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The ACLU’s Views On Atlanta Man’s Quarantine Case (05/30/2007)
Statement of Barry Steinhardt Director, ACLU Technology and Liberty Project

ACLU Welcomes Guantanamo Closure Bill (05/23/2007)
WASHINGTON - The ACLU today welcomed Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) introduction of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Closure Act of 2007, a bill that would close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The bill cuts off funds for everything except sending charged or sentenced detainees to Fort Leavenworth and transferring the remaining detainees to their home countries or other countries that will not torture or abuse them. The bill would effectively end the practice of indefinite detention without charge or due process for detainees who have been held for as long as five years without charge and without knowing the reason for their detention. It will also provide an incentive for the government to finally charge those detainees the government believes are guilty of crimes against the United States.

ACLU Demands Disclosure of Legal Documents on NSA Wiretapping, Cautions Senate Committee Against Telecom Inoculation for Domestic Spying (05/16/2007)
Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged that Congress subpoena all of the Justice Department documents relating to the NSA warrantless wiretapping program and the new FISA court-approved program in light of the testimony yesterday that Deputy Attorney General James Comey made at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

ACLU Victory in House Intelligence Authorization, House Affirms No Domestic Eavesdropping Without Warrant (05/11/2007)
WASHINGTON, DC -The American Civil Liberties Union today cheered an amendment to the House Intelligence Reauthorization Bill that would prevent illegal domestic wiretapping by the government. The amendment, by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), will reaffirm the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as the only legal means of collecting electronic intelligence surveillance. The amendment was passed late last night by a vote of 245-178.

ACLU Warns Congress Against Broadening FISA Power (05/01/2007)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union called today’s FISA hearing held by the Senate Select Intelligence Committee a setback to the rule of law. The committee met to discuss and hear testimony from administration officials about proposed “modernization” to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act submitted by Department of Justice and intelligence community officials.

TALON’s End Doesn’t Stop Pentagon From Spying on Americans (04/25/2007)
WASHINGTON, DC - The ACLU applauds Pentagon intelligence chief James Clapper’s decision yesterday to halt the Defense Department’s TALON spying program, but believes that Congress must exercise oversight and hold hearings to determine the extent of this and similar programs.

Librarian Who Challenged NSLs Urges Congress to Fix Patriot Act (04/11/2007)
WASHINGTON - George Christian, Executive Director of Library Connection and a client in the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Letter challenge case, today urged the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution to fix the Patriot Act provision.

Congress Begins Oversight Hearings on FBI NSL Abuses; ACLU Urges Lawmakers to Demand Truth, Fix Patriot Act (03/20/2007)
WASHINGTON - As the House Judiciary Committee convened an oversight hearing today on the Justice Department Inspector General’s audit that found the FBI has abused and misused its National Security Letter authority, the American Civil Liberties Union urged lawmakers to demand truth and accountability from the administration. The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to hold a similar hearing on Wednesday.

ACLU Calls for Repeal of Expanded Patriot Act Powers in Response to Government Report on Abuses, Says Attorney General and FBI Are Part of the Problem and Can’t Be Trusted to Curb Abuses of Power (03/09/2007)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today called on Congress to repeal a provision of the Patriot Act granting the FBI expanded powers to demand sensitive personal information without judicial supervision through the use of so-called National Security Letters.

DHS Acknowledges That Terror Ranking Program Is Already in Effect, ACLU Says Program Violates Congressional Spending Ban and Public Notice Requirements (12/07/2006)
WASHINGTON - In a notice scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security acknowledges that its controversial Automated Targeting System terror-ranking program is already in operation - despite a congressional ban on such ranking systems and despite the fact that Congress and the public were never properly notified. In response, the American Civil Liberties Union today called on Congress to put a halt to this program and look into why it was created without public notice.

ACLU's Top Lobbyist Urges Privacy Board To Act to Protect Civil Liberties (12/05/2006)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union’s top lobbyist, Caroline Fredrickson, appeared today at the first public hearing of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to urge the board to conduct aggressive investigation and oversight over the administration’s dismantling of the civil liberties of all Americans.

ACLU Calls on DHS to Withdraw Plan For Tagging Americans With 40-Year “Risk Assessments” (12/01/2006)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today condemned an unprecedented new program for generating terrorist ratings on tens of millions of travelers, including American citizens, maintaining those ratings for 40 years, and making them available throughout the government.

Nationwide, Voters Stand Up for Civil Liberties and Freedom (11/08/2006)
WASHINGTON - Yesterday voters nationwide rejected candidates who failed to uphold civil liberties and rejected ballot initiatives that undermine fundamental freedoms of all Americans.

Voters Seek Stronger Role for Congress in Checking President's Actions, Poll Shows (10/10/2006)
NEW YORK- Voters in four key states want to see Congress take a stronger role in providing checks and balances to the President's actions in fighting terrorism, and voice a strong preference for House and Senate candidates who will oppose the President's policies on the treatment of Guantánamo detainees, the use of torture and extraordinary rendition of detainees as well as secret searches of the private records of Americans.

ACLU Decries Government Crackdown on Whistleblowers, Calls Transparency Vital to American Democracy (07/28/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today strongly objected to the government’s attempts to crack down on brave whistleblowers who come forward to report on illegal or unconstitutional activity in government agencies. On Wednesday, Russell Tice, a whistleblower and former National Security Agency intelligence analyst was served with a federal grand jury subpoena to “testify and answer questions concerning possible violations of federal criminal law.”

ACLU Denounces Supreme Court Ruling in Whistleblower Case (05/30/2006)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union criticized a ruling by the Supreme Court today that First Amendment protections do not apply to public employees who report government misconduct. The ACLU said the ruling seriously undermines the rights of whistleblowers who risk their careers to protect the public interest.

Librarians Speak Out for First Time After Being Gagged by Patriot Act (05/30/2006)
NEW YORK -- Four Connecticut librarians who were gagged by the FBI spoke publicly for the first time today at an American Civil Liberties Union news conference about their months-long battle against Patriot Act demands for patrons' library records.

ACLU Disappointed By Committee Vote of Support for General Hayden, Says Nominee Failed to Respect Rule of Law (05/23/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed its alarm over the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence vote to confirm General Michael V. Hayden as the next Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The committee voted 12 to 3 to name the former Director of the National Security Agency to the highest position at the CIA.

ACLU Leaders Meet with White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Board, Call for Board to Exercise Strong, Independent Role (04/27/2006)
WASHINGTON - Key leaders from the American Civil Liberties Union today met with the White House Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board in order to encourage that panel to conduct aggressive investigation and oversight over several matters of pivotal importance to the civil liberties of all Americans.

With Patriot Act Debate Over, Government Drops Fight to Gag Librarians From Discussing Objections to Controversial Law (04/12/2006)
NEW YORK – Less than six weeks after the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, the government has given up its legal battle over a gag order on Connecticut librarians affected by a controversial provision of the law, which will allow them to speak publicly for the first time about their objections to secret FBI demands for patrons’ library and e-mail records, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today.