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ACLU Asks Appeals Court To Affirm Decision Striking Down Patriot Act's "National Security Letter" Provision (08/27/2008)
NEW YORK – In oral arguments today, the American Civil Liberties Union urged a federal appeals court to uphold a decision striking down the national security letter (NSL) provision of the Patriot Act. This provision gives the FBI the authority to issue letters demanding private information about people within the United States, and to place the recipients of the letters under indefinite gag orders. Recent reports issued by the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have revealed the FBI's widespread, systemic abuse of its NSL power.

Guantánamo Military Lawyers Request Extension In 9/11 Cases To Prepare Adequate Defense (08/25/2008)
Guantánamo Bay – Military defense lawyers representing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other detainees charged with 9/11 terrorism-related crimes filed a motion with the Guantánamo military commissions seeking more time to provide an adequate defense in a system that is unfair and biased in favor of the prosecution. The motion asks that the current due date for the filing of legal motions, August 29, be extended to November 25 so that proper investigation, research and communication with clients can be achieved. The motion comes after months of procedural and logistical obstacles that have hamstrung the ability of lawyers to wage a robust defense in these cases.

ACLU Sues Governor For "Knowing And Willful" Violation Of Open Records Law (08/20/2008)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The R.I. ACLU today filed a lawsuit charging Governor Donald Carcieri with a "knowing and willful" violation of the Access to Public Records Act, and seeking imposition of a $1,000 fine against him for the violation. The suit, filed in R.I. Superior Court by RI ACLU volunteer attorney Kathleen Managhan, argues that the Governor has failed to turn over records that are clearly public under the law.

FBI Improperly Obtains Reporters' Phone Records (08/09/2008)
NEW YORK -- The FBI admitted late yesterday to improperly obtaining telephone records from New York Times and Washington Post reporters by issuing "emergency" records demands that allowed the agency to bypass even the extremely limited safeguards that ordinarily apply to national security letters (NSLs). The American Civil Liberties Union has successfully challenged the national security letter statute in federal court and says this breach confirms the inadequacy of safeguards on the FBI's intrusive surveillance powers.

President Carter Supports ACLU And NACDL Guantánamo Defense Project (08/07/2008)
NEW YORK – Former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement in support of the American Civil Liberties Union's John Adams Project, a partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) that provides civilian legal teams to assist under-resourced military counsel of Guantánamo detainees who have been charged in the military commissions.

First Unconstitutional Military Commission Trial Ends In Conviction (08/06/2008)
NEW YORK – After a trial filled with overwhelming constitutional and procedural flaws, a jury of military officers today found Salim Hamdan guilty of providing material support for terrorism. The American Civil Liberties Union has been at Guantánamo Bay observing the Hamdan proceedings, which lacked the fundamental legal safeguards found in traditional U.S. courts or military courts governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

ACLU Skeptical of Intelligence Overhaul (07/31/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed concern regarding significant new changes made to a previously existing executive order governing the intelligence activities of a multitude of US government agencies, including the FBI, CIA, Defense Department and National Security Agency (NSA). President Bush signed amendments to Executive Order 12333 last night before informing Congress of the changes. The ACLU applauded members of the House Intelligence Committee who walked out of a briefing today in protest of their lack of involvement in drafting the language.

ACLU Testifies Today Asking Congress To Narrow Scope Of State Secrets Privilege (07/31/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union testified today about the improper use of the state secrets privilege at a hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. The hearing was held to discuss legislation introduced by the subcommittee’s chairman, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), entitled the “State Secrets Protection Act of 2008” (H.R.5607). The bill would narrow the scope of the privilege by setting appropriate limits on its use.

Justice Department Asks Intelligence Court To Review New Wiretapping Law In Secret (07/30/2008)
WASHINGTON – In a brief filed late yesterday with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), the Bush administration asked that any review of the new warrantless surveillance law be kept secret and that the court refuse to accept legal briefs from anyone other than the Justice Department itself. The government is responding to a motion the American Civil Liberties Union filed earlier this month asking the FISC to ensure that any proceedings relating to the scope, meaning or constitutionality of the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) be open to the public to the extent possible.

Fusion Centers Part of Incipient Domestic Intelligence System, ACLU Warns (07/29/2008)
WASHINGTON – The nation’s growing network of “fusion centers” is part of an incipient de facto domestic intelligence system, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Today the ACLU released a report detailing spying on Maryland peace demonstrators, a mysterious domestic-spying scandal at a California military base and other recent incidents, confirming that its warnings about fusion centers were coming true.

ACLU Hails Hearing on “Imperial Presidency” (07/25/2008)
Washington, DC – As the House Judiciary Committee prepares to hold a hearing on the “imperial presidency of George W. Bush,” the American Civil Liberties Union voiced similar concerns about the unchecked expansion of the executive branch. The committee is expected to discuss various constitutional issues that have arisen during the Bush administration, including warrantless wiretapping, overreaching presidential signing statements and use of various privileges including the claim of state secrets to block investigations and judicial oversight.

ACLU At Guantánamo For First Military Commission Trial This Week (07/24/2008)
NEW YORK - With the military commission trial of Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan underway this week, the inherent flaws of this system continue to be apparent. The ACLU is at Guantánamo Bay observing the proceedings which began on Monday. The Hamdan trial is the first military commission trial to take place since the Bush administration set up the notorious Guantánamo detention camp as a way to bypass the U.S. justice system.

ACLU Obtains Key Memos Authorizing CIA Torture Methods (07/24/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today obtained three redacted documents related to the Bush administration's brutal interrogation policies, including a previously withheld Justice Department memo authorizing the CIA's use of torture. The government was ordered to turn over the documents in response to an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought in 2004 by the ACLU and other organizations seeking records on the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas.

Congress Should Demand Answers from Attorney General (07/23/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union urges the House Judiciary Committee to demand accountability from Attorney General Michael Mukasey during the Department of Justice oversight hearing scheduled for today.

Mukasey Calls On Congress to Subvert Constitution (07/21/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – In an enormous executive branch power grab, Attorney General Michael Mukasey called on Congress today to authorize indefinite detention through a new declaration of armed conflict. Mukasey also proposed that Congress subvert the right of habeas corpus with a new scheme of procedures that will hide the Bush administration’s past wrongdoing – an action that would undermine the constitutional guarantee of due process and conceal systematic torture and abuse of detainees.

Federal Court Rules Unconstitutional Guantánamo Trial Of Salim Hamdan Can Proceed (07/17/2008)
NEW YORK – Despite acknowledging questions about the constitutionality of the Guantánamo military commission system, a D.C. federal district judge ruled today that the military trial of Yemeni national Salim Hamdan can proceed.

ACLU Seeks Answers on Torture from Former Attorney General Ashcroft (07/17/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union calls on former Attorney General John Ashcroft, in today’s House Judiciary hearing, to provide Congress and the American people with answers to questions about when, why and how the use of torture was authorized. Ashcroft presided over the Department of Justice (DOJ) during President Bush’s first term in office, when the legal rationale for using torture and abuse during interrogations of detainees held by the United States was first articulated in a series of legal memos. The notorious memos, known as the “torture memos,” were produced by the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), a DOJ office that assists the attorney general in his function as legal advisor to the president and all executive branch agencies.

ACLU At Guantánamo For Military Commission Hearings This Week (07/15/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union is at Guantánamo Bay this week observing the military commission hearings of Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan, whose trial is scheduled to begin next week. Separately, a federal judge is holding a hearing on Thursday to decide whether to delay Hamdan's trial and allow lawyers to continue challenging the legality of the commission system. A ruling in favor of Hamdan could bring the unlawful military commissions to a halt.

As Guantánamo Video Is Made Public, ACLU Calls On Government To Release Wrongfully Withheld Documentation Of Detainee Abuse (07/15/2008)
NEW YORK – Despite vigorous attempts by the Bush administration to block the release of footage showing the policies inside Guantánamo, lawyers made public a video today documenting the interrogation of Omar Khadr, a Canadian captured in Afghanistan in 2002 when he was 15 years old.

ACLU Sues Over Unconstitutional Dragnet Wiretapping Law (07/10/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a landmark lawsuit today to stop the government from conducting surveillance under a new wiretapping law that gives the Bush administration virtually unchecked power to intercept Americans' international e-mails and telephone calls. The case was filed on behalf of a broad coalition of attorneys and human rights, labor, legal and media organizations whose ability to perform their work - which relies on confidential communications - will be greatly compromised by the new law.