Dear Troublemakers,

You love your technology, but did you know that it's fair game for government snooping, even without a warrant? That means your emails, documents you keep in the “cloud”, pictures on your mobile phone, even your phone’s GPS data... and that's a whole lot of information available to the police and FBI simply for the asking. And Facebook? It is unclear what access the government has to that wealth of information.

Join the call to get Congress to reform ECPA by signing the petition here.

In the October Newsletter:

FBI
Secret New Rules for FBI
FBI Has More to Fix
ACTIVISTS
More than Just Money
Midwest Activists: One Year Later
First Occupy Wall Street Lawsuit Filed
First Occupy Wall Street Agent Provacatuer Exposed
THE WAR ON TERROR
Senator Leahy Questions Material Support Law
Obama’s Secret Death Panel
UPDATES
More NYPD
And even more NYPD
Civil Liberties Term of the Month
Manufactured Crimes

FBI
Secret New Rules for FBI
Defending Dissent Foundation, the Brennan Center and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee renewed their call for Congressional hearings on the way the FBI collects intelligence about law-abiding Americans. The three organizations were joined by 14 other civil liberties and civil rights groups, including the Center for Constitutional Rights and the ACLU. The call was prompted by proposed changes to the FBI Domestic Intelligence Operations Guide (DIOG), set to go into effect in mid-October.

The DIOG remains secret, and advocates and Congressional staff have only been briefed on the changes. We understand that agents will be permitted to conduct investigative activity without maintaining records, to rifle through household trash for material with which to pressure individuals into becoming government informants, and to infiltrate political groups and religious congregations pursuing core First Amendment protected activity without sufficient limiting guidelines or independent oversight to prevent abuse. Such changes would go well beyond the permissive rules established by the 2008 Attorney General Guidelines, raising questions about their legitimacy and underscoring the need for exacting scrutiny by Congress.

FBI Has More to Fix
DDF and over 25 other civil rights and civil liberties groups sent a letter to FBI Director Mueller applauding his decision to review FBI training materials after revelations of outrageously biased trainings, but urged a full review of FBI intelligence materials that espouse inaccurate and biased theories about Islam and Muslims. The letter (read it on our website), specifically cited a FBI Intelligence Assessment, “The Radicalization Process: From Conversion to Jihad,” which was published in May 2006 but restricted from public distribution until it was leaked on the internet sometime later. The document identifies four steps in a ‘radicalization cycle’ in which religious converts purportedly become “Homegrown Islamic extremists.” According to this analysis, “indicators” of a convert’s extremism include wearing traditional Muslim attire, growing facial hair, frequent attendance at a mosque or a prayer group or increased activity in a pro-Muslim social group or political cause.

ACTIVISTS
More than Just Money
During protests outside the 2008 Republican National Convention in St. Paul, police arrested dozens of journalists, including Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now! news hour and two of the show’s producers. With the help of the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Democracy Now! team has won a $100,000 settlement from the St. Paul and Minneapolis police departments, and the Secret Service. Perhaps even more important than the six-figure settlement, is the inclusion of an agreement by the St. Paul police department to implement a training program aimed at educating officers regarding the First Amendment rights of the press and public with respect to police operations, including proper procedures for dealing with members of the press covering demonstrations.

Amy Goodman said, “… this largest settlement to come out of the 2008 RNC arrests should be a warning to police departments around the country to stop arresting and intimidating journalists. We see the financial settlement and the requirement that the police departments receive First Amendment training on the rights of the press as a major step forward.”

The key deterrent against future repression might be the training for the police departments, because an insurance policy paid for by the convention host committee will cover the costs of this and other settlements and awards (up to $10 million), as well as all legal fees. Since litigation after the 2004 convention in New York cost the city $8 million, we expect that future convention cities will also get insurance coverage – meaning police misconduct won’t cost them a dime.

Midwest Activists: One Year Later
It has been over a year since the homes of 20 activists were raided, and many were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury. Since then, no one has submitted to the grand jury and no one has been charged with any crime. But property taken during the raids has not been returned, so attorneys for two of the activists have filed a motion for return of their property seized a year ago, noting that no criminal charges have been filed against the Petitioners or any other persons in the case.

First Occupy Wall Street Lawsuit Filed
Over 700 protesters were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge during an Occupy Wall Street march on Oct. 1. It took only three days for protesters to file a lawsuit against the city claiming they were led off the sidewalks and into the street by the police, who then would not let them off the bridge. The suit names Mayor Bloomberg and police commissioner Ray Kelly, and seeks unspecified damages.

Police in New York have also used excessive force, including using pepper spray on cornered protesters and hitting protesters with batons. Reports from other Occupy Wall Street protests around the country indicate that police in other cities are behaving better (thus far).

First Occupy Wall Street Agent Provocateur Exposed
An exhibit on drones at the Air and Space Museum drew protesters away from Freedom Plaza in Washington DC to the front of the museum.  Some tried to enter the museum but were told they couldn't come in with their.  One person rushed past the guard, and guards started to pepper spray the protesters.  It turns out the person who rushed into the museum is Patrick Howley, and editor at American Spectator who bragged about his infiltration and disruption in a blog post.  See the story here.

THE WAR ON TERROR
Senator Leahy Questions Material Support Law
The crisis in Somalia moved Senator Leahy (D-VT) to call for reforms to the Material Support law because it “imposes unintended constraints on legitimate humanitarian assistance” in places like Somalia, and undermines diplomacy and peace building efforts around the world”. He has asked the Attorney General to issue guidelines that “remove the uncertainty over the scope of the material support law” and establish a process by which humanitarian groups may seek exemptions.

Unfortunately, the Senator is ignoring how the broad scope of the material support laws constrains legitimate political advocacy right here at home. DDF and our allies have been seeking champions in Congress to revise the law, thus far without success. In addition, we are calling on the Attorney General to issue guidelines to clarify the law, in such a way that fully protects solidarity and peace activists.

Obama’s Secret Death Panel
The White House won’t discuss the U.S. role in the killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki by a drone attack, although it is clear the U.S. was involved. The Administration is also refusing to release the secret memo outlining the legal basis for the murder of Anwar Al-Awlaki, but according to anonymous sources in different newspapers, the memo relies on the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, passed by Congress immediately after 9/11, and asserts that assassination is legal if there is no way to capture him alive.

The lawyers who wrote the memo relied on Intelligence Agency claims that Awlaki participated in the war between Al Queda and the U.S. and was a serious threat to Americans. Those claims were never independently verified, and we still do not know exactly what Awlaki did that condemned him to death. Although he was a U.S. citizen, he was never charged with a crime or brought to trial. Awlaki was a ‘radical cleric’ best known for his charisma and ability to use the internet to ‘radicalize’ Muslims and, it is claimed, inspire violence. While he has been “linked” to some high-profile attacks, the extent of his involvement has never been proven. Did the Obama Administration kill a U.S. citizen because of activities that are arguably protected by the First Amendment, or because he played an operational role in one or more terrorist attacks? Will we ever know?

UPDATES
More NYPD
Last month we reported that the NYPD had developed a program targeting Muslims, Muslim neighborhoods and mosques. Now we can add Muslim student groups. Police infiltrated or monitored Muslim Student Associations at seven colleges in New York City, and Suffolk County Police (on Long Island) sent an undercover cop to monitor a group at the State University at Stony Brook. The Faculty Council at Brooklyn College – one of those targeted – condemned the spying, stating “[the] Faculty Council opposes surveillance activities by the NYPD and affiliated agencies on our campus either directly or through the use of informants for the purposes of collecting information independent of a valid and specific criminal investigation,” going on to call on the College Administration to issue a public statement opposing the spying “based on the principle of academic freedom and a robust defense of civil liberties.”

And even more NYPD
As we mentioned last month, the scandal involving the New York Police Department collusion with the CIA which resulted in extensive profiling and targeting of law-abiding people in and around New York may have violated the Handshu order, a 1985 court ruling which prohibited NYPD from engaging in intelligence gathering without a criminal predicate. Lawyers in the original lawsuit are asking the judge to allow them to collect information to see if the program violated the modified Handshu agreement. They are also asking the judge to order the NYPD to preserve all records and databases relating to the program.

Civil Liberties Term of the Month
Manufactured Crime: When law enforcement agents instigate a plot, recruit participants, supply necessary equipment -- essentially creating a criminal plot that would not have existed but for law enforcement.  Similar to entrapment.  The most recent example is that of Rezwan Ferdaus., a young college graduate who is charged with a plot to use model airplanes loaded with explosives to target the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol.  Read more about the plot:

 

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