Blog of Rights
Josh
Bell
03/02/2012
Reckoning With Torture

VIDEO: Doug Liman Talks About Crowdsourced Film Project "Reckoning With Torture"

By Josh Bell, Media Strategist, ACLU at 11:48am

Video submissions from the public are now being taken for director Doug Liman’s new film, Reckoning With Torture: Memos and Testimonies From the “War On Terror.” The movie will combine these clips with filmed stage performances featuring well-known actors, writers, and former military officers.

The project is collaboration between Liman — whose past work includes The Bourne Identity and Fair Game — and the ACLU and PEN American Center. It aims to make people aware of what really happened in the detention centers and why, and to build support for accountability.

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11/30/2011

A Positive Step on Biased Anti-Muslim Counterterrorism Training Materials

By Josh Bell, Media Strategist, ACLU at 10:13am

UPDATE/CORRECTION: ACLU Senior Policy Counsel Mike German has responded to criticism of this post and the ACLU analysis it was based on. The analysis and this post have been changed to remove the citation of an essay that was used as an example of biased training material, which upon review should not have been used to illustrate the broader problem of biased materials.

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11/08/2011
GPS

VIDEO: Justices Take on Warrantless GPS Tracking

By Josh Bell, Media Strategist, ACLU at 10:06am

Today the Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a case that’s likely to affect the privacy rights of anyone who carries a cell phone. The case, U.S. v. Jones, is about whether law enforcement needs a warrant before planting a GPS tracking device on a person’s car. But more and more, the government is monitoring people’s movements by tracking their cell phones.

It doesn’t matter whether your phone is a smartphone or not, or whether you use it to make calls — as long as your phone is turned on, it registers its location with cell phone networks several times a minute — and all U.S. cell phone companies hold on to that data.

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10/27/2011
FBI

The Patriot Act's "John Doe," Unmasked but Still Gagged

By Josh Bell, Media Strategist, ACLU at 9:51am

In 2007, The Washington Post made an exception to its policy against anonymous op-eds and ran a piece by Nicholas Merrill, who at the time was legally barred from identifying himself as having been served with a National Security Letter under the Patriot Act.

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09/22/2011

At U.N., ACLU Urges U.S. to do More to Address Racism in Accordance With International Human Rights Treaties

By Josh Bell, Media Strategist, ACLU at 12:31pm

This afternoon, Chandra Bhatnagar of the ACLU's Human Rights Program will give a statement at the U.N. General Assembly High Level Meeting Commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Durban Declaration. The Durban Declaration is the international community's blueprint for action to fight racism. It was adopted in 2001 at the U.N. World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance held in Durban, South Africa. You can watch a live stream of today's session here.

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07/27/2011
Detention

Newspapers in America's Three Biggest Cities Have Joined Call to Honor Opponents of Torture

By Josh Bell, Media Strategist, ACLU at 4:28pm

Today the Los Angeles Times published a stirring editorial calling on President Obama to honor those in government who resisted the Bush administration's torture policies. Joining The New York Times and the Chicago Sun-Times, the paper spotlighted public servants like:

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05/22/2012
Cell Phones & Smartphones

What Your Cell Phone Company Is Telling the Government About You

By Josh Bell, Media Strategist, ACLU at 4:48pm

It’s time for cell phone companies to be up front with customers about how their personal information – including their location history and who they call and text with – is being collected, stored, and shared with the government. In an op-ed on CNN.com, ACLU attorney Catherine Crump argues that wireless carriers – “who we pay to provide a service, not to keep tabs on us for the government” – must let customers know what is happening with this sensitive information:

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10/07/2011
Targeted Killings

Killing of Al-Awlaki: Even When Trying to Fight Terrorism, the President Must Still Follow the Constitution

By Josh Bell, Media Strategist, ACLU at 4:34pm

The debate over the U.S. government's targeted killing of Anwar Al-Awlaki continued this week. ACLU Deputy Legal Director Jameel Jaffer took on former Bush lawyer (and torture memo writer) John Yoo on Southern California Public Radio’s AirTalk (listen here), and also explored the issue on CBC's The Current (listen here).

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