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Operation TIPS Scaled Back, ACLU Still Critical (08/09/2002)
WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice announced today to reporters that, "given the concerns raised during the program development phase about safeguarding against all possibilities of invasion of individual privacy, ... the [Operation TIPS] hotline number will not be shared with any workers, including postal and utility workers, whose work puts them in contact with homes and private property." The program will still seek to enlist workers involved in the "transportation, trucking, shipping, maritime, and mass transit industries." Interestingly, the department will also distribute to relevant industries information on how to participate, but would leave any training up to the private sector. See the Department of Justice's Operation TIPS fact sheet, released today, for more information. 

In Surreal Development, Bush Administration Routes TIPS Calls to TV Show "America's Most Wanted" (08/06/2002)
WASHINGTON - In a development bordering on what the American Civil Liberties Union called "surreal," the on-line magazine Salon.com today revealed that the Department of Justice is forwarding incoming Operation TIPS calls to the Fox-owned "America's Most Wanted" television series. 

Bush Endorses National ID and New Government Secrecy Measures; ACLU Slams Parts of President's Homeland Security Plan as Shortsighted (07/16/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today strongly criticized provisions in the newly announced Bush Administration homeland security proposal that could lead to forcing a national ID system on the American public and weaken federal and state government openness laws, such as the Freedom of Information Act. 

ACLU Says Bush Administration Should Not Allow Operation TIPS To Become An End Run Around Constitution (07/15/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today questioned the prudence of a proposed Bush Administration initiative that would recruit a million letter carriers, utility workers and others whose jobs allow them access to private residences into a contingent of organized government informants.

ACLU Says Homeland Security Department Long on Secrecy, Short on Needed Accountability (06/25/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today said that the Bush Administration's legislative proposal to create a new cabinet-level Homeland Security Department would establish an agency long on secrecy and short on much needed accountability. The Administration's plan, the ACLU said, represents a threat to the American tradition of open government. 

ACLU Questions Military Detention of U.S. Citizen, Saying President Reneged on Promise (06/10/2002)
NEW YORK -- The American Civil Liberties Union today criticized the government's military detention of a U.S. citizen as an ""enemy combatant,"" saying that the action belies President Bush's earlier assurance that U.S. citizens would not be subject to military jurisdiction.

ACLU Cautions Congress on New Bush Homeland Security Proposal; Says Oversight Needed to Maintain Safety and Liberty (06/07/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged Congress and the Administration to build in structural safeguards to prevent violations of civil liberties by the proposed cabinet-level homeland security agency. 

ACLU Says Rewriting of Domestic Spying Restrictions Gives FBI New Powers Despite Growing Evidence of Analytical Failures (05/30/2002)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today said that Attorney General John Ashcroft's decision to rewrite longstanding restrictions on domestic spying by law enforcement agencies rewards analytical failure with new powers and, by doing so, threatens core civil liberties guaranteed under the Constitution and Bill of Rights. It also demonstrates, the ACLU said, the Attorney General's seemingly insatiable appetite for new powers that will do little to make us safer but will inevitably make us less free. 

ACLU Releases First Definitive Run-Down on Government's "Insatiable Appetite" for New Powers and Resulting Erosion of Liberty (05/28/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today released the first definitive run-down on the panoply of new powers that the government has granted itself since September 11, saying that the bulk of these new powers do little to make us safer, yet substantially erode core civil liberties in America. 

Federal Court to Hear Arguments May 29 in Battle Over Government Secrecy About Sept. 11 Detainees (05/28/2002)
WASHINGTON--A federal judge will hear oral arguments tomorrow in a challenge to the federal government's continued refusal to disclose basic information about those individuals arrested and detained since September 11. 

Virginia ACLU Calls for Return of Items, Unsealing of Affidavits Used for Raids on Muslim Establishments (05/03/2002)
ALEXANDRIA, VA--The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a case being argued today on behalf of three Muslim establishments and ten Muslim families in Northern Virginia whose possessions were taken during raids by government agents in March. 

On Sixth Month Anniversary of USA PATRIOT Enactment, ACLU Joins With Groups Urging Preservation of Free Speech (04/25/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today joined with other concerned groups in marking the six-month anniversary of the USA Patriot Act's enactment and urged law and policy makers to resist further measures that would shrink or suppress free speech and other crucial liberties in America.

ACLU Troubled by Reports that Potentially Secret Military Tribunals Could Place Life or Death of Defendant Solely in Hands of President (03/20/2002)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today said it was deeply troubled by media reports that the military tribunals ordered last year by the President would allow the executive branch sole authority over the imposition of the death penalty and could easily be held in secret. 

State Court Affirms Constitutional Guarantee Against Unreasonable Searches and Seizures (03/07/2002)
WESTFIELD, MA-A Massachusetts state court today rejected the Commonwealth's attempt to create a new "homeland security" exception to the Fourth Amendment guarantee against unreasonable searches and seizures.

ACLU Insists on Need to be Safe and Free (02/06/2002)
WASHINGTON -- When I accepted the position as Executive Director of the ACLU, the nation's premier civil liberties and civil rights organization, I knew the job would be challenging. But never did I imagine that a personal challenge would so quickly become intertwined with so serious a challenge to our nation's liberty and security.  

ACLU Says New Homeland Security Commander Raises Questions; Calls on Pentagon to Keep Military out of Civilian Law Enforcement (02/06/2002)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today called on the government to ensure that the new homeland security commander at the Pentagon not become involved in civilian law enforcement. 

ACLU Calls for Monitoring of USA PATRIOT Act; Says Administration Misinformed Public After September 11 (01/24/2002)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today called upon Congress to establish bodies of government officials and private citizens to monitor implementation of the USA PATRIOT Act and criticized the Administration for providing misinformation to the public in the aftermath of September 11. 

ACLU of Michigan Urges Legislature to Proceed Cautiously On State Anti-Terrorism Act (01/23/2002)
DETROIT--In anticipation of next week's Judiciary Committee agenda in the Michigan Senate, the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan today sent a letter urging legislators to proceed cautiously as they begin the public hearings on the state Anti-Terrorism Act. 

Leaders to Issue Call for Public Dialogue to Protect Civil Liberties (01/17/2002)
Unprecedented Coalition of Elected Officials, Immigrant Advocates, Civil Rights Leaders, and Religious Leaders Plan Rally and Town Hall to Celebrate Dr. King's Legacy

ACLU Submits Recommendations for Military Tribunals; Urges Adherence to Bush Demand for "Full and Fair" Trials (01/16/2002)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the Department of Defense to uphold American ideals - and international standards - of fairness, equal protection under law and due process when it establishes regulations for President Bush's military tribunal order.