ACLU The American Civil Liberties
The
Actions
that Threaten Our Civil Liberties
New legislation and government
actions take away our freedom
With great haste
and secrecy and in the name of the “war on terrorism,”
Congress passed
legislation that gives the Executive Branch sweeping new
powers that undermine the
Bill of Rights and are unnecessary to keep us
safe. This 342-page USA
PATRIOT Act was passed on October 26, 2001,
with little debate by
Members of Congress, most of whom did not even read
the bill. The
Administration then initiated a flurry of executive orders,
regulations, and policies and
practices that also threatened our rights.
The
Expands terrorism
laws to include “domestic terrorism” which
could subject political
organizations to surveillance, wiretapping,
harassment, and criminal
action for political advocacy.
Expands the ability
of law enforcement to conduct secret
searches, gives them wide
powers of phone and Internet
surveillance, and access to
highly personal medical, financial,
mental health, and
student records with minimal judicial oversight.
Allows FBI Agents
to investigate American citizens for criminal
matters without probable
cause of crime if they say it is for
“intelligence
purposes.”
Permits
non-citizens to be jailed based on mere suspicion and to
be denied
re-admission to the US for engaging in free speech.
Suspects convicted
of no crime may be detained indefinitely in six
month increments without
meaningful judicial review.
What rights are being threatened?
First Amendment - Freedom of
religion, speech, assembly,
and the press.
Fourth Amendment - Freedom from
unreasonable searches
and seizures.
Fifth Amendment - No person to be
deprived of life, liberty or
property without due
process of law.
Sixth Amendment - Right to a speedy
public trial by an
impartial jury, right to be
informed of the facts of the accusation,
right to confront
witnesses and have the assistance of counsel.
Eighth Amendment - No excessive bail
or cruel and unusual
punishment shall be imposed.
Fourteenth Amendment - All persons
(citizens and noncitizens)
within the
equal protection of the
laws.
New Federal Executive Branch Actions
• 8,000 Arab and
South Asian immigrants have been
interrogated because of their
religion or ethnic background,
not because of actual
wrongdoing.
• Thousands of men,
mostly of Arab and South Asian origin,
have been held in
secretive federal custody for weeks and
months, sometimes without
any charges filed against them.
The government has
refused to publish their names and
whereabouts, even when ordered
to do so by the courts.
• The press and the
public have been barred from immigration
court hearings of those
detained after September 11th and
the courts are ordered
to keep secret even that the hearings
are taking place.
• The government is
allowed to monitor communications between
federal detainees and
their lawyers, destroying the attorneyclient
privilege and threatening
the right to counsel.
• New Attorney
General Guidelines allow FBI spying on religious
and political
organizations and individuals without having
evidence of wrongdoing.
• President Bush
has ordered military commissions to be set up to
try suspected
terrorists who are not citizens. They can convict
based on hearsay and
secret evidence by only two-thirds vote.
• American citizens
suspected of terrorism are being held
indefinitely in military
custody without being charged and without
access to lawyers.
What can be done?
This lack of due
process and accountability violates the rights extended to all persons,
citizens
and non-citizens, by
the Bill of Rights. It resurrects the illegal COINTELPRO-type programs of
the ‘50’s, ‘60’s, and
‘70’s, where the FBI sought to disrupt and discredit thousands of individuals
and groups engaged in
legitimate political activity.
The American Civil Liberties Union, along with
thousands of organizations and individuals
concerned with protecting
our civil rights and civil liberties, is campaigning to ensure that our
rights are not a casualty
of the war on terrorism.
Join us in this
effort to regain our hard-won freedoms.
• Support a
resolution in your city rejecting the USA PATRIOT Act, joining your city with
others
across the country in
upholding the Bill of Rights.
• Contact your
elected representatives and the President to express your opposition to the USA
PATRIOT Act.
• Send letters to
local newspapers. Organize discussions in your schools, organizations and
religious institutions.
Become a member of the ACLU.
Because freedom
can't protect itself.
For more
information, go to www.aclu.org/safeandfree