Find out who represents you in Congress here.

Support the Irvine 11!

Public speakers get interrupted all the time. Usually the hecklers get carted off, maybe they spend the night in jail, and that is usually it. But when 11 Muslim students disrupted a talk by Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. at the University of California Irvine, authorities came down hard. The students were arrested and threatened with expulsion; the Muslim Student Union (the group that organized the protest) was suspended for a semester and put on probation for two years. The Orange County District Attorney charged the Irvine 11 with conspiracy to disrupt a meeting, which could mean six months in jail.

The protest occurred on February 8, 2010, so the D.A. has pursued this case for a year and a half. It is expected that the trial will last about a year. A bit much, isn’t it?

The trial started on August 29 with jury selection. Opening arguments are expected to begin on September 7.

Here is how you can support the Irvine 11:

1. Attend the Trial

We need as many people are possible to attend the trial. It's vital for the community to come out in solidarity with the Irvine 11 and their family members. A lot of media is attending the trial on a daily basis so we need to show them that we care about the cause.

To make it easier on the attendees, we have two daily shifts from 8:30am - 12:00pm and 1:30pm - 5pm. However, we encourage people to attend both shifts and attend multiple trial dates. We are estimating that the actual trial will take place from September 7th to September 23rd. If any unexpected changes occur, we will be sure to update all attendees via email the night before.

You can sign up here: http://www.irvine11.com/attend-the-trial/

2. Raise Awareness via Social Media

Over the past year, we've seen the power of social media to mobilize change and educate people about social causes. We encourage Irvine 11 supporters to use social media as a platform to inform others about the Irvine 11 and ask others to attend the trial.

Change your Facebook picture
- In order to raise awareness about the case, please change your facebook picture to the Irvine 11 flyer attached to this email. We want to be united community and this is one way to draw attention to the cause and stand in solidarity with the Irvine 11.

Update your Facebook/Twitter/Google + with Irvine 11 Updates
- Write your own personalized messages in support of the Irvine 11 and encourage people to attend the trial.
- We will be posting up daily updates on the Irvine 11 facebook and twitter so please be sure to repost them onto your own profiles.

3. Donate

The Muslim Legal Fund of America is still collecting donations to pay for the Irvine 11 legal fees. Please donate here: http://www.irvine11.com/donate-to-the-legal-fund/

4. Write Op-Ed Letters and respond to comments on Irvine 11 Media Coverage

We encourage supporters to write opinion articles and letter to the editor about the Irvine 11 case. If you'd like us to review your articles or would like a list of media outlets to submit your letters to, please email us at info@irvine11.com.

There are also a lot of negative and ignorant comments about the Irvine 11 on articles published about the case. Please take the time to respond to these comments to show support for the 11.

 

Visit your members of Congress during Spring Recess
Members of Congress are on recess from April 18 through May 1, most will spend at least part of the recess in their districts, seeking constituent feedback. This is a great opportunity to pay them a visit to demand JUSTICE, not the PATRIOT Act!

Find out who your members of Congress are here. Give them a call and make an appointment.

Resources for your lobby visit:
-- Talking Points on the PATRIOT Act; Op-ed on PATRIOT Act by former FBI Agent Coleen Rowley

-- Talking Points on the JUSTICE Act

-- Vote Tallies: it is helpful to find out how your members of Congress voted earlier this year on the PATRIOT Act Reauthorization before your meeting. Find out how your Senators voted here; Find out how your Representative voted here. (Thank them for a NO vote!)

-- Op-Ed: Let the PATRIOT Act Die. By former FBI Agent Coleen Rowley and Journalist Philip Leggiere

-- Tips for Lobby visits (from the Friends Committee on National Legislation)

-- Don't want to go it alone? Our allies at BORDC are helping people find others in their congressional district who might want to team up for a visit -- click here to let BORDC know you want to plan a lobby visit.

-- Want to talk about it? Join DDF and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee for a discussion of PATRIOT, JUSTICE and get tips for your lobby visits. Conferece calls will be on:

Wednesday, April 13, 3 pm Eastern
Thursday, April 14, 6 pm Eastern
Wednesday, April 20, 9 pm Eastern

Because our calls have been disrupted in the past, we need to ask you to rsvp to us, and we'll send you the call information. Click here to rsvp

Not interested in a visit? There are many other ways to get our message across!

1. Organize a protest outside the office(s) of your members of congress.
2. Find out if your members of congress will host a town hall meeting or other forum where you can ask a question or make a demand -- then show up and ask!
3. Write a letter to the editor, or just talk to your neighbors and co-workers about your opposition to the PATRIOT Act. (sample letter coming soon)

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Protest the King Hearings
On Wednesday, March 10, Representative Peter King (R-NY), the Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, will hold hearings titled “The Extent of Radicalization in the American Muslim Community and that Community's Response."

We strongly object to the way Rep. King has framed his hearing. with a focus on First Amendment protected religious and/or political beliefs, rather than violent or crimianl activity.

Representatives Pete Stark (D-CA) and John Dingell (D-MI) have written a letter that calls on Rep. King to reconsider the scope of the upcoming “radicalization.” Call today and ask your Representative to sign on to the letter.
Click here to read the letter.
Click here for talking points .

Reach your Representative via the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121, or click here to find out who your Rep. is.

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Take Action On PATRIOT
Tea Party/Libertarian Republicans and Progressive Democrats scored a significant victory in February by limiting the extension of the PATRIOT Act to only three months and demanding time for debate and amendments. The Obama Administration had asked for a three year extension. Read more...

We have less than 90 days to make sure Congress enacts serious reforms, or repeals the PATRIOT Act. Act Now.

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Defend Planned Parenthood!

DDF joins with Credo Action to defend Planned Parenthood. Please sign the petition today!

The rightwing smear machine that took down Shirley Sherrod, Van Jones and ACORN is at it again. This time they are going after Planned Parenthood.

The nation's largest provider of health care to low-income women is facing one of the most deceitful and potentially corrosive attacks in its history. If we don't stand up and fiercely defend Planned Parenthood, the radical right could finally achieve its wish of defunding family planning services and reproductive health care for women.

Read more about the smear campaign against Planned Parenthood, and take action against it, HERE.

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Repeal the PATRIOT Act!
Passed immediately after 9/11, the PATRIOT Act is perhaps the most visible of many blows that our privacy and civil liberties have suffered since then. Police and intelligence agencies now have broad powers to spy, pry and gain access to private information about innocent people without a judicial warrant or any checks and balances. Multiple government and independent reports have documented widespread abuse of these powers, as well as profiling according to race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, and political viewpoint. These problems have particularly affected Muslim-Americans, as well as Arabs and South Asians of other faiths, and activists working for peace or environmental justice. Indeed, all Americans have been affected.

Several provisions of the PATRIOT Act are up for renewal in February, please raise your voice with us to call for an end to police and intelligence agency abuses.

Raise your voice to restore your rights!

• Call you Members of Congress (details below);
• or send an email (click here)

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators' and Representative's offices. Ask to speak to the staff person responsible for Justice Department oversight and tell them:

* Vote NO on Reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act

* Rein in the FBI and COINTELPRO 2.0: Congress must conduct more careful oversight, encourage the Attorney General to issue new FBI guidelines to fix the current policy’s faults, and insist on new leadership at the Bureau after Director Mueller’s term expires later this year. New Attorney General’s Guidelines for the FBI must prevent the Bureau from investigating innocent Americans without any evidence or even suspicion of a crime; or profiling based on race, ethnicity, religion or political belief.

* Cut Spending: When addressing the bloated federal budget, start with wasteful programs justified in the name of national security that offend both fiscal conservatism and constitutional rights, like TSA’s ineffective and offensive bodyscanners, or the dozens of redundant fusion centers funded by cash-strapped states and DHS.

Please take a moment to call your congressional representatives, as a phone call is far more influential than an email.

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Live in the Washington DC area? Sign the petition to stop random bag searches on Metro and buses! Click Here. Or, click here for more info.

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National Call-In/ Write-In Week: JANUARY 18-21Share

Stop Injustice and Indefinite Detention from
Guantanamo to Bagram to Florence, Colorado

Although much of our advocacy regarding Guantanamo and indefinite detention is directed at President Obama, we can't let Congress off the hook!

* Congress has taken steps to restrict funding for closing Guantanamo;
* Congress has limited the Administration’s ability to transfer detainees to other countries, and it has created barriers to transferring detainees to the United States – even for the purpose of trial;
* Some members of Congress are working on ways to broaden the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF), in an effort to further expand the use of military commissions, preventive detention and even extra-judicial killing of U.S. citizens.

These are policies rooted in fear rather than wisdom!

Tell Congress to close Guantanamo!, drop the ban to allow civilian trials of detainees, and vote against any expansion of the AUMF!

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask for your Senators and your Representative. Ask to speak to the staff person that works on Justice Department issues and tell them:

* Drop ban on transfers of detainees
* Charge or release the men still in detention
* Allow civilian trials of men who are charged with crime
* Do not expand the Authorization for the Use of Military Force

Maintaining the detention center at Guantanamo Bay does not make us safer. Because it stands as an internationally recognized symbol of a period in which our nation abandoned one of its greatest values – respect for the basic dignity of all people – and tortured detainees, Guantanamo serves to inspire those who seek to harm us. More importantly, it endures as a legacy of a period in which our government put its fears ahead of our values.

It is always best to call, but if you can't, you can click here to send an email.

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Tell Senator Lieberman: Hands Off the Internet

The internet is a wild and wonderful haven for the First Amendment. But some members of Congress find this freedom dangerous. On Tuesday, Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) decided he had to fight to protect us from the truth.

Today, we have to tell him to back off.

When the Senator found out that Amazon.com servers were hosting the WikiLeaks website, he had his staff makes some calls. The Senator asked Amazon.com to kick wikileaks off their server, which Amazon promptly did. In a press statement, Lieberman’s office said the Senator hopes that other companies would get the message and refuse to host the WikiLeaks website*.

This is a shocking abuse of his power as chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee – and it is senseless, since the website was back up on another server within hours.

This is not the first time the Senator has tried to censor the internet. In 2008 he tried to get YouTube to take videos off its website (they refused). He has long sought ways to shut down websites that he doesn't like, using his leadership of the Senate Homeland Security Committee to hold hearings and issue reports to justify censorship.

If you live in Connecticut, Click Here to send an email. If you live anywhere else, sign the petition (his office won't accept emails from the riffraff who don't live in Connecticut)

UPDATE: The Senator's pressure on Amazon.com paid off -- another U.S. server has taken down charts that simply showed the emabassies of origin of the cables (without any content) in response to Lieberman's call to cut ties with WikiLeaks.

UPDATE: On Thursday, Senators Lieberman, Ensign (R-NV) and Brown (R-MA) introduced legislation to make it a federal crime to publish information about U.S. Human Intelligence sources (it's already a crime to leak this information). Read more about the legislation here.

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Stop FBI Harassment and Intimidation

Send an email to your members of Congress here.
The Defending Dissent Foundation stands in solidarity with the anti-war and international solidarity activists whose homes were raided by the FBI on Friday, September 24. Homes in Chicago and Mineapolis were raided. Doors were kicked in during the early morning raids and personal belongings including children's artwork, posters of Martin Luther King, Jr, were taken, as well as cell phones, computers and boxes of paper records. About a dozen activists from Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan have been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury.

The FBI emphasized that no arrests were made, but that evidence was being collected regarding the possible 'material support' of terrorism. The 'material support' statute is so broadly written that it can, and does, criminalize international peace-building activities whose only connection to terrorism is to reduce it.

Only one week ago, the Justice Department's own Inspector General released a report documenting political surveillance by the FBI. Friday's raids are the latest violations by a recidivist agency whose abuses have unfortunately recurred throughout its history.

Congress must act to protect our First Amendment Rights!

• Congress must close the 'material support' loopholes that give the FBI room to target peaceful domestic advocacy;
• Congress must compel the FBI to adopt the IG's recommendations to prevent improper spying on advocacy groups;
• Congress should hold hearings on the violations identified in the Inspector General’s recent report and conduct a full investigation to uncover the full extent of the FBI’s misuse of counter-terror laws and watchlist practices;

TAKE ACTION!

Pass the State Secrets Protection Act
Accountability and the rule of law have fallen victim to the state secrets privilege yet again.

It's time to take action!

On September 8, 2010, the 9th circuit court of appeals threw an important toture case out of court based on the Obama Administration's claim of state secrets. 5 men who say they were rendered to other countries to be tortured filed suit in 2007 against Jeppesen Dataplan, the company that flew them to Morocco, Egypt and Afganistan. This case was one of the few opportunities we had to hold those responsible for torture during the Bush years accountable, but the Obama Administration may have succeeded in ensuring that the torturers are never punished.

The Bush Administration had fought to have the case kicked out of court from the beginning, also relying on a claim of state secrets privilege. We were disappointed when the Holder Justice Department kept up the charade, in spite of the fact that the torure rendition program was public knowledge, as was Jeppesen Dataplan's role in the 'torture flights'. This is a devestating decision, that points to the absolute necessity to pass legislation restricting the use of the state secret privelige.

Please send an email to your members of Congress urging them to pass the State Secrets Protection Act. You are encouraged to edit the content of the email -- don't agonize over it, short and sweet and to the point makes a great email. If you would like to have a look at the legislation before you write your email, you can find the text here: Senate bill: S417 House bill: HR984

Stop Murder by Fiat!
The Obama Administration has taken the unconstitutional and morally reprehensible position that it has the authority to murder American citizens. Of course, this would only be Americans that the Administration says are terrorists, and only when they are not on American soil. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has introduced legislation (HR 6010) barring extrajudicial killings. It only has six co-sponsors so far, so please click here to send an email to your Representative and ask him/her to become a co-sponsor right away. Or, call your Representative's office -- the number for the Capitol switchboard is 202-224-3121.

The following members are already co-sponsors, so when you can click on the link, you will be able to send them a thank you email:

Rep Conyers, John, Jr. [MI-14]
Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5]
Rep Filner, Bob [CA-51]
Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7]
Rep Jackson, Jesse L., Jr. [IL-2]
Rep Stark, Fortney Pete [CA-13]

Stop McCain/Lieberman!
The Enemy Belligerant Interrogation, Detention and Prosecution Act of 2010 would give the President the power to decide whether you are entitled to a fair trial, or if he should just toss you in jail and throw away the key. If the President accuses you of being a terrorist, or of providing material support to terrorists, you will not be read your Miranda rights, you will not be entitled to a trial, you may not even be charged, you will be interrogated by special teams… and you can be locked up without trial until the war on terror ends. Even if you are a U.S. citizen. The accusation can be based on 'secret evidence' that you will never see. It could be based on lies, or misunderstanding. You could be innocent of all charges, and never be allowed to prove it.

The bill is a nightmare!

The bill, S. 3081, was introduced last month by Senators McCain and Lieberman, andl has been referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee. While it probably will not get voted on in Committee, the bill, or provisions of the bill, could be added to another piece of legislation on the floor of the Senate - so we have to fight the provisions in this bill NOW.

Take Action!
Click here to send an email to your Senators today to make sure provisions of the bill, or similar provisions are not slipped into other legislation on the Senate floor!

Don't get SLAPPed!
SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) are a popular tool among corporations to fight activists and unions who organize to protests against company policies, products or actions. We've seen companies sue civil rights protestors, environmental activists, union members and others for actions as simple as testifying at hearings, organizing petition drives, or staging protests. These meritless lawsuits are a true threat to free speech and organizing -- and we have few protections against this tactic. Ask Congress to act to protect individuals and groups who exercise the First Amendment rights of petition and free speech!

Send an email today to your Representative, ask them to co-sponsor The Citizen Participation Act, protects against SLAPPs by allowing the defendant of a meritless lawsuit arising from speech to have it quickly dismissed, and to recover the fees, costs and damages incurred in defending against it. Click here to take action.

You can read more about SLAPPs
Yes, Men get SLAPPed (DDF newsletter, February 2010)
Federal Anti-SLAPP Project website

Fight the PATRIOT Act!
(Updated Feb. 4 2010)
Several provisions of the PATRIOT Act are set to expire at the end of February. We are urging members of Congress to vote against re-authorization, unless serious reforms are included. One significant improvement that we're asking for is to limit the use of National Security Letters. In spite of recent revelations of widespread abuse of NSLs by the FBI, we can expect Congress to resist taking action. I hope you'll add your voice to ours, and send your Senators and Representatives an email.

PATRIOT Act -- updated January, 2010
Before leaving Washington last year, Congress passed a 60-day extension of the PATRIOT Act provisions that were to sunset at the end of 2009. Congress will act on the retiring provisions before the end of February. It is important that your members of Congress hear from you -- come to the grassroots lobby day, or call them! Tell them to reject any amendments that would weaken civil liberties and privacy protections, and to reject re-authorization unless serious civil liberties protections are included.

Background
In November, 2009, the House Judiciary Committee passed the USA PATRIOT Amendments Act of 2009 (H.R. 3845). Although the bill features significant improvements over current law and the Senate version (passed by the Judiciary committee in October), it is still unacceptable to us. Given the current political climate, we are not optimistic that the improvements will remain intact as the bill wends its way through Congress.

The House bill, H.R. 3845 includes the following improvements: the bill allows the ‘lone wolf’ provision to sunset at the end of this year; requires specific and articulable facts before a National Security Letter (NSL) can be issued; includes a sunset for NSL authority; and establishes new reporting requirements to allow for more meaningful Congressional oversight. The House bill also reigns in roving wiretaps and requires higher standards of evidence to obtain library and bookstore records (reforming provisions that are not due to sunset until 2013).

Take Action: Call your Senators and Representatives, tell them NOT to re-authorize the expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act unless serious civil liberties protections are included. Tell your Representative that even the improvements passed by the House Judiciary Committee (H.R. 3845) are not sufficient, and they should not be weakened. The Capitol Hill Switchboard is 202-224-3121

Allow Americans to Travel Freely to Cuba!

It is an outrage that Americans are prohibited from travelling to Cuba by their own government. Ask your Representative to co-sponsor H.R. 874, The Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act. See if your Representative is already a co-sponsor here.

Ask your Senators to co-sponsor the Senate version of the bill, S. 428. A list of co-sponsors is here.

If your Representative and/or Senators are already co-sponsors, you can call and thank them.

End Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement!
On August 25, DDF and 520 other organizations from around the country - civil rights, criminal justice, community and immigrant rights organizations - joined together to send a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to terminate the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) widely criticized 287(g) program, which relinquishes the authority to enforce civil federal immigration law to local law enforcement and corrections officials. Advocates, expecting a major overhaul - or termination - of this controversial program, were shocked to learn that DHS was expanding it to 11 new jurisdictions. While DHS claims to have standardized the agreements, close scrutiny has shown that these changes do nothing to prevent civil and human rights abuses, and in fact only further exacerbate the program's problems.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa County, AZ has been the most public example of the egregious human rights abuses that have resulted from the program. However, despite an ongoing civil rights investigation into the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office by the Department of Justice, DHS has not terminated its 287(g) agreement. Similarly, other law enforcement agencies around the country have aggressively targeted immigrants by using pretextual traffic stops or other racial profiling tactics.

We are asking for you to add your voice to this demand!
Send President Obama, the Department of Homeland Security, and members of Congress an email in support of the demand to terminate the 287(g) program and to restore fundamental fairness for all in our immigration enforcement policy. Click Here!

 

State Secret Protection Act Passes House Committee

Early in November 2009, the House Judiciary Committee approved the State Secrets Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 984). The sponsor of the bill, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) has been a strong critic of the way the Bush and now the Obama administration have used the state secret privilege, said "The state secrets doctrine, as it has been reinvented in the last few years, is the greatest threat to liberty in this country. It must be limited and controlled."

The bill requires an independent review of evidence the executive branch claims is subject to state secrets privilege. If the court determines that the evidence is privileged, the court can require the creation of a non-privileged substitute, if possible (such as a redacted version of a document). If the government refuses to submit evidence for review, the bill requires a finding against the government. The bill would apply retroactively back to January 1, 2002. Our concern with the legislation is a provision giving a judge broad discretion in dealing with privileged evidence for which it is impossible to create a substitute. In such circumstances a judge would be allowed to rule against a defendant based on privileged (secret) evidence that the defendant is not allowed to see.

Senator Leahy (D-VT) introduced a similar bill, also named the State Secrets Protection Act (S. 417) in the Senate in February, but no action has been taken yet. The Senate bill would not allow secret evidence, but does not apply retroactively.

 

Action Alert:National Call In Days December 16 & 17 - Drop Terrorist Charges Against RNC Activists!

Updates:

FBI adopts new guidelines

Before Attorney General Mukasey even made the new FBI guidelines public, DDF engaged in a grassroots campaign and behind the scenes advocacy to forestall the worst provisions. Our main concerns were that the new guidelines would allow agents to investigate people based on their First Amendment activities and open the door to racial profiling. Unfortunately the new guidelines, which take affect on December 1, allow FBI agents to investigate individuals and groups for whom they have no factual basis to suspect of wrongdoing. The guidelines explicitly allow agents to infiltrate peaceful groups in advance of demonstrations, and do not prohibit agents from investigating people based on their race, religion or ethnicity.

The guidelines cannot be allowed to stand, and it will be a top priority of DDF in the coming year to ensure that they are changed. We are exploring different strategies with our coalition partners, including working with the Obama administration on quick fixes to the guidelines, a thorough review of the guidelines and current FBI practices, and possibly a legislative charter for the FBI (remember that Attorney General Levy wrote the original guidelines in 1976 to preclude congressional action).

Read the new guidelines here

Read recommendations to the new Administration and Congress here

Congress Hands Bush more Spy Powers and Lets Telecoms Off the Hook
On Wednesday, July 9 the Senate passed H.R.. 6304, to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The bill grants sweeping new warrantless surveillance powers to the Bush Administration. The bill also grants retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies who aided the Bush Administration's warrantless wiretaps of Americans in the past. Find out how your Senator voted here. Take a minute now to call your Senators: Thank those who voted NO on this unconstitutional bill, and reprimand those who voted AYE. You can reach your Senator through the Capitol Hill Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Hands off My Spit!

Update
In May, DDF alerted the activist community to problematic proposals to collect DNA from all people arrested by federal agents. We encouraged people to submit comments highlighting concerns collecting DNA from innocent people. The comment period has closed but over 1,200 comments have been submitted to the Department of Justice protesting the proposed rules. Thank you to everyone who submitted a comment, or signed the memo below. As the DOJ responds to criticism of the rule, we will update this site. Senater Jon Kyl (R-AZ), a strong proponant of the proposed rules wrote a rebuttal to our comments, you can read it here.

Memo against DOJ proposal to collect DNA from innocents

Defending Dissent Foundation filed this comment on May 19, 2008:

To: David J. Karp
Senior Counsel, Office of Legal Policy
Room 4509, Main Justice Building
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.
Washington, DC 20530

From:
Leslie Cagan, United for Peace and Justice
Gael Murphy, CodePink
Kevin Martin, Peace Action
Dave Robinson, Pax Christi USA: National Catholic Peace Movement
Sue Udry, Defending Dissent Foundation
Granny Peace Brigade
Iraq Veterans Against the War - D.C. Chapter
Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
Freedom Socialist Party
Julie Enslow, Wisconsin Peace Action
Judy Lear, Convener, Gray Panthers- NYC Network
Peace Action Bay Ridge
Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
David Dixon, Action Center for Justice (Charlotte, NC)
Pax Christi Michigan
Joan McCoy, The Home for Peace and Justice
Tri-City Action for Peace
Connie Hogarth Center for Social Action
Judy and Leo Lynch, Tri-City Action for Peace
Pam Murphey Ewers, member of Pax Christie
Elaine and Francis McGuillicuddy, Portland, ME

Re: OAG Docket No. 119

Date: May 19, 2008

The Justice Department proposal for implementation of the DNA Fingerprint Act of 2005 raises serious concerns for our organizations. Members of our organizations at times are called by their conscience to protest government policies using non-violent civil disobedience. These peaceful protests can lead to the arrest of activists by federal authorities. Our members have been willing to submit to hand-cuffing, detention, rough handling, court costs and more in the name of causes they believe in. We believe the proposed guideline, requiring the harvesting of DNA samples from every arrestee, is a radical and unwarranted departure from current policies.

We strongly oppose the new rules:

The rules make a strong presumption that everyone arrested (or in the case of non-citizens, simply detained) is likely to be guilty of some crime at some time in the past or future. This turns the notion of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ on its head and is unacceptable.

This rule, as written, will swell the government’s DNA database with the sensitive genetic information of innocent people – including those who have engaged in peaceful protest. Innocent people do not belong in a criminal database.

Adding arrestees and immigrant detainees to the DNA database will vastly increase the number of innocent minorities in the database. Minorities are more likely to be wrongly arrested or detained than whites.

DNA is not a mere fingerprint. It contains sensitive medical information that should not be recklessly collected and stored by the government.

The DNA database currently contains six million profiles. Each added profile increases the likelihood of a mismatch. The larger the database is, the greater the odds that an innocent person will be implicated for a crime they did not commit. It is estimated that one million new profiles will be added to the database each year.

We are alarmed that the guidelines would allow the collection of DNA samples by private contractors. We are greatly concerned that this will drastically increase the incidence of errors and outright abuse of private genetic information.

(the proposed regulation is available here)

Find more information here:

DNA matches arena' always a lock (L.A.Times)

Frogs for genetic privacy (Daily Kos)

Feds to collect DNA from every person they arrest (AP)

Must the Fight against "Homegrown Terrorism" erode our civil liberties?

Under the leadership of Senator Lieberman (I-CT), the Senate Committee on Homeland Security is looking at ways to counter the 'threat of homegrown terrorism' that undermine our constitutional rights. A coalition of civil liberties and other groups is fighting back. We've sent the memo below to all members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security -- we encourage you or your organization to send a similar memo to the committee.

Worried that we are not doing enough to fight the threat of homegrown terrorism, Senator Lieberman has taken it upon himself to lead the charge.... by attempting to censor the worldwide web. On May 19, the Senator asked YouTube to take down videos produced by 'Islamist terrorist organizations'. Thus far, the company has responded admirably and refused to take down videos that do not violate their restrictions against gratuitous violence and hate speech. We cannot expect this battle to end there.

The Senate Homeland Security Committee will issue a series of reports on the homegrown terrorism threat over the coming months. Senator Lieberman has already used the first report to support his attack on free speech on the internet.

The first report is available here: "Violent Islamist Extremism, The Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat".

This memo has been sent to the members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs.

Find a text (word) version of this memo here

Additional Resources: American Muslim and Arab American Organizations respond to committee report; "ACLU skeptical of Senate Report"; "Muslim-Bashing Report"; "Lieberman Gift to McCain"; "Civil Liberties Groups Question Thesis of Report"

MEMORANDUM

To: Members of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

From:
AfterDowningStreet.org
American Civil Liberties Union
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Center for Constitutional Rights
Center for Democracy and Technology
Congress Against Racism and Corruption in Law Enforcement
Defending Dissent Foundation
Democrats.com
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.
Equal Justice Alliance
Friends Committee on National Legislation
International Association of Whistleblowers
International Center for Civil Law
Liberty Coalition
National Judicial Conduct and Disability Law Project, Inc
OMB Watch
Pain Relief Network
Progressive Democrats of America
Republican Liberty Coalition
Rutherford Institute
The Multiracial Activist
United for Peace and Justice
U.S. Bill of Rights Foundation
State and Local Organizations and Individuals:
Blair Hyatt, Director, Pennsylvania Head Start Association
Media Mobilizing Project, Pennsylvania
Peace and Justice Coalition, Prince Georges County
West Hartford Citizens for Peace and Justice

Re: Homegrown Terrorism

Date: May 30, 2008

Governmental efforts to deal with the problem of “homegrown terrorism” raise serious civil liberties concerns. House and Senate committees charged with overseeing these efforts, the House Homeland Security Committee and the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, have conducted a series of hearings on the matter and received some troubling recommendations. Legislation to address the problem, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act (H.R. 1955) passed the House and companion legislation, S. 1959, is stalled in the Senate. We understand that the Senate Committee plans to issue a report based on the hearings. We encourage the committee to take the following concerns and issues into consideration in writing that report.

We must be clear; the need to prevent criminal acts of violence is unquestionable. Studying and understanding the origin of terrorism and what provokes violence is an important element of prevention. But one of the greatest challenges to countering such movements is drawing the line between advocacy of ideas, including violence, and taking concrete steps toward carrying out a violent act. It is also important to distinguish between violence that injures or kills people and minor acts of vandalism that are part of an act of civil disobedience. Properly viewed, dissent can be an antidote to terrorism, not a precursor to it.

Defining the Problem
The first challenge policy makers face is to define the problem that is to be addressed. It is critically important that the articulation of the problem does not cause people merely exercising their First Amendment rights to fear being swept into the net of suspicion. For example, any definition of the problem must recognize that it is perfectly permissible for Americans to hold and promote a system of beliefs that others might find “extreme,” and for those who hold those beliefs to seek, without violence, political, religious and social change based on those beliefs. The reference in pending homegrown terrorism legislation to “the process for adopting an extremist belief system” raises concern that advocacy of particular beliefs would become the subject of study, instead of studying the causes of violence that a person engages in, citing such beliefs.

A second challenge is to determine whether there even is an identifiable process that leads to terrorism. A statistically and methodologically flawed study by the New York Police Department purports to identify a four-step “radicalization process” that terrorists go through, but even the authors of the study admit limitations to the application of their model, namely:

• that not all individuals who begin the process pass through all the stages;
• that many “stop or abandon this process at different points;” and finally,
• that “individuals do not always follow a perfectly linear progression” through the four steps.

What is dangerous is that the four steps each involve religious conduct, and the authors fail to note that millions of people may progress through these “stages” and never commit an act of violence.
The Government should not be in the business of trying to thwart the adoption of belief systems to which some in government object. And, when assessing whether particular advocacy can be stifled – including objectionable advocacy of violence – it is useful to recall that the Supreme Court set a high bar to governmental prior restraint. Under the Brandenburg v. Ohio incitement test, speech cannot be curtailed unless it is intended to and has the effect of causing imminent lawless conduct. Mere abstract advocacy of violence, however objectionable, may not be barred.

The Danger of Focusing on the Internet
Much of the discourse on homegrown terrorism has singled out Internet communications in a troubling way. For example, the pending homegrown terrorism legislation notes, "The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens." The truth of this statement lies in its universality: the simple fact is the Internet has become an essential communications and research tool for everyone.
Our concern is that this focus on the Internet could be a precursor to proposals to censor and regulate speech on the Internet. Indeed, some policy makers have advocated shutting down objectionable websites. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee heard testimony from a Dutch counterterrorism official whose government monitors mosques and works to take “the most radical” websites offline: “Our message is clear: we do not allow them to preach intolerance.” This is not consistent with American values of free speech or the First Amendment.

Moreover, testimony at the hearings indicates that such an approach not only fails muster under free speech principles, but is unlikely to be effective. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee also heard testimony indicating that the content of many of the websites that are objectionable is “mirrored” on other websites, and that as a result, shutting down one or two will not make the information disappear. Lt. Col. Joseph Felter, Ph D., Director of the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, testified to the Senate Committee that “Attempts to shut down websites have proven as fruitless as a game of whack-a-mole.” It can even be counter-productive. Attempts to shut down websites often draw attention to the very content that may be objectionable.

If the Internet is a focus of efforts to stop “homegrown terrorism” it should be because it can be a tremendous tool for dissemination of vast amounts of material that could counter the messages of the terrorists. The Internet, and the free speech it facilitates, can be an antidote to terrorism.

The Counterproductive Focus on Islam
Much of the discourse about homegrown terrorism in these hearings has focused on Muslims and Islam, even though perpetrators of terrorism in the United States have had many religious and ethnic backgrounds. Suggestions have been made that Muslims need to be watched because any particular Muslim might at any time become a homegrown terrorist. The Los Angeles Police Department, for example, launched a program to “map” mosques in the Los Angeles area as part of its efforts to counter homegrown terrorism.

Focusing the discussion of homegrown terrorism on Muslims may actually increase the potential for violent radicalization in the United States. Many witnesses before the Committee spoke of the growth of Islamophobia and the polarization of the Muslim community as risk factors that raise the potential for extremist violence. Unfairly focusing suspicion on a community tends to create the very alienation these witnesses said could lead to homegrown terrorism.

Moreover, there is not one monolithic Muslim community in the United States, according to Committee witness Farooq Kathwari, who co-chaired the Task Force for Muslim American Civic and Political Engagements. Muslim Americans emigrated from many different countries across the globe, with many different religious, ethnic and social traditions, while a significant number, particularly African American Muslims, are not immigrants at all. A focus on Muslims can create an impression that all adherents of Islam are suspect and lead to racial (or religious) profiling.

Dr. Marc Sageman, who conducted research on terrorists in Europe and the United States, suggested religion may be less of a driving factor than local police actions: “It is important to realize that the terrorists are not – and I emphasize not – Islamic scholars.”
Discriminatory profiling is a counterproductive anti-terrorism strategy. It shifts the locus inquiry away from indicia of violence to characteristics such as race and religion which are not predictors of terrorism. Moreover, it can contribute to feelings of alienation that can be preyed upon by those who intend to do harm.

Learning from History
A look back at U.S. history shows that many major social change movements advocated ideas that were considered radical at the time and used tactics that could fall into an overbroad definition of homegrown terrorism. Any plan of action to address the problem that suggests that “extremist beliefs” will become a subject of suspicion will discourage people from advocating their beliefs and ideas in an open and democratic process. That result would harm our society, not protect it. Indeed the civil liberties of U.S. citizens can be respected while protecting national security.

Unfortunately, recent U.S. history is full of discouraging examples of nonviolent groups being subjected to unwarranted surveillance, even incarceration and deportation based not on any crime, but on political beliefs or ethnic identity: the Palmer raids, the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II, and the FBI’s counterintelligence program (Cointelpro) of the 1960’s and 1970’s. The legislative branch has a history of using innuendo and guilt by association to ruin reputations and silence dissent, from the New York legislature’s Lusk Committee (which published a report in 1920 entitled Revolutionary Radicalism) to the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings of the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s. Most Americans agree that these violations of civil liberties were more harmful than the threat from ‘radical’ groups.

Conclusion

Broad definitions of terrorism and radicalization, coupled with the public's knowledge of surveillance of nonviolent groups by the Justice Department, give cause to concern that Americans' ability to speak freely will be threatened by efforts to address homegrown terrorism. We believe that efforts to prevent people in the United States from turning to terrorism can only succeed if we protect the free speech, religious and associational rights of those against whom these efforts are directed. We strongly urge policy makers to tread lightly and carefully in this area, and to make every effort to preserve free speech and association rights.