2010 Newsletters
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER
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FBI
Doesn't Understand its Own Rules
The Justice Department Inspector General is investigating whether
hundreds of FBI agents were allowed to cheat on their Domestic Intelligence
Operations Guidelines exam, and FBI Director Mueller gets a basic
fact about what is in the guidelines very wrong during testimony before
Congress. Read
more...
NSL
Powers and the Internet
Does the FBI want to be able to look over our shoulder while we surf
the internet, or is it really just seeking a "technical fix"
to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act? Read
more...
Murder
by Fiat
The Obama Administration has taken the constitutionally questionable
and morally reprehensible position that it has the authority to murder
American citizens. Read
more...
More
Miranda Shenanigans
Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) has introduced a bill (HR 5934),
The Questioning of Terrorism Suspects Act of 2010 to allow prosecutors
to question terrorism suspects for four days before bringing them
before a judge.
Read more...
ACTIVISTS
The
AETA 4
A judge has dismissed an indictment against four animal rights activists.
Read
more...
Westboro
Baptist Church
A US District Court judge ruled that two Missouri laws restricting
protests near funerals are unconstitutional. Read
more...
We've Moved!
Our new address is 8630 Fenton St. #524, Silver Spring, MD 20910.
Phone number and email stays the same.
JUNE/JULY
View issue as PDF
or Webpage
(includes links to background materials)
Supreme
Court Upholds Broad Definition in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project
decision
Ruling 6-3, Justices say that Congress can criminalize political speech,
but advocates gear up to ensure that peacebuilding, conflict resolution
training are protected. Read
more...
Gaza
and Material Support
One member of Congress says he wants all Americans who participated
in the Gaza Freedom Flotilla arrested for material support of terrorism.
Read
more...
Activists
meet with DOJ on Detention and Accountability
We met with the Director of Public Relations at the Department of
Justice to ask for changes to detention policy and press for accountability.
Read
more...
BP
Disaster
We're not getting the full story about the disaster and the clean-up
effort, thanks to local police, the military and BP officials. Read
more...
Cybersecurity
Senator Lieberman introduces a bill to fight cyber-terrorism, and
we don't like it. Read
more...
Torture
Former Chicago police commander Jon Burge is accused of overseeing
the torture over 100 African American men during his time on the police
force over a decade ago. He was found guilty in June - not for the
torture, but for lying about it. A new bill would address loopholes
in the law. Read
more...
MAY
2010 View issue as PDF
or Webpage
(includes links to background materials)
JUDGE:
NSA WIRETAPS WERE ILLEGAL
Judge rules in al-Haramain Islamic Foundation case
PUNISHING
THE MESSENGER
The Obama administration acts against a whistleblower and a reporter.
NATIONAL
ID CARD IN IMMIGRATION REFORM
Democrats unveil draft immigration reform legislation -- and it includes
a national biometric ID card.
CONYERS
ET AL REBUKE FBI
A subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on
the FBI's use of exigent letters
PATRIOT
ACT PROTECTIONS
Senator Leahy asks Attorney General Holder to implement safeguards
and accountability measures to protect civil liberties and privacy.
UN
TO REVIEW U.S. HUMAN RIGHTS RECORD
The human rights record of the United States will be subject to review
by the UN this year as part of the Universal Periodic Review process.
IN
THE STREETS
Photographers Beware: Did you know there is a federal regulation prohibiting
the taking of photographs on federal property?
Parents Beware: The mom of a young activist is charged with contributing
to the delinquency of a minor.
UPDATES
ON ARTICLES FROM PREVIOUS LETTERS
McCain/Lieberman
Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board
Fahad Hashmi
APRIL
2010 View entire issue as
PDF or Webpage,
or click on article below:
McCain
and Lieberman introduce a dangerous bill
The Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention and Prosecution Act
of 2010 (S. 3081; H.R. 4892) would allow the President to decide whether
you are entitled to a fair trial, or if he should just toss you in
jail and throw away the key. If the President accuses you of being
a terrorist, or of providing material support to terrorists, you will
not be read your Miranda rights, you will not be entitled to a trial,
you may not even be charged, you will be interrogated by special teams…
and you can be locked up without trial until the war on terror ends.
Even if you are a U.S. citizen. Read
more here and
TAKE ACTION
ACORN
closes its doors
The smear campaign against ACORN was a success. Although it was built
on lies, it has forced ACORN to wind down as a national organization.
Read
more...
Disrupting
Terrorist Plots: Focus on Community Relations
A subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing
to explore ways to disrupt terrorist plots by building relations with
Mulsim communities. One Congressman used the hearing to smear the
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)... but witnesses wouldn't
let him. Read
more...
Supreme
Court to hear Westboro Baptist Church Case
Are political pickets outside military funerals protected by the First
Amendment? Read
more...
Suspicious
Activity Reporting
After September 11, 2001, Congress ordered the creation of an "information
sharing environment" to improve communication between law enforcement
and intelligence agencies, with a special emphasis on "Suspicious
Activity Reporting." But, instead of better connecting the dots,
the Department of Homeland Security funded a counterproductive program
that threatens to clog intelligence pipelines with junk data derived
from racial, ethnic, religious, and ideological bias.
Read more...
Some
key statistics on terrorism
The Muslim Public Affairs Council has released a report that looks
at the number of actual and attempted terrorist attacks within the
U.S. Anyone relying on the mainstream media for analysis of terrorism
will be surprised with the findings. Read
more...
What
have they got on YOU?
You've been meaning to do it for years - use the Freedom of Information
Act to find out which government agencies have been spying on you
and which of the groups you belong to have been infiltrated. Read
more...
MARCH
2010 View entire issue as
PDF or Webpage,
or click on article below:
DDF is celebrating our 50th Anniversary this year!
Our small but effective organization has kept chugging on through
very tough times, never backing down and never taking the easy way
out. We invite you to help us celebrate! Find
out how...
Inside this month's
newsletter:
Grassroots
Lobby Day
We came, we lobbied... you and hundreds of others called or emailed...but
Congress still passed the Patriot Act re-authorization, without any
safeguards, oversight or other reforms.
Read more...
DDF
Calls for Oversight Board
Who will guard our privacy and civil liberties as new policies are
weighed in response to the Christmas Day bomber? We know Congress
is unwilling to stand up for us. The national security folks who are
developing new policies are certainly not focused on our privacy or
liberties, it isn't really their job. It is supposed to be the job
of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), but since
he has taken office, President Obama has neglected to appoint anyone
to this board. Read
more...
Professor
Cole and the Supremes
On February 23, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Holder v.
Humanitarian Law Project (HLP), an important case challenging the
Constitutionality of the material support provisions in the USA Patriot
Act. David Cole, a longtime ally of DDF, represented HLP before the
Supreme Court. Read
more...
"Shape
Shifting" Material Support
Fahad Hashmi is a U.S. citizen charged with providing material support
to al Qaeda. His case really illustrates how dangerous the material
support laws can be. Read
more...
Defining
Terrorism
Congress just passed a resolution labeling Joe Stack's suicide plane
attack on an IRS building in Texas a terrorist act, on a 408-2 vote.
The initial reaction of some in Congress and the media was to deny
that Stack's action was terrorism, in marked contrast to their response
to the Fort Hood shooting. Many noted the hypocrisy, but, rather than
insisting that Stack be labeled a terrorist like Major Hasan, we would
do better to try to narrow the ever-expanding definition of terrorism.
Read
more...
Embarrassing
'State Secret' Revealed
Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born British resident, was detained in
Pakistan in 2001, turned over to U.S. officials in 2002, subject to
extraordinary rendition and finally imprisoned at Guantanamo for four
years. He was released last year after all charges against him had
been dismissed. He has been fighting to expose the truth of his detention
in two important court cases, one in the U.S. (Mohamed v. Jeppeson)
and one in the U.K. Last month the British case had a breakthrough.
Read
more...
Demonizing
Dissent -- The Real Story
In the weeks and months before the Republican National Convention
in St. Paul in 2008, the media painted a scary picture of the planned
protests. Anarchists and other dangerous types would be flocking to
St. Paul to create trouble! shouted the papers and the TV news. But
who were these dissenters? Find
out here...
FEBRUARY
2010
View entire issue as PDF
or Webpage
Shocking
Revelation! Inspector General Uncovers FBI Abuses!
Take
Action on National Security Letters
Tariq
Ramadan is Cleared to Enter the United States
Fort
Hood Aftermath
Night
of 1000 Conversations
Yes,
Men get SLAPPed
Take
Action against SLAPPs
Activists
Sue Army Spy
Animal
Rights "Terrorsts"
Protestors
Sue Pittsburgh
2009 Newsletters
DECEMBER 2009
View entire issue as PDF
or HTML
HOMELAND SECURITY:
Senate
Hearing on the Fort Hood Shooting
ACTIVISTS:
Lynne
Stewart in Jail
Twitter
Update
LEGISLATION:
Patriot
Act
Material
Support
State
Secrets
FREEDOM TO TRAVEL:
To
Cuba
Into
and Out of the U.S.
CASES:
The
illegal subpoena and the gag order
NOVEMBER 2009
View entire issue as PDF or
HTML
In Our November Letter:
ACTIVISTS & DISSENTERS
Criminal
Twittering?
More
on the G-20 protests
Spying
Interns
Racial
Profiling
INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES
Also
on Twitter - the CIA
Twittering
Terrorists
CASES
State
Secrets Privilege in the U.S. and U.K.
More
State Secrets Privilege
LEGISLATION
Patriot
Act and FISA
OCTOBER 2009
View entire issue as PDF or
HTML
In Our October Letter:
*
Report from the G20 Summit in Pittsburgh
*
FBI Release Redacted Copy of Internal Guide for Domestic Investigations
(DIOG)
*
Administration Unveils New State Secrets Policy
*
New Rules on Travel to Cuba
*
Violence and public policy: The right lessons by Chip Berlet
*
Book Review: Daybreak - Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming
a More Perfect Union
*
Congress takes up Patriot Act sunsets -- ACTION ALERT
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2009 NEWSLETTER
View entire issue as PDF
or HTML
In this issue:
ACTIVISTS
* Army Spy Infiltrates Activist Groups
* White House Enemies List
* Civil Rights Protestors Pardoned
* Buffer Zones Upheld
* West Point Protest
SURVEILLANCE
* Report: Extraordinary and Inappropriate
PENTAGON
* Ruling: Pentagon Pundit Program was Legal
* Pentagon Profiles Reporters
ACCOUNTABILITY
* Torture Investigation
COALITIONS
* Charity and Security Network
CASES
* Tariq Ramadan
ACTION ALERT
* End Racial Profiling in Immigration Enforcement
DONATE
* Please help support our work! Give online now.
JUNE/JULY
View entire issue as a PDF or webpage
SURVEILLANCE:
*
Activist Groups in Iowa are infiltrated by FBI and Minnesota Police
* Operation
Vigilant Eagle: FBI and DOD watch over political activities of Vets
* FOIA
Parties: DDF begins to organize activists to submit FOIA requests
* CCDBR
Hosts Surveillance Forum
* Domestic
Intelligence Spy Satellite Program is Grounded... sort of
*
"Ooops, I did it again", NSA once again apologizes for spying
on Americans without a warrant
ACTIVISTS:
* RICCO
strikes again
QUIZ:
* Protests
are low-level terrorism
MORE FBI NEWS:
* EFF
sues for release of FBI Operational Guidelines
* Terrorist
Watchlists are full of errors (surprise!)
* Over
7000 Americans investigated using NSLs last year
TRANSPARENCY AND OPEN GOVERNMENT:
* FOIA
Hits the Skids
MAY
• DHS Report on Rightwing Extremism
• Virginia Thought Police
• Animal Rights Activist Added to "Most Wanted Terrorist"
List
• State Secrets Claim Denied!
APRIL
• Feds Helped State Police Track Activists
• Another Leaked Fusion Center Document
• Homeland Security Intelligence
• State Police Spying and State Legislatures
• California Loyalty Oath
• Ideological Exclusion
• Legislative Action
MARCH
EXECUTIVE
• Shocking Fusion Center Document Leaked
• Civil Activists and Extremists Action Calendar
• FBI Breaks Ties with CAIR
• FBI Informant/Provacateur Infiltrates Mosque
CASES
• State Secrets & al-Haramain
• State Secrets & Binyam Mohamed
• al-Marri to Get His Day in Court
• Freedom of Information
• Bagram: Afghan for Guantanamo
ACTIVISTS
• Republican Convention
• L.A. Agrees to Pay Almost $13 Million
• Scabby Prevails
LEGISLATIVE
• Take Action on the State Secrets Protection Act
FEBRUARY
Free the Uighurs Alert
•Senators Cardin & Mikulski Promise to Confront Police Spying
•Holder Confirmed as Attorney General
•State Secrets Doctrine
•RNC Cases go to Court
JANUARY
• DDF Helps Launch DC Bill of Rights Coalition
• DDF Convenes Civil Liberties Working Group
• Hands off My Spit
• Charities & National Security
• Fusion Centers
• Racial Profiling
• Convention Updates
