr. Mayfield.
Captain James Yee. Captain Yee, a U.S Army Chaplain at Guantanamo Bay prison, had been accused by the military of espionage, arrested, blindfolded and manacled, and kept in solitary confinement for 76 days. After eight months, Yee was fully exonerated of all charges, and a reprimand was removed from his record. However, Yee has received neither an apology nor an explanation for his arrest from the military. Major General Geoffrey Miller made the decision to jail Yee. Miller, who was then in charge of the Guantanamo prison camp, has since moved on to Iraq and has been involved in the scandal at Abu Ghraib prison.
Action for Captain Yee: Captain Yee deserves an apology for his false arrest. Sign an online petition or print a hard copy calling on the military to apologize to him. Make a donation to the Justice for New Americans Defense Fund to help Yee's family pay the $160,000 cost of Captain Yee's legal defense.
Backlash against Muslims in the U.S. In Unpatriotic Acts: The Status of Muslim Civil Rights in the United States 2004, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) documents 1,019 complaints of anti-Muslim incidents of harassment, violent physical attacks, workplace discrimination, and racial profiling in the United States in 2003. The figure represents a 70 percent increase over the 602 complaints CAIR received in 2002. The states with the most reported incidents were California (221), New York (191), Virginia (69), and Texas (57).
Among the likely contributing factors for the increase in anti-Muslim incidents, CAIR cites the implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act. The widespread detention, deportation, and mistreatment of Arabs and Muslims following the September 11th attacks and racial targeting inherent in other programs such as the "special registration" program have not only contributed to these figures but have also created a racially hostile environment.
Action to end backlash: At a time when such policies and programs are further dividing American society, BORDC encourages everyone to become actively involved in building bridges with Arab and Muslim communities. To assist with these efforts, we have recently put together a webpage of suggestions for making connections and links for more information. BORDC especially encourages residents of states with high numbers of reported anti-Muslim incidents to become involved in these efforts. We will be sending out action alerts to those states soon. If you have suggestions for future actions, please email us at info@bordc.org.
Moves to expand government powers
Several expansions of the Patriot Act that were included in the Justice Department's bill known as Patriot II are making their way through Congress.
'Lone wolf' and criminal penalties for resistance to NSL gag orders. The senate has approved a bill nicknamed "lone wolf," which is designed to make it easier for the FBI to go after terrorism suspects who are not allied with a foreign government or a known terrorist organization. A similar provision is in HR 3179, sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner and cosponsored by Representative Porter Goss. The House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security has held a hearing on the bill, which also includes provisions to criminalize resistance to gag orders on national security letters by imposing penalties of up to five years imprisonment. The bill had been on a fast track, but at the request of House Republicans, Chairman Sensenbrenner postponed a markup on the bill scheduled earlier this month in order to hold a hearing first. Be on the lookout for committee leadership attempting to slip this bill into the 2005 intelligence authorization bill for the next fiscal year, as it did with a related Patriot II section last December.
Action on HR 3179. BORDC will send out an Action Alert soon. In the meantime, it is not too early to call your House member to oppose HR 3179 and its inclusion in the intelligence authorization bill. Former Congressman Barr, in his testimony submitted at the hearing on HR 3179, argues that "Congress should not provide more powers to an ever-growing federal government without carefully and exhaustively reviewing how it is using the powers it already has." Barr's full testimony is available online and is recommended reading.
Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2003. HR 2934, introduced last July, was recently forwarded by the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security to the full Judiciary Committee. The bill would increase criminal penalties for "terrorism" and would greatly extend the use of the death penalty.
Repeal of sunsets. In accordance with President Bush's stated goal, Senator Jon Kyl has introduced S. 2476, which would repeal the Patriot Act sunsets that were added as Section 224. Just as the U.S. Constitution would not have passed without the promise of its Bill of Rights, the Patriot Act would not have passed in such haste without the sunsets on some of its most controversial sections. Former Congressman Bob Barr warned on May 18, "Making those powers permanent now would take away any leverage Congress now has to secure cooperation from the Justice Department in its oversight efforts." BORDC will watch the progress of this bill and inform you of important changes in its status.
Whistleblowers. Sgt. Samuel Provance has been stripped of his security clearance and may face prosecution because his comments about prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq were "not in the national interest." The DOJ has blocked former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds from testifying in a lawsuit related to September 11 and has classified records she gave to Congress in 2002 retroactively concerning documents relevant to the September 11 attacks that were available to the FBI prior to the attacks. Listen to NPR's On the Media, May 21, 2004.
Media. In an April 30, 2004, press release, Instituto Internacional de la Prensa (IPI) documented numerous cases in which U.S. customs officials have denied foreign journalists entry into the country. Because they are currently excluded from the U.S. Visa Waiver Program for Visitors from Friendly Countries, journalists from numerous "friendly" countries, including the U.K., Australia, and Denmark, have been denied entry, detained, and forcibly deported for failing to have an "I-visa." To learn more, read the IPI press release.
Dissent. While Donald Rumsfeld has called the Geneva Conventions "archaic," the DOJ relied on an 1872 law against "sailor mongering," unused since 1890, to go after the organization Greenpeace after a handful of Greenpeace members had protested the Bush Administration's environmental policies in 2002. On May 19th, U.S. District Judge Adalberto Jordan dismissed the charges.
Secret FISA wiretap requests are up dramatically. The number of secret surveillance warrants issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court has nearly doubled from 2001 to 2003. In 2003, only four of the 1,727 FISA warrants sought were turned down, and two of those were revised and ultimately approved. This increase marks the first time that FISA warrants have outnumbered criminal wiretaps and other forms of criminal electronic surveillance. Not only has the increase in FISA warrants superseded the abilities of the Justice Department, it has also invaded many Americans' privacy without probable cause. To read more, visit these articles in the Palm Beach Post and the Mercury News.
Use of Section 215 reclassified. The American Library Association and librarians, and booksellers nationwide have led the opposition to Patriot Act Section 215 on the grounds that it permits the FBI to engage in fishing expeditions involving records of people with no ties to terrorism without appropriate judicial oversight. Last September, after accusing librarians of being "hysterics," Attorney General Ashcroft declassified the number of times his department had used Section 215 and informed the public that the number was "zero." Needless to say, many asked why the section could not be dropped or amended if it had not been used in nearly two years. The DOJ has classified the number of times it has used the power since Ashcroft's announcement without stating whether or not it has used the power.
MATRIX. Before launching its controversial MATRIX program, sole contractor Seisint identified and gave to U.S. and Florida authorities 120,000 names with a "high terrorist factor" score, which led to several arrests in a single week. Criteria are based on the "last war": mainly characteristics of the September 11th terrorists, such as age, gender, ethnicity, and proximity to "dirty addresses" of other terrorism suspects.
You are a terrorist if the FBI says you are. At last week's hearing on HR 3179 mentioned above, Congressman Coble asked whether national security letters violate the Fourth Amendment. Thomas Harrington, Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, dispensed with the concept of "innocent until proven guilty" with his reply: "Terrorists don't have Fourth Amendment rights."
The Patriot Act on the campaign trail
The USA PATRIOT Act is a campaign issue on every level, from your local City Council to this year's Presidential race. Misrepresenting the Portland, Oregon and Lackawanna, New York cases as "success stories" of the Patriot Act, President Bush is actively campaigning for expansion of the act and immediate renewal of its sunsets. Read Analysis: Did President Misconstrue Patriot Act in Oregon Case? by Justin Rood and Terrorist Threats and Political Gain by Bruce Schneier, which dispute the Bush Administration's claims of success. As has been the case since President Bush took office, only supporters are permitted to show their faces and signs wherever the president appears.
A 30-second Bush campaign ad attacking Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry for supporting bipartisan legislation to amend the Patriot Act began running Tuesday in 19 states. For more information on the candidates' stances on the Patriot Act, read Bush's speech Patriot Act Giving America's Defenders the Tools They Need and Kerry's proposal, End the Era of Ashcroft.
Thompson Wadsworth survey on Patriot Act
The results of a recent Thompson Wadsworth survey of criminal justice experts reveals widespread concern about the USA Patriot Act. Of those surveyed, 95% felt that the act was "passed too quickly and/or without adequate analysis on its impact on other laws and public policy." Additionally, 74% stated that provisions of the Patriot Act violate individual rights, and 68% felt that existing laws should be used instead to protect the U.S. from terrorism. For more information, view the complete survey results.
St. Paul Ordinance
On May 5, 2004, the St. Paul City Council approved an ordinance separating federal and local police responsibilities. Among other safeguards, the ordinance prohibits city employees from asking complainants or their witnesses about their immigration status, and provides an administrative complaint option for persons who feel they have been hurt by a violation of the ordinance. For more information, visit the Minnesota Bill of Rights Defense Committee's website.
25th Anniversary Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards
Earlier this month, the Playboy Foundation chose ten defenders of the First Amendment to receive awards. David Cole, professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center and a BORDC Advisory Board member, won an award for his book, Enemy Aliens. Librarian Trina Magi shared an award with Linda Ramsdell for organizing a grassroots campaign to amend Patriot Act Section 215. Steven Aftergood, editor of Secrecy News, received an award for his work to keep Americans apprised of the inner workings of government secrecy and to promote reform of its secret processes. Author and columnist Molly Ivins received a lifetime achievement award. BORDC congratulates all the winners.
BORDC welcomes Jessie Baugher to our staff
BORDC is pleased to announce that Jessie Baugher has joined our staff. Since May 3, Jessie has been an organizer and administrative assistant, assisting local groups organizing across the country via telephone and email. She is also the managing editor of this publication.
Work for legislation to restore civil liberties
The Administration is employing several tactics to justify more repressive legislation, including the Attorney General's controversial warning at a May 26 press conference about unspecified "credible evidence" forewarning of Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks in the U.S. this summer. In the absence of new information to support the announcement, skeptics, including first responders, have expressed their suspicions that the announcement was politically motivated. Congress should not respond by passing new laws without engaging in a vigorous national debate about the current laws and how they are being used or misused. Our best hope for foiling more terrorist attacks is to demonstrate that the United States is a nation of laws that assure equal justice for all. To foster the national and international cooperation needed to guard against terrorist attacks, we must restore people's trust in their government through openness, the restoration of checks and balances, and adjustments to laws to ensure equal justice regardless of characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, or other characteristic.
A few bills that can help are mentioned below. Click on the bill numbers to go to Thomas for bill information, including text, status, cosponsors, and more. Find out whether your Senators and House member are supporters. For more information on these and other bills to expand or roll back the Patriot Act, please visit BORDC's Legislation page.
Coming soon: Civil Liberties Restoration Act. Passage of this bill would end blanket arrests based on profiling and blanket secrecy in immigration proceedings. It would help ensure fairness in our legal system by requiring the government to charge detainees within 48 hours of their arrest. It would also eliminate criminal penalties for minor technical immigration violations such as tardiness in filing a change of address notice. The bill will contain provisions pertaining to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which gives the government secret access to private databases without showing probable cause of terrorist or criminal activity. Passage of the bill would also allow those charged with a crime on the basis of information uncovered through FISA surveillance to challenge the legality of their surveillance in accordance with the provisions of the Classified Information Procedures Act. For more information, please visit the National Immigration Forum web site.
Hearings for other bills. As our president attempts to export our democracy abroad, we need to set an example for how an effective democracy operates, and that includes demonstrating fairness in considering bills rather than partisan politics. The Bill of Rights belongs to the people, not to a political party. Consider that HR 3179, to which we referred earlier, has only a sponsor and a cosponsor, and it has already received a hearing, whereas HR 1157, the Freedom to Read Protection Act, has 145 cosponsors from 36 states and the District of Columbia, but has no hearing scheduled. Likewise HR 3352, the SAFE Act, has 62 cosponsors, while its Senate companion bill, S. 1709, has 19 cosponsors, and the promise of a presidential veto, but no hearings scheduled.
Support 1984+20 Project: A National Reading
of George Orwell's 1984
by Charles Bazerman and Lyndsey Tate
To advance public awareness of the role of civil rights in maintaining democracy and the freedoms of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is sponsoring a nationwide reading of George Orwell's 1984 this October. NCTE has established a website of resources to support discussions within schools and communities as well as to link up communities nationally and internationally to further the conversation. This website has information on organizing a community event as well as a form for letting NCTE know what you are doing. It will also provide access to other independent web sites currently being developed. For more information, contact Lyndsey Tate at NCTE, or Charles Bazerman. Read NCTE's press release for the 1984+20 Project.
BORDC urges everyone to consider organizing a reading and discussion in your community this fall, and to inform your state teacher's associations of the project.
Make a Gift in Defense of Civil Liberties
If you value our work, please help support it with a tax-deductible contribution to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee online or via check or money order.
Your purchase of bumper stickers, buttons, booklets, and Bill of Rights get well cards also help us to cover our expenses. Click here for our catalog, which includes our new button: The Patriot Act? That's SO 1984.
Editor: Nancy Talanian, Director
Managing Editor: Jessie Baugher
Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Inc.
8 Bridge St., Suite A
Northampton, MA 01060
Web: http://www.bordc.org/
Email: info@bordc.org
Telephone: 413-582-0110
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