Home : Police Practices : Surveillance

Maryland State Police's Heavily Redacted Spy Files on Peaceful Activists Show No Illegal Activity, Broader Time Period (11/19/2008)
BALTIMORE - Disturbed by the heavily redacted documents turned over by the Maryland State Police (MSP), which nonetheless reiterate the total lack of any suspected crimes, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today joined with our clients to demand full disclosure and to expose the dangerous and seemingly haphazard way in which state police spies entered the names and personal information of peaceful activists into their criminal intelligence database as suspected terrorists. More questions are raised than answers provided by the pages of blacked out text and scanty information contained in the documents thus far released by the MSP.

Leaders of Chesapeake Climate Action Network Wrongfully Named As Terrorists, Tracked in Maryland State Police Criminal Database (10/23/2008)
SILVER SPRING, MD – Deeply troubled at learning that leaders of a large environmental advocacy organization in Maryland have received letters from the Maryland State Police (MSP) informing them that they have been named as terrorists in MSP's database, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today joined with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) and the leaders of several other environmental organizations and state legislative leaders dedicated to fighting for the environment in rallying for justice and passage of legislation to ensure such spying never again happens in Maryland.

MD ACLU Calls on Governor to Let Innocent People Erroneously Named as Terrorists to Copy Their Files and Benefit from Counsel (10/09/2008)
BALTIMORE - Alarmed that 53 innocent people who were wrongful targets of Maryland State Police (MSP) spying are getting letters this week from the MSP saying that they have been mistakenly listed as terrorists in a government database but that they cannot make copies of their files or bring their lawyer with them to review their files, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today is urging Governor Martin O'Malley to reverse this wrong-headed and unlawful policy. The law entitles individuals to a copy of their files and to have a lawyer accompany them to review the files.

ACLU of Maryland Filing Public Information Requests on Behalf of Wide Range of Advocacy Groups from Across Maryland (09/30/2008)
BALTIMORE - Pursuing the full story about covert spying on peaceful political groups by the Maryland State Police (MSP), the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today is filing additional Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) requests on behalf of 32 advocacy groups and more than 250 individuals associated with those groups from across the state and political spectrum. The MPIA requests are being filed with the MSP, the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Office, and every local police department in places where demonstrations were held by the groups.

ACLU of Maryland Lawsuit Uncovers Maryland State Police Spying Against Peace and Anti-Death Penalty Groups (07/17/2008)
BALTIMORE – The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today made public what it called "shocking" documents obtained through a Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) lawsuit, revealing that the Maryland State Police (MSP) engaged in covert surveillance of local peace and anti-death penalty groups for over a year from 2005-2006. The organization expressed alarm at the incomprehensible spying revealed in 43 pages of summaries and computer logs, none of which refer to criminal or even potentially criminal acts, other than a few isolated references to plans for completely nonviolent civil disobedience.

Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society (01/15/2003)

Big Brother in the Wires: Wiretapping in the Digital Age (03/01/1998)

Testimony of National Capital Area Executive Director Johnny Barnes on DC Surveillance Cameras Before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on the District of Columbia (03/22/2002)

Coalition Letter to President Bush Urging Opposition to a Backdoor National ID System (02/11/2002)

Coalition Letter to Secretary Mineta Urging Opposition to a Backdoor National ID System (02/11/2002)

Testimony of ACLU President Nadine Strossen on National Security and the Constitution (01/24/2002)

Testimony of ACLU President Nadine Strossen on Department of Justice Oversight Before the Senate Judiciary Committee (12/04/2001)

April 5th, 2004, DOJ OLC Opinion Condoning Controversial FBI Surveillance Tactics (08/16/2004)
The Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel issued this previously undisclosed memorandum in support of the FBI's controversial surveillance of peaceful protesters. The memo was issued in response to an internal complaint by a government employee.

Privacy in America: Computers, Phones and Privacy (12/31/1997)