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Mukasey Nomination Heads to Senate Floor Without Torture, Spying
Assurances
Senate Must Not Let Phone Companies Off the Hook
Government Intervenes in Jeppesen Rendition Case
Real ID Gasps for Air, DHS Still Gunning for National ID
"Creation Science" Earmark Removed from Appropriations
Bill
California Man Sues for Conscientious Objector Status
ACLU Efforts Lead to Better Treatment for HIV-Positive Prisoners
in Alabama
Planning for the Future Can Make an Impact Today
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THE ACLU!
Your involvement is the life-blood of our organization, and makes
possible all that we do to defend our most basic liberties.
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California
Man Sues for Conscientious Objector Status
The ACLU of Southern California has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of
a 26-year-old Army specialist being kept in the Army against his
Buddhist-Taoist beliefs. The suit seeks to have the man, who enlisted
only after being promised that military duties would not conflict with
his religious beliefs, discharged as a conscientious objector.
Calvin Lee joined the Army in 2004 after a zealous recruiter approached
him at a civilian job fair. Though he had learned English from brief
stays in America and at school in Southeast Asia, he was unfamiliar with
the tactics of military recruiters. When the recruiter told him his job
would be repairing trucks and that he would never have to leave Fort
Irwin or go to war, Lee believed him and signed the three year contract.
Lee began to realize he was being trained to kill along with his training
as a mechanic. Even the trucks he repaired were helping to kill. He
became uneasy but continued to work, turning down promotions in rank and
salary as he felt his faith required.
By Nov. 2006, his personal turmoil was so great he applied to live as a
monk at the end of his Army service in Sept. 2007. In Dec. 2006, he was
told that his term of service in the Army was being extended and his unit
would be deployed to Iraq in the summer of 2007. Lee applied for
conscientious objector status.
The officers, the chaplain and a mental health specialist who interviewed
Lee as part of the Army's evaluation process all recommended that he be
released as a conscientious objector, yet the Department of the Army
rejected his application without explanation. The ACLU is appealing that
decision.
Federal law and Army regulations require discharge from military service
of individuals who, after their service begins, show that they have
become conscientiously opposed to war in any form, that their opposition
is founded on religious training and belief, and that their position is
sincere and deeply held.
>> Read more here.
ACLU Efforts Lead to Better Treatment for
HIV-Positive Prisoners in Alabama
After years of advocacy by the American Civil Liberties Union, AIDS
Alabama and state legislators, the Alabama Department of Corrections
(ADOC) has agreed to give HIV-positive prisoners greater access to
visitation, educational programs, substance abuse treatment programs, and
religious services. Until now, HIV-positive prisoners have been denied
these programs and services offered to the general population of inmates.
"Alabama's HIV segregation policy has for many years been a shameful
remnant of an earlier time, and Commissioner Allen's wise decision to
modify this degrading policy will bring about far-reaching benefits for
all Alabamans," said Margaret Winter, Associate Director of the ACLU
National Prison Project. "Many more improvements need to be made,
but this is an important first step."
Alabama remains the only state in the union to segregate HIV-positive
prisoners and exclude them from some prison programs. "For decades,
HIV-positive prisoners in Alabama have served longer and harsher
sentences solely due to their HIV status; they have been denied the
opportunity to improve themselves; they have been locked down and away
from everyone else in the prison for 23 or 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year; and they have been denied basic human rights. These policies cannot
be justified by public health or corrections concerns," said Olivia
Turner, Executive Director of the ACLU of Alabama.
Although the ADOC has agreed to integrate HIV-positive inmates into
several necessary programs, it continues to deny them access to work release
services. The ACLU plans to meet with Commissioner Richard F. Allen of
the ADOC this week to urge an end to this and other discriminatory
policies.
>> Read more about the ACLU’s efforts and Prison
Reform here.
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November 06, 2007
Mukasey Nomination Heads to Senate Floor Without Torture, Spying
Assurances
This morning, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to send Michael
Mukasey’s nomination for attorney general to the full Senate for
consideration.
Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee who decided to advance
Mukasey’s nomination without getting real answers on the issue of torture
-- and the broader issue of executive authority -- missed a real
opportunity to make progress on ending torture and reining in a
president who believes he is above the law. Now, every senator has a
responsibility to act.
The Senate cannot "advise and consent" on the nomination of
Michael Mukasey for attorney general until the public knows where he
stands on whether acts like waterboarding (simulated drowning) are
illegal under existing law. Our position, and the position of
practically anyone who has read existing anti-torture laws, is that waterboarding
is already illegal under current law and in fact, is criminal. Congress
has enacted at least four statutes that ban waterboarding and ratified
two treaties that ban the practice.
Mukasey has evaded straight answers on eavesdropping as well. Under his
theory, any restrictions on unfettered spying that Congress passes may be
meaningless, since Mukasey believes the president has the power to engage
in domestic wiretapping without a warrant and outside the law.
Mukasey's answers to these questions reveal a more fundamental and
troubling problem in his views on the scope of executive power. If an
attorney general, whose mission is to enforce the law, believes the
president has the power to disregard the law, our constitutional balance
of powers is in peril.
>> Take Action: Tell Your senators
Mukasey must commit to enforcing torture and spying laws.
>> Read the the ACLU letter to Senate Judiciary
leadership.
Senate Must Not Let Phone Companies Off the Hook
As the Senate Judiciary Committee met last week to hear testimony
on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act, the
ACLU once again voiced its opposition to proposed legislation which
allows the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence the
power to authorize surveillance on Americans' communications without any
real review by Congress or the courts. The Senate's "FISA Amendments
Act" also includes a provision that would grant telecommunications
companies immunity for their role in the Bush administration's domestic
spying program.
"Congress is poised to legalize warrantless surveillance, and
let the telecommunications companies off the hook to boot," said
Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.
There are increased and vocal objections to any FISA bill that
lets lawbreakers off the hook. Last week, the ACLU along with several
other organizations delivered over 250,000 petitions to Senate and House
offices, opposing FISA reforms that let telecommunications companies off
the hook or include basket "warrants." Basket
"warrants" aren't really warrants at all, and aren't
constitutional.
One outspoken leader, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) has promised to
filibuster any bill that grants immunity to telephone companies.
Since Dodd's announcement, a growing coalition of senators has
vowed to stand up and block this legislation. Senators who have pledged
to stand against immunity for phone companies so far are: Senator Joseph
Biden (D-CT), Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT),
Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and
Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).
"Between lobbying for telecom immunity, minimizing the
involvement of the FISA court and invoking the state secrets privilege
whenever challenged, the administration will effectively cut out any
oversight of its domestic eavesdropping," said Caroline Fredrickson,
Director of the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office. "This program
was exposed nearly two years ago and roundly criticized. Now Congress is
poised to legalize warrantless surveillance, and let the
telecommunications companies off the hook to boot. Americans won't stand
for cutting deals for criminals."
>> Take action: Demand that your senators support the FISA
filibuster.
>> Learn more about the ACLU's FISA Flood.
Government Intervenes in Jeppesen Rendition Case
Claiming "state secrets" are at stake, the U.S. government
requested the dismissal of a federal lawsuit filed by the ACLU against
Boeing Company subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for its participation
in the CIA’s unlawful "extraordinary rendition" program.
The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of five rendition victims who were
kidnapped by the CIA and secretly transferred to U.S.-run secret overseas
prisons or to the custody of foreign intelligence agencies where they
were subjected to torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment. The lawsuit charges that Jeppesen knowingly provided direct
logistical support for the flights that the CIA used for the clandestine
rendition flights.
With increasing regularity, the Bush Administration has invoked the
‘state secrets’ defense as a means of dismissing entire cases seeking accountability
for illegal practices and policies it has implemented in the name of
national security.
"Five men have been brutally abused under the 'extraordinary
rendition' program with the help of a U.S. corporation," said Steven
Watt, staff attorney with the ACLU’s Human Rights Program and an attorney
on the case. "These victims deserve their day in court. And Jeppesen
must be held accountable for the instrumental role the company played in
their suffering."
>> Read about the ACLU’s lawsuit against Jeppesen as
well as its other work in the fight against rendition at: http://www.aclu.org/rendition
Real ID Gasps for Air, DHS Still Gunning for
National ID
The Department of Homeland Security claims Real ID -- the government’s
attempt at a National ID card -- is as strong as ever, but the word in
Washington is that the program is on life support.
DHS Assistant Secretary Richard Barth said airline passengers would not
be required to show their Real IDs at the gate and the strict national
driver’s license standards would be loosened, state officials who
participated in calls with the agency told the ACLU. States will also
have more time to comply with DHS regulations, which will be delayed
again after months of extended deadlines. In addition, the Washington
Post has reported that some compliance deadlines will be extended a
decade -- until 2018 -- as DHS tries desperately to reduce states’
opposition.
Real ID may be hanging on for its life, but that doesn’t mean DHS has
stopped fighting to save the national ID program. Watering down the
program doesn’t negate the threat it poses to Americans’ privacy or its
exorbitant cost.
Real ID will still store Americans’ most personal information on
machine-readable card technology, and that information will be kept in a
vast national database available to all levels of law enforcement. Its
cost is estimated to be at least $14.6 billion, most of which will be
passed along to state governments that are already strapped for cash. Seven
states have outright rejected the program, and 10 others have passed
resolutions against it.
However, last week New York Governor Elliot Spitzer, suffering from
stinging political attacks over his effort to give undocumented
immigrants drivers’ licenses, reversed course and endorsed Real ID.
"DHS is engaged in a bait and switch," said Chris Calabrese,
counsel for the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Program. "They plan on
watering down the regulations to encourage states to abandon their
resistance. But the fact is that Real ID is very detailed and costly. Eventually
its requirements will have to be met. Real ID is a broken law that needs
to be repealed."
>> Learn more at http://www.realnightmare.org/
>> Take Action: Tell Your members of Congress to support
efforts to repeal Real ID.
"Creation Science" Earmark Removed
from Appropriations Bill
The
ACLU applauded last month when Senator David Vitter (R-LA) withdrew an
unconstitutional earmark that would have funded the teaching of
creationism in public school science classes.
Senator Vitter had proposed appropriating $100,000 of federal funding for
the Louisiana Family Forum (LFF) "to develop a plan to promote
better science education." The LFF’s stated mission is to
"persuasively present biblical principles in centers of
influence." United States federal courts, as well as the Supreme
Court, have ruled that no variation of creationism can be taught in our
public schools, stating that the "preservation and transmission of
religious beliefs and worship is a responsibility and a choice committed
to the private sphere."
"As soon as religion begins to intrude into our government and the publicly
funded arena, the ideals and principles of both become compromised,"
said ACLU Senior Lobbyist Terri Schroeder. "For the federal
government to allow such funding to take place would have not only been
unconstitutional, but also a waste of tax payer money and a degradation
of our school curriculum."
>> Learn more about the ACLU’s Program on Freedom of
Religion and Belief.
Planning for the Future Can Make an Impact Today
A bequest to the ACLU leaves a legacy for future generations,
helps fund new initiatives and prepares the ACLU to fight future
challenges to our rights and personal freedoms.
Here's what you may not know: bequests planned for the future make a real
impact on our mission today.
For example, building on the tremendous success of the first Legacy
Challenge, the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust has recently renewed its
challenge to all ACLU supporters.
What is the LEGACY CHALLENGE?
If you name the ACLU to receive a bequest through your will or living
trust, our generous donor, the Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust, will
make a cash donation today equal to 10% of your future gift’s value, up
to a maximum match of $10,000.
How does it work?
1.
Complete your
bequest provision for the ACLU in your will or trust.
2.
Tell us about it.
3.
A cash donation up
to $10,000 (equal to10% of your future gift’s value) will be made by the
Robert W. Wilson Charitable Trust.
It's that simple
Call our Gift Planning Officers, toll-free, at 877-867-1025 or if you
prefer, email us at legacy@aclu.org or visit http://www.legacy.aclu.org/. We will personally assist you with all the
information you need to choose the gift that is right for you.
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