Today is Data Privacy Day and it is an opportunity to remind everybody that while we enjoy the ever-changing and evolving technologies available to us, from Facebook to medical record sharing, we should always know that our data and our information belongs to us. Any searching or sharing of our information needs our permission.
A year ago, Wisconsin Senator Erpenbach took the lead on authoring a resolution recognizing Data Privacy Day (PDF) in Wisconsin. We now have an official statement about what data privacy means to our state government. In this statement, and in the continued educational work of the ACLU of Wisconsin, privacy rights are more than protection against credit card fraud and identity theft: it is a practice of safety, protection and practices for everybody.
"Privacy rights need to be defended year-round," said ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty. "Today is a great day to recognize how we can protect ourselves against identity theft, encroaching surveillance and data insecurity."
Nationally the ACLU has been in the center of courtrooms, legislative hearings and the media to show what is wrong with public video surveillance, why the Real ID program doesn't secure our identities and should be overturned, and how government surveillance technology is outpacing legal restraints to abuses of power.
Read more about the work that the ACLU is doing nationally to support privacy rights. Aspects of privacy rights that we work on include biological technology privacy (our DNA is our own), consumer privacy (don't spy on what I buy), Internet free speech and privacy (make those Facebook photos private!), medical privacy (sharing electronic records is great for doctors, but shouldn't be searched by non-medics), students rights (with cell phones and their non-directory information), and workers' privacy (from camera surveillance to lack of protection of personal records).
Showing posts with label surveillance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surveillance. Show all posts
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Too Many Cameras on Madison's State Street?
On January 1st, the Wisconsin State Journal published an article on the success of the use of surveillance cameras on State Street in downtown Madison. The ACLU of Wisconsin expressed an initial concern with the cameras, mostly because of the ubiquity of surveillance and the need for continued vigilance on the potential for abuse of surveillance tools. The spread of the use of surveillance cameras downtown was suggested for local business too.
Since then, police say that cameras have greatly helped with fighting crime (no percentage decrease in crime was noted in the article, but a murder that got a lot of press was mentioned to have been solved). We commented on the article in an interview yesterday with WORT FM’s In Our Backyard:
It’s true that surveillance cameras can be excellent tools in identifying perpetrators who break laws. But there are also reports from across the nation (and in the UK where CCTV surveillance is huge) about the abuse and misuse of cameras. If someone used a panable, zoomable surveillance camera to spy without cause or warrant into one of the residential apartments along State St., how would residents know they were being watched? Ideally Madisonians trust police and business owners to do the right thing. But our community needs more assurance that surveillance cameras aren’t at risk for abuse.
And while we are talking about privacy and technology, is anyone else freaked out about the full body scans they are putting in airport security checkpoints? Travelers on the news are being quoted as saying that they would welcome scanners to feel safe on airplanes, but at what point will smart terrorists find a way to get explosives past even this technology? Where will American’s breaking point be where humiliation at the airport is too much to consider giving up privacy as the price of safety?
Since then, police say that cameras have greatly helped with fighting crime (no percentage decrease in crime was noted in the article, but a murder that got a lot of press was mentioned to have been solved). We commented on the article in an interview yesterday with WORT FM’s In Our Backyard:
It’s true that surveillance cameras can be excellent tools in identifying perpetrators who break laws. But there are also reports from across the nation (and in the UK where CCTV surveillance is huge) about the abuse and misuse of cameras. If someone used a panable, zoomable surveillance camera to spy without cause or warrant into one of the residential apartments along State St., how would residents know they were being watched? Ideally Madisonians trust police and business owners to do the right thing. But our community needs more assurance that surveillance cameras aren’t at risk for abuse.
And while we are talking about privacy and technology, is anyone else freaked out about the full body scans they are putting in airport security checkpoints? Travelers on the news are being quoted as saying that they would welcome scanners to feel safe on airplanes, but at what point will smart terrorists find a way to get explosives past even this technology? Where will American’s breaking point be where humiliation at the airport is too much to consider giving up privacy as the price of safety?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Enjoy your Data Privacy Day
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin commends Senator Erpenbach and his fellow cosponsors for their bipartisan leadership to pass a resolution recognizing today as Data Privacy Day.
"Privacy rights need to be defended year-round," said ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty. "Today is a great day to recognize how we can protect ourselves against identity theft, encroaching surveillance and data insecurity."
The ACLU has been in the center of courtrooms, legislative hearings and the media nationwide to show what is wrong with public video surveillance, why the Real ID program doesn't secure our identities and should be overturned, and how government surveillance technology is outpacing legal restraints to abuses of power.
We hope we are heading into a new era of governmental recognition of the right to privacy. Today's resolution is the first step to finding a balance among safety, security, technology and privacy.
"Privacy rights need to be defended year-round," said ACLU of Wisconsin Executive Director Chris Ahmuty. "Today is a great day to recognize how we can protect ourselves against identity theft, encroaching surveillance and data insecurity."
The ACLU has been in the center of courtrooms, legislative hearings and the media nationwide to show what is wrong with public video surveillance, why the Real ID program doesn't secure our identities and should be overturned, and how government surveillance technology is outpacing legal restraints to abuses of power.
We hope we are heading into a new era of governmental recognition of the right to privacy. Today's resolution is the first step to finding a balance among safety, security, technology and privacy.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Downtown Madison on candid camera? More surveillance proposals...
Will bartenders start saying "smile!" instead of "whatcha drinking?"
The discussion continues in downtown Madison, just as it does in communities across the country, about how to keep residents safer. Security cameras are typically brought up as an easy technological solution to safety challenges. But many new ACLU members are joining up because of their concerns about a whole spectrum of increasing surveillance. Examples range from the enormous (telecom's all-too-willingness to hand over sweeping, warrantless access to our phone conversations to the federal government) to the inconspicuous (surveillance cameras aren't just for banks anymore).
Downtown Madison, Inc., an advocacy group that promotes business and urban vitality in the downtown area recently responded to news reports on violence and alcohol-related crime. A part of their plan includes security cameras in area establishments. Businesses can certainly set up their own security cameras, but who is regulating how the cameras and data are used?
Downtown bars and liquor stores are already scanning IDs. One campus area bar is taking pictures of customers when they enter. With the addition of more cameras, patrons need to ask what is happening to their personal ID data, their pictures and videos from surveillance. Is it going to be deleted at the end of an uneventful night or are video clips of dance floors going to end up on a DIY coeds go wild website?
Safety doesn't come from a camera. Both safety and freedom from surveillance only come from responsible actions of patrons and bar owners. Voice your opinion in the article's forum section, in a letter to the editor of the Wisconsin State Journal or the Capitol Times, or to Downtown Madison, Inc.
On a related note, we can also thank the Wisconsin State Senators and Assembly reps who sponsored a joint resolution (PDF) recognizing January 28th as Data Privacy Day. It's nice to have leaders recognize the right to privacy in the face of increasing surveillance, identity theft and data management bungles in both the private and public sectors.
The discussion continues in downtown Madison, just as it does in communities across the country, about how to keep residents safer. Security cameras are typically brought up as an easy technological solution to safety challenges. But many new ACLU members are joining up because of their concerns about a whole spectrum of increasing surveillance. Examples range from the enormous (telecom's all-too-willingness to hand over sweeping, warrantless access to our phone conversations to the federal government) to the inconspicuous (surveillance cameras aren't just for banks anymore).
Downtown Madison, Inc., an advocacy group that promotes business and urban vitality in the downtown area recently responded to news reports on violence and alcohol-related crime. A part of their plan includes security cameras in area establishments. Businesses can certainly set up their own security cameras, but who is regulating how the cameras and data are used?
Downtown bars and liquor stores are already scanning IDs. One campus area bar is taking pictures of customers when they enter. With the addition of more cameras, patrons need to ask what is happening to their personal ID data, their pictures and videos from surveillance. Is it going to be deleted at the end of an uneventful night or are video clips of dance floors going to end up on a DIY coeds go wild website?
Safety doesn't come from a camera. Both safety and freedom from surveillance only come from responsible actions of patrons and bar owners. Voice your opinion in the article's forum section, in a letter to the editor of the Wisconsin State Journal or the Capitol Times, or to Downtown Madison, Inc.
On a related note, we can also thank the Wisconsin State Senators and Assembly reps who sponsored a joint resolution (PDF) recognizing January 28th as Data Privacy Day. It's nice to have leaders recognize the right to privacy in the face of increasing surveillance, identity theft and data management bungles in both the private and public sectors.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
National news - Bush Approved CIA's Torture, Military Oversteps Spying Powers, and More
April 15, 2008
Standing Up for Justice In the Military Commissions Proceedings
No doubt we've been at a critical juncture since September 11. How we respond to the atrocities thrust upon us after that terrible day says everything about who we are as Americans what values we defend, how the world sees us, and how history will remember us.
The manner in which we seek justice against those accused of harming us will determine whether the United States will be seen at home and abroad as a nation of laws. We must decide whether we live the values of justice that make us proud to be Americans, or whether we will forsake those values and continue down a path of arbitrary rules and procedures more befitting those who are our enemies. Because we are a great nation, true to our founders’ vision, we must uphold our core values even in the toughest of times. The right to a speedy trial in a court of law before an objective arbiter; the right to due process; the right to rebut the evidence against you; the right not to be tortured or waterboarded, or convicted on the basis of hearsay evidence are what truly define America and our commitment to the rule of law and our founders' aspirations.
The military commissions set up by the Bush administration for the men imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay including those it suspects were involved in the September 11 attacks are not true American justice. These trials should represent who we are, what America stands for, and our commitment to due process. America does not stand for trials that rely on torture to gain confessions, or on secret evidence that a defendant cannot rebut, or on hearsay evidence.
For these reasons, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have taken on the task of assembling defense teams to be available to assist in the representation of those Guantánamo detainees who have been charged under the Military Commissions Act, subject to the detainees’ consent.
>>Read Anthony's full statement.
>>Learn more about the project.
>>Read the press release.
Bush Admits to Top-Down Torture
In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA's use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, "I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved." Bush also defended the use of waterboarding.
The ACLU is calling on Congress to demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations by the Bush administration of laws including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws.
>>Take Action: Demand that your members of Congress reject torture by holding to account those responsible for approving and implementing these un-American policies.
>>Read more about Bush's admission.
ACLU FOIA Lawsuit Brings Yoo Torture Memo to Light
A secret memo, declassified recently as the result of an ACLU Freedom of Information Act request, asserts President Bush has unlimited power to order brutal interrogations of detainees and also refers to a radical interpretation of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
The memo, authored by John Yoo of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in March 2003, cites a still-secret DOJ memo from 2001 that found that the "Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations."
The October 2001 memo was almost certainly meant to provide a legal basis for the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, which President Bush launched the same month the memo was issued. As a component of the Department of Defense, the NSA is a military agency.
"The recent disclosures underscore the Bush administration's extraordinarily sweeping conception of executive power," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU's National Security Project. "The administration's lawyers believe the president should be permitted to violate statutory law, to violate international treaties, and even to violate the Fourth Amendment inside the U.S. They believe that the president should be above the law."
The Bush administration has never argued publicly that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to military operations within the nation's borders. The released memo publicizes this argument for the first time.
The 2003 memo cites the October 2001 memo but takes its argument even further. Relying on the earlier memo, the March 2003 memo argues that the president has authority as Commander-in-Chief to bypass not only the Fourth Amendment but the central due process guarantee of the Fifth Amendment as well.
>>Learn more about the released memo.
Unredacted Documents Confirm Lack of Oversight of Military's Domestic Surveillance Powers
Newly unredacted documents, released as a result of an ACLU lawsuit, reveal that the Department of Defense (DoD) is using the FBI to circumvent legal limits on its own National Security Letter (NSL) power and may have overstepped its authority to obtain private and sensitive records of people within the United States without court approval.
>>Read the memo.
NSLs are secretly issued by the government to obtain access to personal customer records from Internet Service Providers, financial institutions, and credit reporting agencies. In almost all cases, recipients of the NSLs are forbidden, or "gagged," from disclosing that they have received the letters. While the FBI has broad NSL powers and compliance with FBI-issued NSLs is mandatory, the Defense Department's NSL power is more limited in scope, and, in most cases, compliance with Defense Department demands is not mandatory.
"If the Defense Department is asking the FBI to get information it is not allowed to access on its own, there is a serious problem within both agencies,” said Melissa Goodman, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project.
A newly unredacted copy of the results and recommendations of an internal program review shows that the Navy's use of NSLs to demand domestic records has increased significantly since September 11; and contrary to prior claims by the military, its NSL use is not limited to investigating only DoD employees.
Since last year, DoD has turned over more than 1,000 pages of documents to the ACLU, including nearly 500 NSLs which show that the military may have overstepped its legal authority to obtain financial and credit records, provided misleading information to Congress, and silenced NSL recipients from speaking out about the records requests.
>>Learn more about the NSL abuses.
Don't Let Employers Get Away With Pay Discrimination
Last May, the Supreme Court ruled in Ledbetter v. Goodyear that employees who have suffered years of pay discrimination cannot have their day in court if they don’t discover the discrimination within 180 days of their employer’s initial discriminatory pay decision.
The Ledbetter decision not only reversed years of employment law, it also ignored the realities of a workplace. Often employees don’t know what their co-workers are paid. Further, expecting that they learn that information within the first 180 days of a pay decision is unreasonable. Unless Congress intervenes, companies will be able to discriminate for years and unjustly profit from paying women, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities, as long as it keeps the discrimination secret for a few months.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to correct this problem, and to ensure employers do not profit from years of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability, simply because their employees were unaware of the discrimination for 180 days. The bill clarified this wage discrimination is not a one-time occurrence, but rather, that each discriminatory paycheck an employer issues represents an ongoing violation of the law.
A similar bill, the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S.1843), is now before the U.S. Senate. The time has come for the Senate to correct this wrong and let American workers keep their hard-earned dollars.
>>Take Action: Urge your Senators to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act.
Stand Up for Freedom: June 8 -- 10 in Washington, D.C.
Everyday, the headlines confirm that the government’s abuses of power ignore fundamental Constitutional principles and undermine our vital system of checks and balances, weakening the hallmarks of American democracy. You cannot afford to miss this important opportunity to protect the civil liberties of all Americans.
Stand Up for Freedom and help us stop the abuse of power at the ACLU 2008 Membership Conference, June 8-10 in Washington, D.C.!
At the ACLU Membership Conference you’ll have the opportunity to hear from a variety of experts, from a wide range of backgrounds, each with an exciting and unique perspective on civil liberties. Confirmed speakers for the conference include: Arianna Huffington, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post and nationally syndicated columnist; Judy Gold, an Emmy Award winning actress and comedian; and Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David H. Souter will pay tribute to the ACLU’s president, during a celebratory luncheon entitled, Our Lady Liberty: Celebrating Nadine Strossen.
>>Register or learn more about the conference.
Standing Up for Justice In the Military Commissions Proceedings
No doubt we've been at a critical juncture since September 11. How we respond to the atrocities thrust upon us after that terrible day says everything about who we are as Americans what values we defend, how the world sees us, and how history will remember us.
The manner in which we seek justice against those accused of harming us will determine whether the United States will be seen at home and abroad as a nation of laws. We must decide whether we live the values of justice that make us proud to be Americans, or whether we will forsake those values and continue down a path of arbitrary rules and procedures more befitting those who are our enemies. Because we are a great nation, true to our founders’ vision, we must uphold our core values even in the toughest of times. The right to a speedy trial in a court of law before an objective arbiter; the right to due process; the right to rebut the evidence against you; the right not to be tortured or waterboarded, or convicted on the basis of hearsay evidence are what truly define America and our commitment to the rule of law and our founders' aspirations.
The military commissions set up by the Bush administration for the men imprisoned at Guantánamo Bay including those it suspects were involved in the September 11 attacks are not true American justice. These trials should represent who we are, what America stands for, and our commitment to due process. America does not stand for trials that rely on torture to gain confessions, or on secret evidence that a defendant cannot rebut, or on hearsay evidence.
For these reasons, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers have taken on the task of assembling defense teams to be available to assist in the representation of those Guantánamo detainees who have been charged under the Military Commissions Act, subject to the detainees’ consent.
>>Read Anthony's full statement.
>>Learn more about the project.
>>Read the press release.
Bush Admits to Top-Down Torture
In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA's use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, "I'm aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved." Bush also defended the use of waterboarding.
The ACLU is calling on Congress to demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations by the Bush administration of laws including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws.
>>Take Action: Demand that your members of Congress reject torture by holding to account those responsible for approving and implementing these un-American policies.
>>Read more about Bush's admission.
ACLU FOIA Lawsuit Brings Yoo Torture Memo to Light
A secret memo, declassified recently as the result of an ACLU Freedom of Information Act request, asserts President Bush has unlimited power to order brutal interrogations of detainees and also refers to a radical interpretation of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure.
The memo, authored by John Yoo of the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) in March 2003, cites a still-secret DOJ memo from 2001 that found that the "Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations."
The October 2001 memo was almost certainly meant to provide a legal basis for the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program, which President Bush launched the same month the memo was issued. As a component of the Department of Defense, the NSA is a military agency.
"The recent disclosures underscore the Bush administration's extraordinarily sweeping conception of executive power," said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU's National Security Project. "The administration's lawyers believe the president should be permitted to violate statutory law, to violate international treaties, and even to violate the Fourth Amendment inside the U.S. They believe that the president should be above the law."
The Bush administration has never argued publicly that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to military operations within the nation's borders. The released memo publicizes this argument for the first time.
The 2003 memo cites the October 2001 memo but takes its argument even further. Relying on the earlier memo, the March 2003 memo argues that the president has authority as Commander-in-Chief to bypass not only the Fourth Amendment but the central due process guarantee of the Fifth Amendment as well.
>>Learn more about the released memo.
Unredacted Documents Confirm Lack of Oversight of Military's Domestic Surveillance Powers
Newly unredacted documents, released as a result of an ACLU lawsuit, reveal that the Department of Defense (DoD) is using the FBI to circumvent legal limits on its own National Security Letter (NSL) power and may have overstepped its authority to obtain private and sensitive records of people within the United States without court approval.
>>Read the memo.
NSLs are secretly issued by the government to obtain access to personal customer records from Internet Service Providers, financial institutions, and credit reporting agencies. In almost all cases, recipients of the NSLs are forbidden, or "gagged," from disclosing that they have received the letters. While the FBI has broad NSL powers and compliance with FBI-issued NSLs is mandatory, the Defense Department's NSL power is more limited in scope, and, in most cases, compliance with Defense Department demands is not mandatory.
"If the Defense Department is asking the FBI to get information it is not allowed to access on its own, there is a serious problem within both agencies,” said Melissa Goodman, staff attorney with the ACLU National Security Project.
A newly unredacted copy of the results and recommendations of an internal program review shows that the Navy's use of NSLs to demand domestic records has increased significantly since September 11; and contrary to prior claims by the military, its NSL use is not limited to investigating only DoD employees.
Since last year, DoD has turned over more than 1,000 pages of documents to the ACLU, including nearly 500 NSLs which show that the military may have overstepped its legal authority to obtain financial and credit records, provided misleading information to Congress, and silenced NSL recipients from speaking out about the records requests.
>>Learn more about the NSL abuses.
Don't Let Employers Get Away With Pay Discrimination
Last May, the Supreme Court ruled in Ledbetter v. Goodyear that employees who have suffered years of pay discrimination cannot have their day in court if they don’t discover the discrimination within 180 days of their employer’s initial discriminatory pay decision.
The Ledbetter decision not only reversed years of employment law, it also ignored the realities of a workplace. Often employees don’t know what their co-workers are paid. Further, expecting that they learn that information within the first 180 days of a pay decision is unreasonable. Unless Congress intervenes, companies will be able to discriminate for years and unjustly profit from paying women, minorities, the elderly, and people with disabilities, as long as it keeps the discrimination secret for a few months.
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to correct this problem, and to ensure employers do not profit from years of discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability, simply because their employees were unaware of the discrimination for 180 days. The bill clarified this wage discrimination is not a one-time occurrence, but rather, that each discriminatory paycheck an employer issues represents an ongoing violation of the law.
A similar bill, the Fair Pay Restoration Act (S.1843), is now before the U.S. Senate. The time has come for the Senate to correct this wrong and let American workers keep their hard-earned dollars.
>>Take Action: Urge your Senators to support the Fair Pay Restoration Act.
Stand Up for Freedom: June 8 -- 10 in Washington, D.C.
Everyday, the headlines confirm that the government’s abuses of power ignore fundamental Constitutional principles and undermine our vital system of checks and balances, weakening the hallmarks of American democracy. You cannot afford to miss this important opportunity to protect the civil liberties of all Americans.
Stand Up for Freedom and help us stop the abuse of power at the ACLU 2008 Membership Conference, June 8-10 in Washington, D.C.!
At the ACLU Membership Conference you’ll have the opportunity to hear from a variety of experts, from a wide range of backgrounds, each with an exciting and unique perspective on civil liberties. Confirmed speakers for the conference include: Arianna Huffington, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post and nationally syndicated columnist; Judy Gold, an Emmy Award winning actress and comedian; and Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and David H. Souter will pay tribute to the ACLU’s president, during a celebratory luncheon entitled, Our Lady Liberty: Celebrating Nadine Strossen.
>>Register or learn more about the conference.
Friday, March 7, 2008
Homeless versus parking, red light cameras, pre-Roe laws and more
News roundup for today...
Homelessness
When local attorney and downtown property owner Fred Mohs reconsidered his parking garage contract with a downtown Madison church, the church's homeless shelter program became a bargaining point. The church voted unanimously to give up the parking contract and continue offering shelter. The WSJ article give the background and the A Cap Times article features an active forum debate.
Immigration
The Sheriff's statements about cooperating with ICE in reporting when undocumented immigrants are in custody is being reviewed. The State Journal also featured a page full of letters to the editor on immigration, probably in response to the article on the public hearing last week. One even asks why it is a problem for non-citizens to be denied a fair trial. Due process and equal protection is a Constitutional guarantee for all people in the United State, not just citizens. That's Bill of Rights and human rights basics.
Racial Justice
Assembly approves bill to end the requirement of denying students' the option to transfer schools if the transfer request would create a racial imbalance. The bill would replace race with socioeconomics. But in the history of race and segregation in our country, are socioeconomics enough?
Reproductive Rights
Rep. Jim Ott defends himself from a Planned Parenthood radio attack ad. Planned Parenthood is going after Ott and opponents of the Women's Health and Safety act (AB 749/SB 398) which would repeal the pre-Roe v. Wade criminal abortion statute that is still on the Wisconsin books. Anti-choice activists insist that Planned Parenthood is misrepresenting the pre-Roe law, but you can read the statute and its amendments for yourself. Section 940.04 on page 2 is the original law penalizing women who have an abortion. Page 5 shows statutes that exempt women from the original penalties, but could also be overturned if anti-choice extremists gain even more legislative control.
Surveillance
Surprisingly enough, few readers brought up objections to surveillance in their letters to the editor in response to a column objecting to a proposed Assembly bill that would allow for the installation of "red light cameras" on Wisconsin roads.
Homelessness
When local attorney and downtown property owner Fred Mohs reconsidered his parking garage contract with a downtown Madison church, the church's homeless shelter program became a bargaining point. The church voted unanimously to give up the parking contract and continue offering shelter. The WSJ article give the background and the A Cap Times article features an active forum debate.
Immigration
The Sheriff's statements about cooperating with ICE in reporting when undocumented immigrants are in custody is being reviewed. The State Journal also featured a page full of letters to the editor on immigration, probably in response to the article on the public hearing last week. One even asks why it is a problem for non-citizens to be denied a fair trial. Due process and equal protection is a Constitutional guarantee for all people in the United State, not just citizens. That's Bill of Rights and human rights basics.
Racial Justice
Assembly approves bill to end the requirement of denying students' the option to transfer schools if the transfer request would create a racial imbalance. The bill would replace race with socioeconomics. But in the history of race and segregation in our country, are socioeconomics enough?
Reproductive Rights
Rep. Jim Ott defends himself from a Planned Parenthood radio attack ad. Planned Parenthood is going after Ott and opponents of the Women's Health and Safety act (AB 749/SB 398) which would repeal the pre-Roe v. Wade criminal abortion statute that is still on the Wisconsin books. Anti-choice activists insist that Planned Parenthood is misrepresenting the pre-Roe law, but you can read the statute and its amendments for yourself. Section 940.04 on page 2 is the original law penalizing women who have an abortion. Page 5 shows statutes that exempt women from the original penalties, but could also be overturned if anti-choice extremists gain even more legislative control.
Surveillance
Surprisingly enough, few readers brought up objections to surveillance in their letters to the editor in response to a column objecting to a proposed Assembly bill that would allow for the installation of "red light cameras" on Wisconsin roads.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
ACLU Online update - national news
February 1 , 2008
Congress Must Stand Up to Bush's Protect America Act
Tell Congress: Stand Up to Bush's Scare Tactics!
With the deadline for renewing the FISA-gutting “Protect America Act” looming, President Bush once again resorted to fear-mongering during Monday's State of the Union address when he claimed that the "flow of vital intelligence" would be disrupted without an extension. Congress, in turn, extended the Protect America Act through Friday, February 15.
Is this 15-day extension a victory for civil liberties? If Congress uses the extension wisely, it gives more time to make real changes that protect the rule of law and bring spying in line with the Constitution. It could also be a prelude to another Congressional cave-in, but not if we have anything to say about it.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Senate will be finalizing and voting on its spying bill. The ACLU, its hundreds of thousands of members and millions of Americans who believe in the rule of law and want their privacy protected are calling on the Senate to stand up to President Bush's fear-mongering.
The ACLU will remain unwavering in our demands. Tell the Senate to stand up to President Bush on telecom immunity and reject massive, untargeted surveillance without a warrant.
>> Take action: Tell your senators to oppose any bill with telecom immunity or warrantless spying on Americans.
>> Get the Facts: Debunking Bush's Fear-Mongering
Federal Judge Orders CIA and Defense Department to Produce Torture Documents
As a result of an ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, a federal judge ordered the government to produce documents related to the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas to determine for himself if they should be made public.
“Given the evidence of widespread and systemic abuse of prisoners, it is entirely appropriate for the judge to view these documents for himself instead of taking the government's word for why they should be kept secret," said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU.
The documents the judge will view include:
- Department of Defense documents relating to the deaths of prisoners; allegations of prisoner abuse; and interrogations that deviate from those permitted by the current Army Field Manual;
- A September 17, 2001 CIA Presidential Directive setting up secret CIA detention centers abroad;
- CIA documents gathered by the agency's Inspector General in the course of investigations into unlawful and improper conduct by CIA personnel; and
- Documents discussing the CIA's secret detention and interrogation program.
The judge is still considering the ACLU's motion to hold the CIA in contempt of court for destroying thousands of hours of videotape depicting the abusive interrogations of two detainees in its custody. The ACLU charges that by destroying the tapes, the CIA violated a September 2004 court order requiring the agency to produce or identify records that fell within the scope of its FOIA request.
>> Read more about the ACLU's FOIA request.
ACLU Asks Federal Appeals Court to Lift Ban on Renowned Scholar
The ACLU recently appealed a ruling to challenge the government’s exclusion of Tariq Ramadan, a renowned Swiss scholar, from the U.S. The ACLU believes that the government’s stated reason for barring the scholar is a pretext and that Ramadan, a leading European academic, remains banned from the country because of his political viewpoints.
"The Bush administration has barred Professor Ramadan from the U.S. for more than three years now -- first by alleging without basis that he endorsed terrorism, then saying that it would take years to consider his visa application, and now pointing to charitable donations that were entirely legal at the time they were made,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project.
The government originally revoked Ramadan’s visa in 2004 based on the so-called “ideological exclusion” provision of the Patriot Act, a provision that applies to individuals who have “endorsed or espoused” terrorism, because he made small donations to a Swiss charity that provides aid to the Palestinians. This revocation prevented Ramadan from taking up a tenured teaching post at the University of Notre Dame. The government later abandoned its claim when it could not produce any evidence that Ramadan had endorsed terrorism. On the contrary, Ramadan has been a consistent and vocal critic of terrorism and those who use it.
>> Read more about the Ramadan case, the history of ideological exclusion at: http://www.aclu.org/exclusion
Become a Guardian of Liberty Today—You Can Make the Difference
Every day all across the nation, the ACLU is called on to defend the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Guardians of Liberty are dedicated ACLU members who have made the commitment to support all this critical work with a monthly contribution.
These monthly gifts help the ACLU meet the costs of increased litigation, expanded grassroots mobilization, and widespread public education that are needed for a vigorous and successful defense of liberty.
As a Guardian of Liberty you can help make sure that no challenge to any of these rights goes unanswered. A modest monthly contribution of $25, $20 or even $15 provides the vital support that the ACLU needs.
As a Guardian you will receive special monthly updates on our work, and your membership in the ACLU will automatically renew.
Keep Freedom’s Flame Alive. Become a Guardian of Liberty Today!
ACLU Asks Federal Court to Block Use of Unfair Voting Technology in Ohio
The ACLU filed a motion this week asking federal Judge Kathleen O'Malley of the Northern District of Ohio to prevent the Ohio Secretary of State and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections from using balloting technology that does not give notice to voters of problems with their ballot. The motion follows a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on January 17 challenging the constitutionality of this technology.
"Every voter who goes to the polls must have the opportunity to verify his or her ballot is free from errors," said ACLU Voting Rights Project attorney Meredith Bell-Platts. "The evidence is overwhelming that when voters do not have access to technology that notifies them of ballot errors, many more ballots are left uncounted."
Recently, the Ohio Secretary of State Brunner and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections opted to implement ballots that do not provide notice of problems with votes. Cuyahoga County, which contains Columbus and surrounding areas, is the only county in Ohio whose current process does not allow notice to voters of problems with their ballot.
On January 22, the Ohio Association of Election Officials, a non-partisan organization representing Ohio's elections officials, voted unanimously against the sweeping changes Brunner has proposed, particularly emphasizing that counties should not adopt any voting technology that prevents voters from verifying their ballots are filled out correctly.
>> Read about the case.
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Visit the national website to get these updates sent to your inbox. Become a card-carrying member today!
Congress Must Stand Up to Bush's Protect America Act
Tell Congress: Stand Up to Bush's Scare Tactics!
With the deadline for renewing the FISA-gutting “Protect America Act” looming, President Bush once again resorted to fear-mongering during Monday's State of the Union address when he claimed that the "flow of vital intelligence" would be disrupted without an extension. Congress, in turn, extended the Protect America Act through Friday, February 15.
Is this 15-day extension a victory for civil liberties? If Congress uses the extension wisely, it gives more time to make real changes that protect the rule of law and bring spying in line with the Constitution. It could also be a prelude to another Congressional cave-in, but not if we have anything to say about it.
On Monday and Tuesday, the Senate will be finalizing and voting on its spying bill. The ACLU, its hundreds of thousands of members and millions of Americans who believe in the rule of law and want their privacy protected are calling on the Senate to stand up to President Bush's fear-mongering.
The ACLU will remain unwavering in our demands. Tell the Senate to stand up to President Bush on telecom immunity and reject massive, untargeted surveillance without a warrant.
>> Take action: Tell your senators to oppose any bill with telecom immunity or warrantless spying on Americans.
>> Get the Facts: Debunking Bush's Fear-Mongering
Federal Judge Orders CIA and Defense Department to Produce Torture Documents
As a result of an ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, a federal judge ordered the government to produce documents related to the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas to determine for himself if they should be made public.
“Given the evidence of widespread and systemic abuse of prisoners, it is entirely appropriate for the judge to view these documents for himself instead of taking the government's word for why they should be kept secret," said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, staff attorney with the ACLU.
The documents the judge will view include:
- Department of Defense documents relating to the deaths of prisoners; allegations of prisoner abuse; and interrogations that deviate from those permitted by the current Army Field Manual;
- A September 17, 2001 CIA Presidential Directive setting up secret CIA detention centers abroad;
- CIA documents gathered by the agency's Inspector General in the course of investigations into unlawful and improper conduct by CIA personnel; and
- Documents discussing the CIA's secret detention and interrogation program.
The judge is still considering the ACLU's motion to hold the CIA in contempt of court for destroying thousands of hours of videotape depicting the abusive interrogations of two detainees in its custody. The ACLU charges that by destroying the tapes, the CIA violated a September 2004 court order requiring the agency to produce or identify records that fell within the scope of its FOIA request.
>> Read more about the ACLU's FOIA request.
ACLU Asks Federal Appeals Court to Lift Ban on Renowned Scholar
The ACLU recently appealed a ruling to challenge the government’s exclusion of Tariq Ramadan, a renowned Swiss scholar, from the U.S. The ACLU believes that the government’s stated reason for barring the scholar is a pretext and that Ramadan, a leading European academic, remains banned from the country because of his political viewpoints.
"The Bush administration has barred Professor Ramadan from the U.S. for more than three years now -- first by alleging without basis that he endorsed terrorism, then saying that it would take years to consider his visa application, and now pointing to charitable donations that were entirely legal at the time they were made,” said Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project.
The government originally revoked Ramadan’s visa in 2004 based on the so-called “ideological exclusion” provision of the Patriot Act, a provision that applies to individuals who have “endorsed or espoused” terrorism, because he made small donations to a Swiss charity that provides aid to the Palestinians. This revocation prevented Ramadan from taking up a tenured teaching post at the University of Notre Dame. The government later abandoned its claim when it could not produce any evidence that Ramadan had endorsed terrorism. On the contrary, Ramadan has been a consistent and vocal critic of terrorism and those who use it.
>> Read more about the Ramadan case, the history of ideological exclusion at: http://www.aclu.org/exclusion
Become a Guardian of Liberty Today—You Can Make the Difference
Every day all across the nation, the ACLU is called on to defend the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Guardians of Liberty are dedicated ACLU members who have made the commitment to support all this critical work with a monthly contribution.
These monthly gifts help the ACLU meet the costs of increased litigation, expanded grassroots mobilization, and widespread public education that are needed for a vigorous and successful defense of liberty.
As a Guardian of Liberty you can help make sure that no challenge to any of these rights goes unanswered. A modest monthly contribution of $25, $20 or even $15 provides the vital support that the ACLU needs.
As a Guardian you will receive special monthly updates on our work, and your membership in the ACLU will automatically renew.
Keep Freedom’s Flame Alive. Become a Guardian of Liberty Today!
ACLU Asks Federal Court to Block Use of Unfair Voting Technology in Ohio
The ACLU filed a motion this week asking federal Judge Kathleen O'Malley of the Northern District of Ohio to prevent the Ohio Secretary of State and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections from using balloting technology that does not give notice to voters of problems with their ballot. The motion follows a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on January 17 challenging the constitutionality of this technology.
"Every voter who goes to the polls must have the opportunity to verify his or her ballot is free from errors," said ACLU Voting Rights Project attorney Meredith Bell-Platts. "The evidence is overwhelming that when voters do not have access to technology that notifies them of ballot errors, many more ballots are left uncounted."
Recently, the Ohio Secretary of State Brunner and the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections opted to implement ballots that do not provide notice of problems with votes. Cuyahoga County, which contains Columbus and surrounding areas, is the only county in Ohio whose current process does not allow notice to voters of problems with their ballot.
On January 22, the Ohio Association of Election Officials, a non-partisan organization representing Ohio's elections officials, voted unanimously against the sweeping changes Brunner has proposed, particularly emphasizing that counties should not adopt any voting technology that prevents voters from verifying their ballots are filled out correctly.
>> Read about the case.
Sign up for ACLU Online updates
Visit the national website to get these updates sent to your inbox. Become a card-carrying member today!
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