Blog of Rights
Matthew
Harwood

Matthew Harwood is a media relations associate at the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office. Previously, Matt was an associate editor at Security Management magazine where he covered homeland security. His work has been published by The American Conservative, Columbia Journalism Review, the Guardian, Reason, Salon, Truthout, and The Washington Monthly. Follow him on Twitter @mharwood31. 

02/15/2013
Targeted Killings

The Softball Question That Wasn’t

By Matthew Harwood, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 3:42pm

It should have been a softball question.

During a Google+ Hangout yesterday, conservative commentator Lee Doren asked President Obama whether he claims the authority to kill a U.S. citizen suspected of being associated with al Qaeda or associated forces on U.S. soil. Notice the question was restricted to only a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil (our concerns are, of course, broader and apply to the White House’s illegitimate claim of authority to kill people it unilaterally deems a threat, even if they are far from any battlefield, abroad).

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02/15/2013
Domestic Drones

Checking Drone Power

By Matthew Harwood, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 10:00am

Yes, law enforcement drones are coming, but if Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, has his way they won’t leave the ground without a judge okaying it first.

Yesterday, Poe introduced the Preserving American Privacy Act to ensure government, particularly law enforcement, use of drones will not violate the Constitution. Before police can launch a drone to search a non-public area, they will have to get a warrant based upon probable cause--the constitutional standard. For public spaces the standard will be reasonable suspicion of criminal activity as well as a reasonable probability that the drone will capture evidence of that criminal activity. Once the order is executed, the police will have 10 days to serve a copy of the warrant to the suspects under surveillance, although the bill allows judges to delay notification if it will jeopardize an ongoing criminal or national security investigation. If government entities violate the public trust and fly drones outside the law, the attorney general can order the Secretary of Transportation to revoke their license.

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01/23/2013
Online Privacy

The Kelleys' Cautionary Tale: Electronic Privacy Matters

By Matthew Harwood, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 3:23pm

When Jill Kelley sought help from the FBI in the fall after receiving harassing e-mails, she had no idea that her trust in law enforcement would ultimately end in a loss of faith.

In November, Kelley and her husband, Scott, woke up to find themselves at the heart of a scandal that would ultimately lead to the resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus because of an extramarital affair with his biographer, Paula Broadwell, and engulf another high-ranking military official, U.S. Marine Gen. John Allen, in allegations of “inappropriate communications” with Mrs. Kelley. (Last night, the Pentagon’s Inspector General cleared Gen. Allen of all wrongdoing).

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02/05/2013
U.S. Torture

Brennan’s Path to Langley Shouldn’t Be Easy

By Matthew Harwood, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 5:41pm

On Thursday, John Brennan, the White House deputy national security advisor for homeland security and counterterrorism, will come before the Senate to interview for one of the most powerful jobs in the world: director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Brennan's nomination is by no means a fait accompli.

Brennan, who served in the top echelons of the CIA during the key early years of the Bush administration, still has many questions he hasn't answered regarding the agency's role in torture, indefinite detention and kidnapping during his time there. And he has at least as many questions to answer about his role running the killing program in the Obama White House.

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05/07/2013
Government Secrecy

President Obama, Don’t Let the CIA Control the Torture Narrative

By Matthew Harwood, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 5:41pm

When former White House counterterrorism advisor John Brennan went before the Senate in early February for his confirmation hearing to lead the CIA, he made a startling admission. After reading the 300-page summary of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's (SSCI) mammoth 6,000-page report on the CIA's post-9/11 detention and interrogation program, Brennan's belief in the life-saving value of the torture program was shaken.

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03/04/2013
Targeted Killings

Hey Congress: Make the Sun Shine on the Targeted Killing Memos For All to See

By Matthew Harwood, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 2:53pm

During his State of the Union Address a few weeks back, President Obama promised:

[I]n the months ahead, I will continue to engage Congress to ensure not only that our targeting, detention and prosecution of terrorists remains consistent with our laws and system of checks and balances, but that our efforts are even more transparent to the American people and to the world.

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01/25/2013
Targeted Killings

Obama’s Playbook: Still Killing Outside the Lines

By Matthew Harwood, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 3:16pm

To hear the Obama administration tell it, through anonymous leaks to the press of course, the United States’ “targeted killing” program will soon be bound by clear and “more stringent” rules before a drone strike gets the green light. This counterterrorism “playbook,” so says the administration, will institutionalize the process for the remote-controlled killing program and keep it within the rule of law.

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01/16/2013
U.S. Torture

Brennan Confirmation Hearing: Time to Focus on Torture and Killing

By Matthew Harwood, Media Relations Associate, ACLU at 9:09am

ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Chris Anders appeared on “UP with Chris Hayes” Sunday morning for a 40-minute, in-depth discussion of President Obama’s nomination of his counterterrorism advisor John Brennan to run the CIA.

Anders argued the Senate needs to determine whether Brennan implemented policies such as torture, secret prisons, and extraordinary rendition during his time at the CIA during the Bush administration before deciding whether to confirm him to such a vital, and secretive, national security post.

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