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ACLU Refutes President’s Claims on FISA, Telecom Immunity (02/28/2008)
Washington, DC – President Bush spoke once again today on the House’s refusal to pass a Senate-approved bill updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). He also, once again, pleaded for retroactive and prospective immunity for the telecommunications companies who aided in his warrantless wiretapping program, claiming that the suits brought against them were a “financial gravy train” for attorneys.

U.S. Terror List Now Exceeds 900,000 Names (02/27/2008)
WASHINGTON – With the size of U.S. terrorist watch lists growing to absurd proportions – now in excess of 900,000 names – the American Civil Liberties Union today unveiled a new “ACLU Watch List Counter” intended to make vivid just how bloated and dysfunctional those lists have become.

The Fear Factor (02/23/2008)
WASHINGTON - Statement of Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

Supreme Court Refuses To Review Warrantless Wiretapping Case (02/19/2008)
NEW YORK – The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to review a legal challenge to the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of prominent journalists, scholars, attorneys and national nonprofit organizations who say that the unchecked surveillance program is disrupting their ability to communicate effectively with sources and clients. The court’s decision today lets stand an appeals court’s ruling on narrow grounds that plaintiffs could not show with certainty that they had been wiretapped by the National Security Agency.

ACLU, Common Cause Thank House of Representatives for Standing Up to the President (02/15/2008)
WASHINGTON – Today the American Civil Liberties Union and Common Cause thanked the House of Representatives for standing up to President Bush and refusing to be railroaded into considering the Senate’s controversial FISA bill. The president had demanded the House rush through a just-passed Senate bill, which would allow the government to spy on the overseas phone calls and emails of innocent Americans without a warrant – in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The bill would also give retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that gave the government private information about American citizens.

Office of Legal Counsel to Defend Torture Memos and Warrantless Wiretapping of Americans (02/14/2008)
Washington, DC – Today’s oversight hearing of the Justice Department Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties is expected to examine the issues of torture and waterboarding, as well as the warrantless wiretapping being conducted by the U.S. government. The acting head of the OLC, Steven Bradbury, will testify before the subcommittee. Mr. Bradbury is thought to be the author of controversial legal opinions from the OLC that have approved the use of harsh interrogation methods and spying on Americans through warrantless wiretaps.

House Stands Up to Threats from the White House on Domestic Surveillance (02/14/2008)
Washington, DC – The Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives stared down the White House today and decided to stick with their version of revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The House voted to adjourn without letting the phone companies off the hook for breaking the law by helping the government spy on Americas. The House is leaving town and allowing the unconstitutional Protect America Act to expire this weekend.

Court Decision Denies Extraordinary Rendition Victims Their Day In Court (02/14/2008)
SAN JOSE, CA - A federal court yesterday bowed to pressure from the Bush administration and dismissed a case against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for the company’s role in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, charged that Jeppesen knowingly aided the program by providing flight planning and logistical support services for aircraft and crews used by the CIA to transport victims to U.S.-run prisons or foreign intelligence agencies overseas, where they were subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and torture.

Let The Protect America Act Expire (02/13/2008)
Washington, DC –The ACLU exhorts members of the House to let the unconstitutional Protect America Act expire and stand strong on not letting the phone companies off the hook for law breaking.

State Secrets Privilege Dangerously Overbroad (02/13/2008)
Washington, DC – Today the Senate Judiciary Committee convened to hear testimony on an evidentiary rule known as the state secret privilege. Committee member Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) introduced legislation last month to narrow the scope of the privilege. During the Bush administration, the state secrets privilege has been increasingly and improperly used as a shield to prevent investigation into executive branch misconduct. The most notable invocation of the privilege was to stall the case of an innocent German citizen, Khaled El-Masri, who was kidnapped, detained and tortured in a secret overseas prison. His suit against the government was stalled after the administration invoked the privilege.

Senate Votes to End CIA Use of Torture (02/13/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union was encouraged today when, by a vote of 51-45, the Senate voted to apply the Army Field Manual (AFM) on Interrogations government-wide. The Senate was voting on the Intelligence Authorization Conference Report (H.R. 2082), which includes the AFM provision. The legislation will now be sent to President Bush, who threatened to veto due to the AFM provision.

ACLU Says “Clean Teams” Cannot Wash Away Dirty Interrogation Tactics (02/13/2008)
NEW YORK – Just days after the Bush administration announced its intention to seek the death penalty for six men allegedly involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Department of Justice and the Pentagon confirmed the existence of “clean teams” of agents and investigators who allegedly conducted traditional law enforcement interviews with the prisoners after they had already been subjected to torture or “dirty” interrogation practices. The effort began in 2006 when the administration became concerned over legal challenges based on the abuse of these former CIA prisoners.

Senate Poised to Approve Huge Giveaway to the Bells, Immunity deal may mean no day in court for Americans (02/12/2008)
Washington, DC –The U.S. Senate is likely to decide to grant immunity to telecommunications providers that broke the law over the past six years in a vote on an amendment to strip immunity from the Senate Intelligence Committee’s bill to gut the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the immunity amendment Tuesday morning and if the amendment fails, as expected, the bill will be a multi-billion dollar giveaway to giant telecommunications companies.

ACLU Condemns Senate FISA Vote (02/12/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today slammed the U.S. Senate for not only authorizing the president’s warrantless wiretapping program but for granting immunity to his accomplices, the telecommunications companies. By a vote of 68 to 29, the Senate passed legislation amending and, in the end, gutting the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The bill now must be conferenced with the House’s version of the bill – which contains no immunity and stricter Fourth Amendment protections – by February 16th, the recently extended expiration date of the equally disastrous Protect America Act.