American Civil Liberties Union

Summer’s here, folks, and it is scorching hot here in Washington, D.C. But it’s cool in the Washington Convention Center, where we and over 2,000 of our members have gathered for the ACLU 2008 Membership Conference.

Keep in mind that all of the congressional hearing dates and times are subject to change. The Lobby Day, of course, will go on as planned come rain or shine. (And I’m not just saying that: Last year we lobbied in a downpour. Much like the U.S. Postal Service, neither rain, nor snow, or dark of night will stop a civil libertarian.)

Tuesday, June 10

ACLU members and civil libertarians from across the country storm Capitol Hill for the 2008 ACLU Lobby Day!

EEVS

The Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law Subcommittee of House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "Electronic Employment Verification Systems: Needed Safeguards to Protect Privacy and Prevent Misuse." ACLU Senior Legislative Counsel Tim Sparapani will be testifying.

Gangs/Youth Violence

The House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee will hold a hearing titled “Addressing Gangs: What’s Effective? What’s Not?” Professor Charles Ogletree, Executive Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at Harvard will be the lead witness testifying. He will likely focus on the institute’s recent report – “No More Children Left Behind Bars.”Hiring of Ex-Offenders

The Federal Workforce Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee will be holding a hearing on federal employment practices, focusing on policies in hiring ex-offenders.

Torture

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing with Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine to discuss the recent OIG report on FBI involvement in detainee interrogations.

House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Subcommittee on International Organizations and Human Rights — oversight hearing with John Bellinger, Legal Advisor to the Secretary of State.

Wednesday, June 11

Overclassification

Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment of the House Homeland Security Committee with hold a hearing on H.R. 6193, the “Improving Public Access to Documents Act of 2008.” ACLU Washington Legislative Office Director Caroline Fredrickson will be testifying.

Privacy

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will hold a meeting of the Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee to discuss the activities of the DHS Privacy Office.

Thursday, June 12

Drug Policy

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up S. 1211, the Saving Our Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act. There are a number of concerns with this legislation, and the ACLU has reached out to several coalition partners.

Also happening this week:

FISA

A “compromise” FISA bill will be on the Senate floor very soon.

Title X

The Department of Health and Human Services is expected to introduce a “domestic gag rule” regulation, applying to Title X family planning clinics.