By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:29pm
Last month I wrote about how Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has been rebuffed in his multi-year effort to get answers to very basic questions about how the government uses the sweeping authorities granted under the FISA Amendments Act (FISA).
Wyden spearheaded two more letters to the National Security Agency (NSA) Director and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). Again, he was denied answers.
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:35pm
How many different ways does Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) have to ask the government the number of Americans it has spied on under its warrantless wiretapping program before he can get a straight answer? So far, it’s at least three and counting.
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:46pm
The ACLU just scored a big win for freedom of speech from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). More than 2 years ago we filed a complaint with the DHS Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (OCRCL) concerning an effort to collect and distribute information about lawful demonstrations. Earlier this month, we received a letter from OCRCL letting us know that they have resolved our complaint, and are adopting our recommendations!
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:34pm
Yesterday, two important news stories demonstrated how new unchecked surveillance programs we've highlighted in our Spyfiles campaign are violating the constitutional rights of innocent Americans.
The first, a New York Timesarticle revealed that from March 2009 to March 2011, the FBI opened an eye-popping 82,325 investigations called "assessments," which agents can open against individuals or groups without any evidence of wrongdoing. Not surprisingly, based on the low threshold for opening these inquiries, only 3,315 uncovered any facts to justify further investigation. No doubt far fewer actually resulted in criminal charges. But all of the information about the 79,000 innocent people investigated during this two-year period can be retained by the FBI forever, despite the fact no one engaged in wrongdoing of any kind.
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 9:19am
Last week, Wired’s Spencer Ackerman reported on a FBI document released through an ACLU document request that the agency uses to train new recruits on best practices for “successful interviews/interrogations with individuals from the M.E. [Middle East].” As Ackerman concludes, the training document “presents much information that has nothing to do with crime and everything to do with constitutionally-protected religious practice and social behavior.”
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 4:19pm
With a week left until three of the most controversial Patriot Act provisions expire, last night, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio) made a back-room deal to reauthorize the Patriot Act for four years, avoiding the protracted debate over the extension that was sure to ensue, given the bipartisan opposition to the provisions. And like clockwork, Sen. Reid and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) introduced a bill, S. 1038, that will extend the provisions until June 1, 2015. The Senate begins its debate on Monday with votes possible that same night.
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:50pm
Later this month, three of the most controversial provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire: Section 215 orders; the roving "John Doe" wiretap provision; and the "lone wolf" provision. Rep. James Sensenbrenner has just introduced H.R. 1800, a bill that would reauthorize roving "John Doe" wiretaps and 215 orders for an incredible six years, and would make the unused "lone wolf" provision permanent! These three provisions are extremely troubling, as they are ripe for abuses such as surveillance of innocent people, and racial and religious profiling.
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 1:17pm
The Department of Justice has just released its annual report on its surveillance activities for 2010 including its use of secret court orders, National Security Letters (NSLs) and electronic and physical surveillance — and boy were they busy. The report disclosed a dramatic increase in surveillance of Americans between 2009 and 2010, and these statistics don’t even include surveillance conducted under the new FISA Amendments Act.
By Robyn Greene, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:58am
In March 2006, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Protective Service (FPS) issued a “Protective Intelligence Bulletin” from the “Intelligence Branch” of its “Threat Management Division.” The bulletin contained a “Civil Activists and Extremists Action Calendar” that identified dozens of peaceful advocacy groups and provided the details for over 70 demonstrations, almost entirely peace, environmental and social justice rallies and marches. With the exception of a single entry referring to a radio host’s call for “militant, pro-White rallies,” there was not a single item suggesting that criminal activity or violence was expected at any of these events.
The Department of Justice has just released its