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ACLU and NSA Return to Federal Court
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Human Rights
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By MWC NEWS
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Local Activists and Regulators Enter Fight Over Illegal Spying as ACLU and NSA Return to Federal Court
 "NIXON'S PLAYBOOK":
LIVE TOWN HALL ON PRESIDENTIAL POWER THIS SUNDAY
Former White House counsel John W. Dean has said that the Bush administration seems to have "found a copy of an old Nixon playbook in the basement of the White House."
This Sunday at 7:00 p.m. ET, watch Dean, NSA expert James Bamford and others in a live Town Hall webcast from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tune in and submit your own questions for our panel of experts on spying, secrecy and presidential power.
Submit your question and watch live at: www.aclu.org/presidentialpower
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The ACLU prepared this week for the next step in its landmark challenge to illegal NSA spying on Americans. Next Monday's ACLU v. NSA hearing will mark the first time a federal court hears arguments on the constitutionality of the Bush administration's spying program.
Meanwhile, in more than 20 states, thousands and thousands of activists joined the ACLU's "Don't Spy On Me" campaign, demanding action by the state commissions that regulate telephone companies. Many state laws protect private call records and safeguard consumers from deceptive corporate practices.
Some regulators have already replied to local ACLU filings and initiated proceedings to investigate companies who may be colluding with the NSA.
ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero called the reported cooperation between telecom giants and the NSA a "massive, illegal and fundamentally un-American invasion of our privacy," adding "we cannot wait for Congress to act. The ACLU is mobilizing its members and supporters nationwide to demand investigations into this shocking breach of trust."
The ACLU is also lobbying the Federal Communications Commission, urging the watchdog agency to reconsider its refusal to investigate the companies implicated in the recent reports. It is outrageous that the agency created to guard the people's interest is burying its head in the sand during this massive attack on customer privacy.
With the government openly defending the program, neither regulators nor the phone companies themselves can hide under the blanket claim that all information about the program is a "state secret" or involves classified information.
Cracks in all-purpose secrecy claims were showing elsewhere in recent days, as an appeals court lifted a Patriot Act gag on four Connecticut librarians who challenged a secret FBI demand for patrons' library records.
ACLU clients Barbara Bailey, Peter Chase, George Christian and Janet Nocek had been barred from revealing the government "National Security Letter" demand and adding their voices to the debate over Patriot Act reauthorization. Their forced silence ended last week in an ACLU press conference.
"The burden on me has finally been lifted," said Christian, Executive Director of Library Connection, Inc., "but for Americans who were seeking an honest debate in Congress, this is too little, too late."
The ACLU and its supporters continue to take the debate over spying, secrecy and presidential power directly to the American people. You can join us in person in Michigan - or live online - this weekend for a special Town Hall discussion with former White House counsel John W. Dean, ACLU client and NSA expert James Bamford and others.
Tune in to watch this forum live online at www.aclu.org/presidentialpower. Learn more about the growing controversy over illegal spying and submit your own questions for the expert panel.
Learn more and get involved!
For more about our landmark legal challenge to NSA spying, go to: www.aclu.org/nsaspying
To join in our demand for state and federal regulation, and a full investigation of any illegal activity by your phone company, go to: www.aclu.org/dontspyonme
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Tags: ACLU NSA ACLU and NSA Return to Federal Court
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