NCARL 2001 Newsletters

December 2001

YEAR END SUMMARY - MOURN BUT ORGANIZE OVER ALL THE LOSSES
This year end wrap up is very painful to write. And it is almost impossible even to give a sense of the comprehensiveness of the changes in a short letter. I'll start with an outline of what we almost got but didn't, and then the civil liberties abuses following the September 11 attacks. After that, a description of early organizing efforts and sum-up.

Almost Achieved:
* We almost got Congress to end use of secret evidence. The Secret Evidence Repeal act passed the House Judiciary Committee, had momentum and 100 co-sponsors, and candidate Bush and Attorney General Ashcroft's expressions of concern.
* Everyone who the government said was detained on the basis of secret evidence achieved release from detention, and the government said it stopped bring cases. Addi-tionally, two men in Texas, against whom the government announced plans to use secret evidence, instead faced only regular deportation proceedings while on release on bond.

Then it changed:
* Sept 11 horrors - indiscriminate killing of US citizens and non-citizens on U.S. territory. While not the greatest number of civilian killings ever, it certainly was a heinous attack on a civilian populace with intent to intimidate - a classic definition of terrorist activity.

Government Responses:
* Massive international, federal, state and local law enforcement mobilization was begun to track down the perpetrators and all who aided them.
* Talk the Talk; Walk Backwards. Excellent immediate statements by Mr. Bush, Mr. Ashcroft and others were made right after the attacks about the need not to target people based on their ethnicity and religion. The statements reflected much good work over the years especially by the Arab American and Muslim communities in conjunction with other religious and civil liberties groups to sensitize the government to ongoing discrimination. On the other hand, the government's new changed policies and practices in detentions, interviews, laws and regulations bely those early good words.
* USA PATRIOT Act - a huge bill was given by the Administration to Congress only one week after the attacks, containing much long sought law enforcement authority. Administration asked for passage in 2 days - it took about 2 weeks in part because a huge, Left, Right and Center ad hoc group urged caution and care. While the bill contained some possible improvements in fighting terrorism, most of it involved 1) increases in government secrecy, 2) criminalization and exclusion of dissenters and charities, and 3) limits on the courts' check and balance role by limiting their role or excluding them from some proceedings entirely. The bill blurred the lines between loose standards for surveillance of spies, and tougher standard of proof to investigate possible criminal activity. Expanded surveillance, access to medical and other records, wiretapping and secret searches will be the result. The process of passage of the law also minimized Congressional advice and consent by fast-tracking and derailing House efforts to apply some checks and balances.
* In two unrelated but major policy changes, the Administration announced a turnaround in the presumption of openness of records - in release of presidential historical records and as well in Freedom of Information Act requests which impact the public's right to know and bring to account government actions, at least after the fact.
* In what is called a limited number of cases, the Administration announced that the government without court order will listen in on attorney and client communications. Congress was not consulted. National legal groups and others are outraged at this destruction of attorney-client privilege.
* Detentions About 1200 people, mostly non-citizens, have been jailed. About two dozen are "material witnesses" - thought to have information about the Sept 11 terrorists though not accused of conspiracy in the crimes. The vast majority reportedly were arrested just for having various levels of visa violations - on 11/28, Attorney General Ashcroft finally confirmed there are about 550 people still are detained just on visa with no evidence that they are involved even remotely in terrorist activity. These men, largely Arab, formerly would have been released on bond as they fight forced deportation, as being of no danger to others or flight risk. Though the government claims all have lawyers, our information conflicts. Generally, no assertion has been made to the contrary except in a generic "mosaic" affidavit being sent to judges that "bits and pieces of information that may seem innocuous...what may seem trivial to some may appear of great moment" to the FBI and intelligence, and therefore all should be detained. About 50 people will be charged with an array of federal crimes, many unrelated to the attacks. The entire group is shrouded in government secrecy.
* The government announced by executive order that it will set up military "commissions", not just to go after Al Qaeda, but at the lowest level, "any non-citizen who has aided or abetted or conspired to commit, acts in preparation [for acts of international terrorism] that has as their aim to cause ..adverse effects on the United States, its citizens, national security, foreign policy or economy.." Remember that acts of international terrorism can include by US definition, relatively low levels of criminal activity including property damage. The commission can rule by 2/3 vote, even a sentence to execute. Secret evidence can be used. The military is judge, prosecution and jury. Further, the commission is explicitly not appealable by any court including the Supreme Court. As some in the military note, this is not a Uniform Court of Military Justice proceeding; it is injustice. Rather than prove that justice is done in these important cases, it will remain a question thru lack of due process.
The cited precedents - Civil War military courts later were overturned by the Supreme Court; World War II era military courts were appealable to the Supreme Court, involved only foreign soldiers out of uniform in a formally declared war against Germany, and existed pre-UN and international tribunals. Spain just has caught some possible terrorists but is balking at deporting them to the U.S. if it uses these commissions. European Union countries in general, as well as major papers and organizations are strongly criticizing the breadth, secrecy and inherent unfairness of such proceedings.
* 5000 additional young men, all entering the U.S. in the last year or so from Middle East countries or as Muslims, are being asked to talk "voluntarily" to the INS. The level of fear is palpable in immigrant communities. The chilling effect on political expression is difficult to measure. However, cutbacks in religiously obligated donations to charities are expected to be substantial.
Portland, OR, Ann Arbor MI, San Francisco, San Jose and other police around the country have expressed concerns about being asked to interview individuals not suspected of criminal activity based solely on their ethnicity, religion and immigrant status rather than indications they have any possible knowledge of criminal/terrorist activity. This follows decades of prohibitions and court injunctions in many cities of surveillance and investigation of First Amendment activity. In these cases the FBI alone may handle the interviews.
* Anti-immigrant sentiment is being nurtured by smear campaigns on several fronts. Both long time critics of Arab Americans and Muslims such as Steven Emerson, and Right Wing Christian activists as Paul Weyrich have been very publicly critical in recent weeks. Emerson and others including the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai Brith have strongly criticized nationally recognized leaders of groups such as the Council on American Islamic Relations, and the American Muslim Council just for their alleged beliefs and associations. Weyrich has helped lead the charge to discredit Grover Norquist, president of the Right wing Americans for Tax Reform, who has helped folks on the Right including the Bush Administration speak to and meet with national Muslim leadership over the last years.
* Mazen Al Najjar - who had served 3 ½ years in jail - denied bond in deportation-related secret evidence proceedings - is now as of 11/24 back in detention. He had been released December 15, 2000 after Immigration Judge McHugh ruled that the government had not proved its case that Al Najjar was a threat to national security, or otherwise detainable, and ordered him released. Now, after a final order of deportation, and even though no country will take him and an appeal to the Supreme Court is expected, he is jailed. The message is clear and Al Najjar is the memo - the government believes it can detain people indefinitely, even those whom judges rule pose no threat.

In Sum
Well, maybe Molly Ivins has said it best and not in jest. Her 11/25 column she starts: "Whoa! The problem is the premise. ...There is no inverse relationship between freedom and security. Less of one does not lead to more of the other. People with no rights are not safe from terrorist attack. ...[The writers of the Constitution] had just been through a long, incredibly nasty war. They did not consider the Bill of Rights a frivolous luxury, to be in force only in times of peace and prosperity..." Or as Rep. John Conyers recently released: "Collectively, the Administration has swept away the independent judiciary, the right to a public trial, the right to an appeal, the right to counsel, due process, equal protection and habeas corpus. Not bad for two weeks' work."

Organizing Response
There are national and lobbying groups working to slow or stop a range of dubiously constitutional legal initiatives. As well some are working on the beginnings of legislative repair on the USA PATRIOT act. National organizations, activist groups, academic groups and think tanks are working on education efforts. Many are holding seminars, convocations and press conferences to evaluate and publicize the massive array of domestic government responses to the attacks. Peace and international law groups as well are doing education and advocacy around the vast and open-ended military response to the attacks, raising issues of international law, war powers, etc. Immigration and civil liberties groups and attorneys are working to get information on the detained, make sure they have lawyers and have constitutional rights. And the work has just begun. Your help is needed - organize locally, check out the range of national groups doing important work - on civil liberties, computer and privacy rights, civil and due process rights especially for Muslims, Arabs and Arab Americans and South Asians.

Your Help
There are many ways to help, and to keep informed:
1) Encourage your Senators and Representatives to demand government accountability on this wide array of issues.
2) A number of coalitions are in formation - one on detainees the American Immigration Law Foundation and National Lawyers Guild coordinate. The Lawyers Committee on Human Rights coordinates one on expansive federal law enforcement authority. We're on both and coordinate with the ACLU the existing secret evidence lobbying group.
3) If you want to get on an email list I handle that distributes news clips and news on civil liberties issues, tell me to add you to the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom list. Also I email this newsletter if you want to cut down on paper (though this month I'm mailing it to everyone so you get an envelope to more easily send a year end contribution).

Speaking of which, many of you have been very generous in these tough times. That permits NCARL and the First Amendment Foundation to continue their work. NCARL is working on legislation and advocacy around the above civil liberties work. The First Amendment Foundation is doing educational work - about the above - speaking to colleges, organizations, conferences and the media. FAF also is working to reprint Jim Dempsey and David Cole's fine Terrorism & the Constitution book with an additional chapter on the USA PATRIOT act analysis. It should be ready for next semester's classes on constitutional law, political rights, American history, etc. We are as well seeking to commission and publish a book on the life of Frank Wilkinson to show people the road he has traveled in defending the right of political expression and the First Amendment.
Please help us with these efforts if you can.

November 2001

"USA PATRIOT" Antiterrorism Bill is Law - Public Law 107-56
Sometimes Congress moves too quickly to pass a law. When it does, hearings, committee amendments, and open process get the ax. Under extraordinary pressure to react to the horrible attacks, and from the Administration, Congress passed this complex and wide-ranging bill quickly and with no ability for people across the country to make their views known. This was an insider bill. Negotiated with few Members, a few staffers, the Department of Justice and a few lobbyists, the bill makes big changes in immigration, criminal and information collection law. The name is an acronym for words which no one will ever learn. Here's your chance: Uniting and Strengthening American by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. The acronym explains half the purpose: to show the US people that Congress is doing something against terrorism - a laudable goal, if hastily over-broad. The other less well known but really more accurate purpose is to put in place many of the remaining expansions of federal law enforcement authority sought since the mid 1980s.
Civil liberties and other activists in Washington sought to limit the damage in a bill all recognized would be major in impact and impossible to stop. We helped Congress expand their consideration to almost a month from 2 days. The House Judiciary Committee actually made important amendments to the bill in public, only to be overturned by Administration pressure. Some activists worked from inside the negotiating rooms; others urged more comprehensive changes from outside. We succeeded in some important ways but at the end did not, and probably could not, keep the bill from being extraordinarily damaging from a civil liberties, immigration and privacy standpoint.
The House voted 216-208 to allow the less carefully crafted bill to be voted on in the full House, then by a vote of 357-66 passed the final bill. The Senate voted 98-1 October 26 to pass their final bill with Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) bravely voting against, after having earlier submitted the only amendments on the Senate floor. Mr. Bush signed the bill into law October 27.
Below are some general trends and some specifics on what has changed.

Government Limits Courts Role
In a range of measures throughout the bill, the government has limited the ways in which the courts can limit law enforcement authority. You would think the courts were the enemy as their oversight is reduced or eliminated in this check and balance system. Now surveillance and searches for criminal activity don't need to pass a court's stringent authorizing standards under criminal law if foreign intelligence is a significant factor in the investigation. Similarly, tracing email, retrieving voice mail, tracking web surfing will involve reduced court oversight. No court order will be required for the government to monitor what are called computer trespassers but are broadly defined. Some of these provisions end in 4 years unless re-authorized by Congress.

Immigration/Detention Concerns
The Attorney General can incarcerate non-citizens on suspicion (rather than on proof) of their being a "threat to national security." They may remain detained indefinite-ly even if they are granted asylum or if a country of origin will not take them. As with the old McCarran-Walter law, non-citizens can deported or kept out of the country for their beliefs and associations rather than for allegations of involvement in criminal activity.

Due process and First Amendment rights have rarely been so precarious.
The definition of terrorism is greatly expanded, to include activity which most don't consider terroristic. There will now be two sets of listed "foreign terrorist organi-zations" - one of which is unappealable. Domestic groups also can be designated as terrorist organizations - non-citizen members can be barred from the country for mere membership. Rowdy demonstrators may end up listed and prosecuted as terrorists.
The government has broad authorization to engage in large scale investigations for "intelligence purposes" of U.S. persons for their association, membership and speech. This may include government authorization to do so-called "sneak and peek" secret searches of peoples' homes or work. These are the old COINTELPRO, illegal FBI "black bag jobs." Their use is greatly expanded beyond spying investigations in the new bill, even if unconstitutionally so.

Safety Barriers between Grand Juries, CIA and Law Enforcement Removed
Evidence that gets used in court and intelligence information are as alike as dirt and air. When intermixed they corrupt legal processes as evidence requires levels of proof, where intelligence is "he said, she said." The CIA and other intelligence agencies are now authorized to receive information from grand juries, and then use it. Some of this information likely will be shared with foreign intelligence agencies with no oversight Also intelligence agencies are permitted to identify priority targets for investigation in the U.S., destroying the barrier to their spying domestically. The FBI is given easy access to medical (including mental health), financial and educational records without court order or evidence of a crime.

TO DO
Well, lots to do. Too late to fight the bill. But nationally and locally, people are trying to identify who's in jail and why (1000 at current count). We are organizing local and national programs to educate about the bill, and other post September 11 constitutional abuses. Urge the government to go after those who committed the heinous crimes, but not people identified by ethnicity, religion, membership or opinion. Speak out. Thank Senator Feingold (202-224-5323) for voting against the Senate antiterrorism bill. See websites for details on the new act, including, aclu.org, cdt.org, lchr.org, aila.org, etc.
We're in this for the long haul. Take a breath and a walk in the fall. Then look around you and organize neighbors, people across town, groups you've not yet talked to and raise a ruckus to defend the Constitution.

October 2001

But almost immediately after September 11, a wide array of civil liberties, civil rights, privacy and related activists started talking. Most of us were active during the awful World Trade Center and Oklahoma City bombings and the civil liberties disaster that was the Antiterrorism & Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. We welcome law enforcement seeking to track down perpetrators and collaborators in the September 11 attacks. We recognize the urgency and necessity of assessing and plugging relevant gaps in our security, travel, and emergency response systems. At the same time we recognize the tendency of the government and law enforcement in this kind of tragedy to comprehensively increase the authority of government, rather than doing so in a limited fashion.

So we organized an ad hoc collection of coalitions and groups: In Defense of Freedom in a Time of Crisis. You can check out the website: www.indefenseoffreedom.org. In a week we had developed a 10 point statement, and gotten 140 national groups, 100 law professors, many privacy experts, and increasing numbers of individuals signed on. The group, as you can see, is so diverse in its reach that it's united by little more than our fervent desire to make a better America. The ten point statement in summary recognizes the horribleness of September 11, and understands the need to reduce the risk of future attacks. But we need to consider proposals deliberately and with a determination not to erode the liberties and freedoms at the core of the American way of life. Our government should uphold principles of a democratic society, accountable government and international law, in a Constitutional fashion. We should resist efforts to target people because of their race, religion, ethnic background or appearance, including immigrants in general, Arab Americans and Muslims. We affirm the right of peaceful dissent, protected by the First Amendment, now, when it is most at risk.

I'll just list the main speakers: Wade Henderson- Leadership Conf on Civil Rights, Nihad Awad- Council on American Islamic Relations, a rabbi from the Interfaith Alliance, Anthony Romero- ACLU, Grover Norquist- Americans for Tax Reform. Look at the whole list on the website.

Legislative Rush to Judgement
As I write this just before October begins, I can't tell you where we will be legislatively by the time you get this. The initial good news is that a bunch of us, mostly in Washington, have helped slow the process. Initially the Department of Justice wanted a bill in 2 days. Now it will be two weeks at least. What this means is you can tell your Representative and Senators that you want a thorough evaluation of the entire legislative package, to see: 1) what's essential now, 2) what is important shortly but must be carefully crafted to target criminal activity and not ensnare people because of their ethnicity, religion, appearance or opinions, and therefore should be handled deliberately, and 3) measures that don't enhance our real capacity to go after this kind of criminal activity and massively impact our rights, which therefore should be dropped altogether. Check out www.aclu.org to get an update on the legislative status, and call your legislators now.

Reach out in your Communities
This is also a time to connect with Arab Americans, Muslims and South Asians in your communities. They feel particularly isolated and alone. Those who have been working actively to gain their rights and fit in as full fledged Americans are particularly depressed. Call and meet with them. See how you can help. Organize community meetings to help address racist acts of cowardice. Also see if you can get people to sign on to the In Defense of Freedom statement. The broader the reach of these points of unity, the stronger our ability to hold strong to our rights in this time of crisis.

HUAC Unveiled
I was going to do a more major announcement of the release of a huge collection of House UnAmerican Activities Committee records. Then I thought it was subsumed by the current crisis. But I think now, that more than ever we need to know the detail of what HUAC did to activists because of their beliefs and associations. Hopefully the scholars who will have access to this information will be able to report their findings quickly. We need to learn from history, not relive it.

People are Listening
To the many people who are deeply disturbed by the horrible events of September 11, the expected crackdown by the government on speech and association, and increased surveillance powers, I have but two positive notes. But I'm wielding them boldly. First, everyone from Mr. Bush, to Mr. Ashcroft, to many in Congress, in communities across the country, is calling for the government to defend civil liberties and protect especially Arab Americans and Muslims. We can hold the government's words to its actions and demand consonance. Those words are stronger than I've ever before heard and I welcome them. Second, this is a period of decision-making and crisis, but it is a time more than most when people across the country are engaged and are listening. We have an opportunity to help frame the debates, challenge conventional assumptions, and delve deeper into what mechanisms really address both domestic safety and international tranquility. Mentioning civil liberties, protecting dissent, and international law are timely. Urge care in lawmaking. Hug your neighbors.

September 2001

Wen Ho Lee Report - Horrible but Illustrative
Gradually the full story has emerged about how the US government pursued Wen Ho Lee, A Taiwanese American scientist who worked at the US Los Alamos National Lab, whom it believed was a spy for China. The embarrassment to the government, particularly the FBI, keeps escalating as more details of the investigation emerge. One chapter of a huge classified Justice Department report on the investigation has been leaked to the Washington Post. The array of "blunders, misjudgements, and faulty assumptions by the FBI" noted in that chapter include the following:

* FBI Albuquerque officers ignored a December 1997 order to expand the inquiry beyond Lee and his wife;
* Investigators failed to carefully analyze a 1995 Energy Department report which had been the initial basis of the investigation of Lee. A careful read of it in 1998 undercut the premises of the investigation;
* The FBI agent in charge of the investigation didn't have this key piece of information for 3 years: The CIA had report on Chinese knowledge of the W-88 nuclear warhead which Lee supposedly supplied;
* Some agents who investigated Lee were found "unqualified" for the job. Their task was given a low priority in the Albuquerque office, and given to agents used to investigating robberies;
* The investigation stalled for long periods as other cases were pursued;
* FBI Washington Headquarters pursued the case at low levels, keeping detailed and accurate analyses of the state of the investigation from the Director until much of the investigative damage was done;
* It's possible the alleged crime - providing nuclear weapons secrets to China - never occurred. This possibility was ignored.

Other departments and agencies also came in for criticism, including Justice's Office of Intelligence Policy and Review, and the Energy Department. Wen Ho Lee spent 9 months in jail, and was charged in December 1999 with 59 felony counts. After initial government abuses came to light, Lee pled only to one count of copying classified nuclear data and removing it from Los Alamos, sentence time served. Lee is now suing the FBI, Energy and Justice. The Asian American community is now mobilized - criticizing the government for targeting Lee because of his ethnicity.

When Will They Ever Learn?
I rarely recommend that you read specific books (besides those published by our sister organization, the First Amendment Foundation). But you should read Tainting Evidence, Inside the Scandals at the FBI Crime Lab, by John F. Kelly and Phillip K. Wearne, published by the Free Press in 1998. The book plows through the investigations of the Unabomber, Ruby Ridge, World Trade Center, Oklahoma City bombings, OJ Simpson case and others. The array of crime lab abuses is phenomenal, even for this experienced FBI critic. You come out at the end of the book more convinced than ever that justice is found only with good lawyers and investigators, and somewhat amazed that these huge priority cases got convictions. And I guess you come out angry that the remaining credibility of the FBI masks so much bravura and ineptitude. Exonerated whistleblowers like Fred Whitehurst must be particularly frustrated.

The Wen Ho Lee investigation overall mirrors the lack of care the FBI still applies to its role as federal investigator. Instead it views itself as prosecutor, judge and jury, jailing people for months on insufficient and sloppy evidence. This core misunderstanding and abuse have to change.

Nature of this Abuse?
The civil rights suit by Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney against the government is coming to trial October 1. I'm including excerpts of a more detailed description of the case, written by Nicholas of the Redwood Justice Fund. This case sparks memories of the Fred Hampton case - where the Chicago Police the FBI shot and killed the Black Panther Party activist asleep in his bed in order to stop him. Or perhaps it mirrors the time FBI surveillance agents learned of an assassination attempt against Frank Wilkinson - my predecessor - then just watched and reported back that the attempt had not been made. Judi and Darryl were bombed in Judi's car - then charged with bombing themselves despite clear photographic evidence to the contrary. It looks like a coverup of a crime - either the FBI helped orchestrate the crime, or it allowed the perpetrators to go uninvestigated while punishing the victims. The difference? Time. The Hampton and Wilkinson cases were from COINTELPRO days. The Bari-Cherney bombing - only 11 years ago. Obviously there's lots of work still to do to depoliticize law enforcement in this country. Hopefully this case will shine more light on the problem.

President Bush - Get off the Dime!
President George Bush still has not announced his support for the Secret Evidence Repeal Act, HR 1266. The bill has 102 co-sponsors now in the House. It should go quickly through the House Judiciary Committee when it considers the bill, but the Republican leadership await Bush's position before proceeding. This should be a no brainer. Email Mr. Bush: President@whitehouse.gov, write to the White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500, or call 202-456-1414. Tell him: 1) He has to act now to carry through on his campaign promise, 2) This is a clear due process issue - people can't defend against information they can't see. Let me know if you get any response please.

August 2001

FBI Director Nominee Robert Mueller III - Why do you want this job?
In confirmation hearings on July 30 before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Feingold asked our question about the history of FBI investigation and disruption of protected First Amendment activity and peaceful political dissent. Feingold mentioned the Church Committee hearings, COINTELPRO, CISPES investigations, and Arab-Americans and Muslims.
Mr. Mueller responded there should be minimal and defined initial investigations to determine whether there is sufficient information of illegal activity to proceed and/or expand an investigation. Mueller later talked about how 'transparency' and 'accountability' were core principles of his vision for the Bureau. He aims for a fully computerized FBI, which should be easier to oversee and police internally.
The litany of FBI abuses has become overwhelming, so while the hearings for the Director have been no challenge to nominee Mueller, they are spiced with a barrage of complaints about the FBI. Current investigations: the Robert Hanssen spying case - a counter-intelligence agent who'd spied for the Soviet Union for 15 years; continuing a fallout from the overzealous case against Wen Ho Lee; lost and unaccounted weapons and computers; and discovery of thousands of pages of files in the Timpthy McVeigh case just prior to his execution that were to have been turned over to defense attorneys.

FBI Wants More Authority
Active FBI investigations of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front are ongoing because of arson attacks which have been attributed to each. The groups, which seem to have little or no organized presence, are being criticized by the FBI as a major threat od domestic terrorism today, because of the financial damage caused, and intimidation of some scientists involved in genetic work. To date no individuals have been killed or seriously injured as a result of the actions.

However, FBI agents, particularly in Oregon, are claiming that their investigation of these crimes is being hampered by a range of federal and state rules. Under an amendment to the federal Citizen Protection Act of 1999, law enforcement is required to follow state ethics standards when it obtains wiretaps and investigates cases. The Justice Department has sued to enjoin the Oregon State Bar from enforcing the ethics rule. As well, the Oregon Supreme Court limited domestic covert operations by prohibiting deceptive practice on the part of law enforcement - a staple of undercover activity.

NCPPF Annual Meeting
We met for the fourth (fifth?) time in Washington, DC. Activists and lawyers worked together to advance the work of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom. Our first day was focused on helping attorneys working on specific cases, and to identify how to educate especially local people, and help publicize the cases and the issues they raise. Among other cases discussed were the few continuing secret evidence cases, two new material support for terrorism cases the government has brought - that seem to involve providing humanitarian and non-violent aid, and challenges to designation of new groups as subsidiaries of foreign terrorist organizations, when they claim they are not connected to the group nor to violent activity.
We also are committed to improving our website (which is decrepit) and our outreach to additional groups - not so decrepit. If your organization is interested in joining the Coalition, let me know (kgage@bellatlantic.net) and we can discuss details.

Meeting at DOJ
I was invited to join a meeting with many of the national Arab American and Muslim organizations to speak with the Bush Justice Department on the topic of secret evidence last week. We spoke with the assistant to Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson who is tasked with the issue. We asked the government to do three things - 1) drop the old secret evidence cases; 2) initiate no new secret evidence cases until it has made a determination of its general policy regarding secret evidence and the bill specifically; and 3) support the Secret Evidence Repeal Act, HR 1266. The DOJ officials thanked us for our helping them clarify the issues and some of the cases. We will expect some answers to our requests.

Secret Evidence bill - cosponsors top 100 - TIME TO REV THINGS UP!
The Secret Evidence Repeal Act, HR 1266, has 102 co-sponsors now - a good level for renewing and new support for the bill. This represents 80 Democrats, 21 Republicans and 1 Independent. The House Judiciary Committee will be ready to schedule a markup after the President makes his position on the bill clear.
Now is the time: write to President Bush, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500. Ask that he fulfill his campaign promise and support HR 1266. This is the only clear way to indicate to everyone, and in particular to the Arab American community, that Bush abhors doe process violations and racial/ethnic targeting or profiling - in particular the use of secret evidence in deportations.

Genoa and DC - Characterizations and reality
I can't help but raise this issue. Demonization of demonstrators is a pet peeve of mine. So when a young man was killed and hundreds of nonviolent protestors were seriously injured at the recent demonstration concerning globalization in Genoa, Italy, I was particularly concerned. The popular press report in sum was: vagrant criminal killed by police in self-defense. Carlo Giuliani wasn't a vagrant, wasn't a criminal (one sole arrest was thrown out of court), and there's a videotape that contradicts an intention to throw the fire extinguisher at police. He was shot twice in the head with live ammunition by an undertrained recruit. Other hundreds were asleep when attacked by club wielding police. Dozens of these and hundreds of others - mostly peaceful demonstrators were seriously wounded by police.
The next demonstration is in DC in September. Please, no more demonization!

July 2001

THE COURTS COME THROUGH TWICE
LA 8 - First, on the case that almost has grandchildren, the Los Angeles 8. Immigration Judge Bruce Einhorn ruled that Khader Hamide and Michael Shehadeh, lead plaintiffs in the case, cannot be charged for activities that were not illegal when the case first began. The judge gave the INS until August 5th to decide whether instead it will reinstate its original prosecution of the two under the original 1952 anti-communist era McCarran Walter law, which it long ago dropped as the law was eliminated (with our help).
This is a really complicated case, but I've attached a good summary both of the case and the decision, put out by Marc Van Der Hout, Trina Realmuto and David Cole, longtime lawyers defending the LA 8. Our task now is to convince the Attorney General to drop the prosecution.
You can call or write: Attorney General Ashcroft, Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20530. Talking points supporting the need for him to drop the case: 1) Enough is enough - this is a 15 year old case!, 2) The government shouldn't and it's arguably unconstitutional to charge people with a crime (McCarran-Walter law) that's no longer legal, 3) Raising money for First Amendment activity - distributing newspapers, participating in peaceful demonstrations, and organizing humanitarian aid fund raisers shouldn't be deportable offenses.
IMMIGRANTS GUARANTEED HEARING AND NO INDEFINITE DETENTION - The US Supreme Court in the St. Cyr case just upheld (5-4) the right of habeas corpus for immigrants - specifically that they have the right to judicial review of removal orders (deportation orders). The government had sought to prove that immigrants in the U.S. have no constitutional right to any form of court review of deportation. Further, Justice Scalia argued in the dissent that no one - citizen or not - has a right to review of unlawful detention (called habeus corpus review). That we almost lost these rights is enormously frightening, but it now remains intact, probably in part because the government and Justice Scalia took such extremist positions.
In the other positive immigration decision - combined cases of Zadvydas v. Davis, and that of Kim Ho Ma - the Supreme Court ruled (again 5-4), that the government may not detain deportable immigrnats indefinitely if there is no country ehich will accept them.
Both the Clinton and Bush Administrations had supported up to lifetime jailing in such circumstances. Justice Breyer wrote directly that "the Due Process Clause applies to all 'persons' within the United States, including aliens, whether their presence here is lawful, unlawful, temporary or permanent."
These combined rights for immigrants - and therefore certainly to all of us - to judicial review and prohibiting indefinite detention are bedrock rights essential to a rational society. Dissenters, immigrants, just plain folks, and those accused of crimes, all can rest a little easier knowing the Constitution has recently been read and interpreted to recognize due process.
We don't know yet, but might speculate that this decision bodes well for our fight about the use of secret evidence. A strengthened right of judicial review, no indefinite detention when a country won't accept you, and a positive decision in the LA 8 case all might favorably impact our effort to eliminate use of secret evidence. Now we need to get the one remaining secret evidence victim - Harpal Singh Cheema, held since November 1997 - out of detention.

Recommended action: Take a breath of relief about these Supreme Court decisions. Talk about these decisions among friends, and in op eds in your local paper. We'll plan more about the Singh Cheema case at our upcoming NCPPF meeting. Speaking of which:

ANNUAL MEETING JULY 27 & 28, WASHINGTON, D.C.
NATIONAL COALITION TO PROTECT POLITICAL FREEDOM (NCPPF)
You are all invited to attend the annual meeting of NCPPF. Call me - 202-529-4225 or email kgage@bellatlantic.net for more details on the agenda and places to stay. Friday, July 27 we will discuss the various cases - secret evidence, First Amendment, civil asset forfeiture, challenging groups' designation as foreign terrorist organizations, etc. Saturday, July 28 we will spend more on organizing, education and outreach plans.

MORE CO-SPONSORS FOR SECRET EVIDENCE REPEAL ACT - HR 1266
We are back up to 87 co-sponsors in the House for HR 1266, the Secret Evidence Repeal act, which would largely eliminate the use of secret evidence in deportation related proceedings. The current bill includes the so-called Classified Information Procedures amendment from last year's mark-up in the House Judiciary Committee which passed nearly unanimously. Last Congress we had 129 co-sponsors so now to give added momentum to the bill, it's time to push your members to co-sponsor again or for the first time. Call the central switchboard at 202-224-3121.

June 2001

Life in Washington, DC is never boring. Senator Jeffords has just declared himself an Independent and brain cells are being burned out all over town trying to figure what this will mean. I'll burn out a couple of mine below.

Secret Evidence Repeal Act, H.R. 1266
In the House we are up to 62 cosponsors of the bill. Make sure your member is a co-sponsor. Call 202-225-3121. As well, Democratic Senators Feingold and Kennedy will reintroduce the bill in the Senate. The President and Department of Justice are being slow to support the bill, despite fairly clear condemnation of use of secret evidence by Msrs. Bush and Ashcroft before each took up their current jobs. Their delay is also slowing some other Republicans - House and Senate - in taking a stand. Not too surprisingly, they want to know if they're bucking the Administration or not in supporting the bill. Your calls and letters for White House support would be most helpful now - 1600 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20500, 202-456-1414. As well, call or write the Attorney General's office: General John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the U.S., Dept of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC 20530, 202-514-2001.

GOVERNMENT ABUSES

FBI Shoots Itself Again
Just when you thought the FBI was finished with its string of missteps andabuses, again it makes very visible mistakes. For years the FBI has been under scrutiny for its errors related to investigations, files and prosecutions. We have two recent examples which serve to remind people that it's not over.

Birmingham wiretaps
Just this month a second man was convicted for responsibility in the infamous 1963 racially-motivated Birmingham Alabama church bombings that killed four innocent black school girls. The prosecution hadn't happened because the FBI continued to withhold the relevant FBI wiretap tape from Alabama state prosecutors despite their repeated request for information. Even under Director Louis Freeh, files were withheld until very recently.
McVeigh files
Now we're up to about 4,000 pages of evidence from FBI files all over the country and beyond, that had not been turned over to the defense before the 1997 Oklahoma City bombing trial as had been agreed. The files started surfacing just a week before Timothy McVeigh was scheduled to be executed, initiating an embarrassing renewed search of the files just after Director Freeh had announced his retirement from the Bureau.
Attorney General John Ashcroft was virtually forced to announce a 30 day stay in the execution to allow for the final search, and for attorneys for both McVeigh and Terry Nichols (sentenced to life for his role in the bombing) to evaluate the files. Despite the fact that Mr. Ashcroft now announces there is no relevant information in the new files, and that the execution of McVeigh will go ahead June 11, attorneys for the defense, and common sense argue against such speed.

Long String of Errors
Exposure of these recent and long-running (mistakes or coverups- you choose) are the most recent in a long line of abuses. The sloppily run investigation of Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory scientist Wen Ho Lee, The 1993 raid with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco Texas, the sniper killings of a woman and adolescent at Ruby Ridge are the most well-known public relations disasters at FBI in the last decade.
These missteps came throughout the most massive build-up and expansion of the FBI in its history. Funding and investigative authority expanded vastly, justified by the Freeh-articulated need to more fully combat foreign and domestic terrorism. Throughout the abuses, investigations of them, and growing pains, Louis Freeh succeeded in avoiding significant criticism. That has changed, at least for now. ABC/Washington Post polls report a bare majority support for the Bureau, compared with 82 percent following the Oklahoma City bombing.

CALL FOR FBI ACCOUNTABILITY!
Pressure should be brought to bear on the Bureau as a new director is sought. Contact the newly Democratic majority Senate Judiciary Committee. Ask it to expand its agenda - not only to hold hearings on the candidate for FBI director, but also to straighten up the Bureau and hold it accountable to the Bill of Rights. Call 202-224-3121 and ask for the Senate Judiciary Committee.

LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRACTED OUT
I have to raise this issue - it's horrific in so many ways. The U.S. hired private U.S. contractors who didn't speak sufficient Spanish to fly over the skies of Peru, identifying possible drug running planes for the Peruvian military to intercept and possibly shoot down. That they happened to misidentify US missionaries, causing a woman and her child to be shot and killed, has brought this to light. But the uproar has been incomplete. Effectively incompetent contractors have been hired. The U.S. government gave these private citizens the authority to commit fatal errors in violation of international laws and U.S. due process rights. While the project now has been suspended, its inherently fatal flaws were identified as early as 1994 by the State Department. The close connection of this program to then President Fujimori and his discredited spymaster, Vladimiro Montesinos adds a more grotesque twist to this plot. Suggested action: Get your members of Congress and Senators to stop funding such programs - Now!

May 2001

Well it's finally happened. Frank Wilkinson has moved the L.A office into his home and is now officially Education Director of the First Amendment Foundation. He has just come home from a very successful East Coast speaking tour. Of course, he's happy to come to your neck of the woods to speak to your school or group about his life as the thread by which we follow the history of First Amendment defense through the 20th and into the 21st century. The administrative work is now ceded to DC.

This means I'm now the Director of NCARL, as well as of the First Amendment Foundation (oh, and Coordinator of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom). Unfortunately now in DC I'm trying to replace the tireless Frank Wilkinson and Paul Iaccino as well as a phalanx of volunteers who did so much of the work of the LA office. So bear with me as I get the less well populated systems set up and running.

Time to Push the HR 1266, Secret Evidence Repeal Act
The Secret Evidence Repeal Act has been reintroduced in the House of Represen-tatives. Now is the time to tell your representative that they need to sign on as a co-sponsor. They should have received a "dear colleague" letter from Reps. Bonior, Barr, Conyers, Tom Davis, and Jackson-Lee describing the bill and the need to support it. Call your member at 202-224-3121 to get them to focus on this bill. Or email your member - go to www.house.gov to write them online. To find out the bill status, go to www.thomas.loc.gov.

Another Secret Evidence Case?
The ongoing deportation case against Ghassan Dahduli in Texas looks like it's becoming another secret evidence case as the INS has petitioned for a delay while it incorporates new secret evidence. While Mr. Dahduli is out of jail on bond, we are shocked that the government would even consider initiating a secret evidence case given that they are in the midst of evaluating whether to support the Secret Evidence Repeal Act. Stay tuned for more on this.

Material Support for Terrorism
We always knew that the government would start to use a provision of the Antiterrorism Act allowing it to bring criminal charges for peoples' contributions to a small list of "foreign terrorist organizations." The problems with this "material support for terrorism" provision are:

• It penalizes First Amendment activity by allowing the government to investigate broadly peoples' political affiliation and activity,
• The government can bring criminal charges against citizens or non-citizens for donations of humanitarian and non-violent materials,
• The decision as to which organizations get the foreign terrorist designation is a necessarily arbitrary and political one. Hundreds of groups in the world have some affiliate engage in the smallest level of violent activity necessary to qualify under the act. Only 29 groups are now on the list. Giving donations to unlisted groups is not a crime.
• The provision is inherently chilling. How do you know when or if a group whose politics you support may make the list? People seeking to avoid difficulties in the U.S. - especially if they are non-citizens - may choose not to be politically active just to avoid being ensnared in this web.

The government is now bringing charges in two very different cases. In Los Angeles they have charged three Iranian American citizens with fundraising for Mujahed e-Khaq. In North Carolina they have brought charges against a Lebanese American citizen for fundraising for Hezbollah. The latter case also involves criminal charges against others having to do with cigarette smuggling from North Carolina to Michigan and related charges. The material support charge was only belatedly brought and against a man who is only tangentially charged with the other acts. The National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom is in communication with the local lawyers in these cases, and is starting an education plan. People know little about this law, and even less about its ramifications for chilling political activity. We must change that. Again, stay tuned.

If you want somewhat more frequent information on these issues, send me your email and I'll put you on the main NCPPF list. Email me at info@ncarl.org. We'll keep you all appraised as the issue develops.

Compared with fixing these First Amendment issues, eliminating secret evidence is a walk in the park. The government believes it is essential to be able to investigate peoples' political activity, beliefs and associations in its arsenal against terrorism. We have to convince people around the country and then the government that this law, this way is more dangerous in the long run. Stepping up the legal bars to political dissent has wide and foreboding implications for us all.

Thanks for your continued activism and support for NCARL.

April 2001

Secret Evidence Repeal Act REALLY Being Introduced
I know, I know - last month I said the bill was introduced. Well Congress has really started jumping and peoples' schedules keep getting fouled up. March 28 the Secret Evidence Repeal Act is being introduced in the House. At a press conference announcing the introduction, secret evidence victim Anwar Haddam, various members of Congress, and I will speak to the need for the bill. It's also possible that Greg Nojeim of ACLU, and Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform will speak, Grover announcing that the Attorney General has said he will support the bill. Shortly thereafter, the bill will be introduced on the floor of the House, be given an H.R. number and we'll be off and running. I expect the bill to be introduced in the Senate shortly after.

We're in an Unique Place
As many of us watch with increasing concern as various Bush initiatives on environmental, criminal justice, reproductive rights education, judicial nomination and other issues come down, many liberal organizations, labor, the Left, womens' groups are reacting strongly, organizing to oppose the Bush administration moves. We on the other hand have balls in both courts. We've gotten preliminary support from this administration on secret evidence and yet are very cautious on First Amendment activity.

On the issue of secret evidence we have strong indications that the Bush administration will act comprehensively on what the Clinton administration would only partly address. The Clinton administration actively prosecuted open secret evidence cases, though it did not initiate any new ones in the last year and a half and made public much of the evidence which started out secret. They seriously considered putting regulations in place which would have only partly addressed our grievances. In the Bush administration, the President and the Attorney General are on record opposing secret evidence. We await their formal support of the Secret Evidence Repeal Act. You can help us urge it. Call the President at 202-456-1414, and call Attorney General Ashcroft at 202-514-2001 and request their support for the bill. You also can call your representative - 202-224-3121 and ask them to co-sponsor the Secret Evidence Repeal Act in the House.

It's my sense that our unusual alliances, which facilitate high level communication both with this Administration and the last - will be very helpful in the future as we seek to protect First Amendment activity. More than ever we'll need to be able to funnel your voices to decision-makers. Particularly as I anticipate opposition to Bush administration decisions to heat up, we are in an unique position to protect those movements generically. The time is now to shore up the First Amendent - your right to dissent, to demonstrate, to speak truth to power.

One More Time From Los Angeles
Frank and Paul have graciously agreed to send out this last big mailing from Los Angeles. After this, I'll be sending them out from DC. So send your contributions to LA this time, and next month Frank and I will give you instructions on how to continue your support as the national office moves to DC.

The First Amendment Foundation board met by phone recently and agreed to select me as the new Executive Director of the Foundation, with Frank to be Education Director. As well, NCARL leadership has agreed to have me serve as Executive Director of NCARL. I am still serving as National Coordinator of the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom - as part of my work both for FAF and NCARL. I mostly just call myself Chief Nudge, but it amounts to the same thing I think. I appreciate all of your support in all this work, and in our transition. Please bear with us if we are a little slow putting it all together. The work is crucial, and your support makes it possible. Thank you all.

March 2001

Time to Get Rid of Secret Evidence!
With all the dust of the new Administration settling, and despite some continuing dustups, the Congress is starting to get down to the business of legislating as the 107th Congress. As you know, the Republicans and Democrats numerically separated by a razor thin margin. Obviously this will require any legislation to have bi-partisan support.
Fortunately, the Secret Evidence Repeal Act, which was initiated in the 106th Congress, ended up with strong bi-partisan support at the end of the 106th. In the House there were 128 co-sponsors, and it was favorably reported out of the House by a unanimous voice vote. House Report 106-981, which contains a copy of the bill, commentary on its need, and dissenting views, has Representatives Bill McCollum (failed in election to the Senate), Lamar Smith and Anthony Weiner as dissenting from the bill, and Mary Bono and Bob Goodlatte expressing disagreeing with the bill but preferring that there be a time limitation on how long an immigrant could be detained using secret evidence.

Secret Evidence Repeal Act Reintroduction
Democratic Whip David Bonior will be joined March 1st by other members of Congress and supporting organizations and individuals in reintroducing the Secret Evidence Repeal Act. It will incorporate the one significant amendment - the so-called two judge CIPA fix - which was added to the bill when it was marked up in House Judiciary last fall.

Referral to House Judiciary
With the new Congress, there has been some shuffling on the Judiciary Committee. Now, James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) is chairing the full House Judiciary Committee. George Gekas (R-PA) is chairing the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims, where the bill will be referred again. The Republican composition has changed significantly, Democrats remain the same. They are as follows:

House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims:

*New to the Judiciary Committee

You can check the Library of Congress website a few days after March 1st to see find the new bill number and check out the text of the bill. That site is: http://thomas.loc.gov/. There you can as well get access to Members' direct phone numbers, room numbers and etc. Though as always, you can write them at:

U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

and call them at the main switchboard: 202-224-3121

In the Senate
Senators Abraham and Grams, Republican sponsors of the bill, did not return to the Senate this Congress. Senators Russ Feingold (WI) and Ted Kennedy (MA) have returned, and will again be the Democratic initiators of the bill in the Senate. So we are in need of Republican initiators.

To Do:

* When you get the bill number, call your Representative and have them co-sponsor the bill (again or for the first time - check under the 106th Congress in the website if you don't remember if your Representative co-sponsored in the last Congress). If they were a co-sponsor, thank them for their previous support.

* Call House Judiciary and Subcommittee members - especially those from your state - and ask them to support the bill through the Committee.

* Call or write your Senators and ask them to watch for the Secret Evidence Repeal Act. Especially if they are on Judiciary, ask them to be help initiate the bill. In particular, if you have had contact with Senators Specter or DeWine, contact me about setting up a meeting with them. Address: US Senate, Washington, DC 20510

* Consider holding a meeting in your community or organization. Talk about the bill and its import. If you need a speaker, get in touch with me for ideas of knowledgeable people in your area.

Thanks!

February 2001

Last Gift from the Clinton Administration
I was delighted to be invited to a meeting that Arab Americans had with high level officials at the Department of Justice in early January. At the meeting, Justice officials described a set of regulations on secret evidence which they still hoped to issue before the Clinton Administration left. The regulations would have limited, but not eliminated, the use of secret evidence. It would not have absolutely required giving a potential deportee an unclassified summary of the secret evidence. We were not pleased. Essentially, I characterized to the DOJ that such regulations would solidify for Arab Americans and others concerned about due process rights, that the Clinton Administration was not sufficiently sensitive to the issue and may be trying to block more comprehensive legislative efforts. After detailed discussions back and forth, the Justice Department agreed to revisit the issue. We thanked them for their willingness to engage in this continuing dialogue. We learned shortly after the meeting that the DOJ decided not to issue the regulations. Sometimes the best gift is one that is not released. We thank the Clinton administration for that. And we thank the Arab American organizations for the persistent and continued dialogue with the Clinton Administration.

Big Celebration of the Constitution - Secret Evidence Win
The National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom (NCPPF) is holding a great celebration of our success at virtually ending the use of secret evidence, and to give a push to complete that effort. It will be a dinner at the Marriott Crystal Gateway, March 30th, Friday night in Crystal City, Arlington Virginia, just across the Potomac from downtown DC. We hope that virtually all the secret evidence victims will attend, as well as the hundreds of participants and supporters in this more than three year effort. As a first big fund-raiser for the NCPPF, it will be pretty expensive - about $100 per ticket to help fund NCPPF and some of the legal defense expenses on all the variety of legal work done on the secret evidence cases. Hold the date if this is something you might be able to attend - we'd love to see some of our NCARL and First Amendment Foundation friends there.

Secret Evidence Repeal Act
We're proceeding apace with efforts to get the Secret Evidence Repeal Act reintroduced in this new Congress. We'll be trying to get many of last year's co-sponsors to be on the bill as it's reintroduced. So ask your member to contact Scott Paul of Minority Whip. David Bonior's staff (202-225-2106) or Keri Allin of Rep. Bob Barr's staff (202-225-2931) to become a co-sponsor again.

Still in Transition
We are in the middle of the transition of NCARL and the First Amendment Foundation. LA is producing and mailing this memo to you. The data base is still there, as are the main records. Please bear with us as we change over to DC. It's going to take some elbow grease. But it will end up helping facilitate Frank Wilkinson's educational work and our long term civil liberties efforts. Thanks for your continued support and words of encouragement. And for your continued essential financial support for NCARL at this important time.

January 2001

Secret Evidence Slam Dunk
Mazen Al-Najjar and Anwar Haddam were released from jail in December. They were the last of the most well known secret evidence detainees, whom the government has been trying to deport. They had been held in jail each about 4 years, denied bond through the use of secret evidence which neither they nor their lawyers could see or rebut. Three others that we know of remain in jail - held months to three years - with secret evidence as part of their deportation cases. With Al-Najjar and Haddam's release, after a huge legal and organizing effort, the government's record on the use of secret evidence is now overwhelmingly bad. Attorney General Reno upheld Al-Najjar's release, against the request of the INS. Haddam is out of detention after winning political asylum twice and a Board of Immigration Appeals ordered his release. Both men face continuing immigration action, but now are at home, with family and community. All the cases show that without access to the evidence in a case, defendant and attorneys are unable to effectively rebut the case. Further, they show that the government abuses this authority, by using information that is weak, irrelevant and/or unconvincing when it sees the light of day.

The National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, of which I am chief nudge (coordinator), gets to take credit because of the amazing array of people working within its large umbrella. These lawyers, national organizations, local and national activists are tireless, creative, and committed. Representatives David Bonior and Tom Campbell worked on this issue like no other. Their effort and praise have been as consistent as they have been heartfelt. NCARL and the First Amendment Foundation have continued all this year paying me as consultant to also head up the Coalition. I've worked in political coalitions before, but this experience has been unique. It's been an honor both to do this work, to represent such an important issue, and to join the collection of talented people who are working together on it. Like a band leader, I have gotten to take the bow for the whole group when it's the band that should get the credit. You are also the band and should take a bow as well. Your support of NCARL and FAF made this coordination possible.

Secret Evidence Fast Track
With these legal victories, the Secret Evidence Repeal Act should be (hopefully) relatively easy to push through in the next Congress. As the bill - H.R. 2121 and S. 3139 - received strong support especially in the House, it should go pretty quickly this next Congress. You should be talking with Representative and Senators while they're home this vacation, letting them know of this plan, and that they will need to join the early effort to co-sponsor and pass the bill. You can find a list of co-sponsors at www.thomas.loc.gov. Look up H.R. 2121 in the 106th Congress to find if your Representative was a co-sponsor. You might also remember that the 4 major Presidential candidates variably urged an end to the use of secret evidence - that should help as well.

First Amendment - the Core Issue
Attached to this letter is a recent Washington Post editorial. It described the uneven application of what we see as an unconstitutional law - the part of the Antiterrorism Act of 1996 which criminalizes all donations (including humanitarian and peaceful advocacy materials) to a particular group of foreign groups. The editorial notes that even within this inequitably determined list, there is selective enforcement. We condemn the entire law - made more corrupt by its enforcement. In the coming months and years, we will be doing more to try to undo this wrongheaded government policy. The government should go after specific criminal acts, not entire organizations or dissent movements. This is the only way the First Amendment will have a chance of surviving well into the 21st century.

Thank you for your continued sustaining of NCARL and its work. Your help - especially as we make the transition to a National Office in Washington - will be most welcome and necessary. This way, Frank Wilkinson will be able to continue his speaking to groups across the country, finally freed up from the administrative work of NCARL. And I'll do more of the administrative work - with a little help - and the new title of Executive Director of the First Amendment Foundation.

Best of the new year for you all.

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