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ACLU Marks Fifth Anniversary of Ashcroft Surveillance Guidelines; Report Calls for Guidelines to be Changed to Prevent FBI Abuse
Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union today marked the fifth anniversary of the FBI’s 2002 revised Guidelines on General Crimes, Racketeering Enterprise and Terrorism Enterprise Investigation with a new report, "History Repeated: The Dangers of Domestic Spying by Federal Law Enforcement."

ACLU Welcomes Guantanamo Closure Bill
WASHINGTON - The ACLU today welcomed Senator Tom Harkin's (D-IA) introduction of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Closure Act of 2007, a bill that would close the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The bill cuts off funds for everything except sending charged or sentenced detainees to Fort Leavenworth and transferring the remaining detainees to their home countries or other countries that will not torture or abuse them. The bill would effectively end the practice of indefinite detention without charge or due process for detainees who have been held for as long as five years without charge and without knowing the reason for their detention. It will also provide an incentive for the government to finally charge those detainees the government believes are guilty of crimes against the United States.

American People Distrust Real ID, Point to Unacceptable Privacy Threat, New Poll Finds
WASHINGTON, DC - A new poll released today finds deep distrust among American voters about new driver’s licenses that would store every American’s personal information in a national database accessible to state and local governments. The driver’s licenses described in the poll mirror the Real ID Act, which has sparked rebellion nationwide. Twelve states have opted out of the national ID program and more are on the way.

ACLU Encourages Congress to Restore the Constitution at Senate Judiciary Hearing on Habeas
WASHINGTON, DC - The ACLU said today’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, “Restoring Habeas Corpus: Protecting American Values and the Great Writ,” is a big step in the right direction and shows a commitment by Congress to restore Constitutional rights, including habeas rights, during this session.

ACLU Implores Congress to Address Real ID Head On, Not Through Shadowy Amendments Mandating National ID
WASHINGTON, DC - Just one day after Oklahoma legislators passed the most scathing rejection of the Real ID Act, Representatives Steven King (R-IA) and Tom Price (R-GA) offered two amendments to a housing bill requiring a Real ID driver’s license to qualify for housing or home purchase assistance. The requirement would prevent people from accessing federal housing assistance programs unless their state participated in Real ID, effectively mandating a national identity card. Eleven states have passed laws rejecting Real ID and more than 35 states have taken steps to stop it.

ACLU to Participate in Privacy Day
Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union will be participating in Privacy Day, an all-day event to take place during Washington Whistleblower Week. Privacy Day, Friday, May 18th, will be comprised of two panels on surveillance and a keynote address by Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). Privacy Day’s first panel, arranged by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), will focus on expectations of privacy in the workplace; the second will debate on the growing trend of a surveillance society.

ACLU Demands Disclosure of Legal Documents on NSA Wiretapping, Cautions Senate Committee Against Telecom Inoculation for Domestic Spying
Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged that Congress subpoena all of the Justice Department documents relating to the NSA warrantless wiretapping program and the new FISA court-approved program in light of the testimony yesterday that Deputy Attorney General James Comey made at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Deputy AG’s Testimony Critical of Illegal Spying Program Renews ACLU's Calls for Congressional Scrutiny of DOJ
WASHINGTON, DC - Former Deputy Attorney General James B. Comey today admitted before the Senate Judiciary Committee that he and former Attorney General John Ashcroft had grave concerns over the National Security Agency’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program. Ashcroft, who refused to approve the program because he believed it to be unconstitutional, resisted coercion from then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and White House Chief of Staff Andy Card to sign onto it while sick in a hospital bed. Comey considered resigning over the spying program, as did Ashcroft, FBI Director Robert Mueller and other Justice Department officials.

ACLU Calls White House Censoring of PCLOB a Farce
Washington, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union today ridiculed White House censoring of a report submitted by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board to exclude previously released information. The White House made more than 200 redactions to the public report, sometimes deleting entire sections. These edits resulted in former White House Counsel Lanny J. Davis’s resignation.

New ACLU Report Sheds Light on Lack of Protection for National Security Whistleblowers
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today released a new report detailing a glaring lack of protection for government employees who uncover wrongdoing or national security breaches.

ACLU Victory in House Intelligence Authorization, House Affirms No Domestic Eavesdropping Without Warrant
WASHINGTON, DC -The American Civil Liberties Union today cheered an amendment to the House Intelligence Reauthorization Bill that would prevent illegal domestic wiretapping by the government. The amendment, by Representatives Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ), will reaffirm the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) as the only legal means of collecting electronic intelligence surveillance. The amendment was passed late last night by a vote of 245-178.

ACLU Stays Focused on Winning Fight to Restore Habeas
Washington, DC - Despite a decision late Wednesday by the House Armed Services Committee to pass the Defense Department authorization bill without including a provision to restore habeas corpus, the ACLU remains confident Congress will heed the public’s demand for the restoration of one of the core protections in the Constitution and American law.

ACLU Scorns Real ID Act on the Heels of National Rebellion Against Harmful Driver’s License Law
WASHINGTON - The Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, Allen Gilbert, testified today before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing held in response to national outcry against the Real ID Act’s privacy invasions. The hearing occurred just one day after the ACLU submitted comments to the Department of Homeland Security on its regulations aiming to fix the national driver’s license law. In addition, yesterday Colorado became the eighth state to reject Real ID.

ACLU Urges DHS to Withdraw Real ID Regulations
WASHINGTON - Calling the Real ID Act “unworkable and an intolerable threat to privacy and civil liberties,” the American Civil Liberties Union today filed comments asking the Department of Homeland Security to withdraw its proposed Real ID regulations and to join with the expanding list of states, organizations and individuals pushing Congress to overhaul the ill-conceived measure. The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on the issue tomorrow (May 8, 2007).

ACLU Warns Congress Against Broadening FISA Power
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union called today’s FISA hearing held by the Senate Select Intelligence Committee a setback to the rule of law. The committee met to discuss and hear testimony from administration officials about proposed “modernization” to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act submitted by Department of Justice and intelligence community officials.

ACLU and PEN American Center Present Readings to End Torture and Abuse
NEW YORK – Tonight leading writers, activists and journalists from around the world will be joined by luminaries from the United States for “Dirty Wars,” a night of readings to end torture, arbitrary detention and rendition.

ACLU Demands Senate Hold Attorney General Accountable
WASHINGTON -- As the Senate Judiciary Committee met today to discuss Department of Justice oversight, the American Civil Liberties Union urged Senators to ask tough questions of the sole witness, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

ACLU Says FBI Guidelines Will Make Little Difference, Congress Must Impose Meaningful Oversight and Fix NSL Statute
Washington, DC - Today the American Civil Liberties Union and other privacy groups met with FBI representatives to discuss new guidelines for internal controls concerning National Security Letters. The Inspector General of the Department of Justice recently issued a report on the FBI’s abuse of National Security Letters that detailed significant abuses of the FBI’s NSL powers. The FBI scheduled the meeting to inform civil rights and privacy experts and to alleviate fears about internal guidelines.

Montana Enacts 'Declaration of Independence' From Real ID

ACLU: Congress Must Reject Administration’s Call for FISA’s ‘Modernization’
WASHINGTON - Justice Department and intelligence community officials today submitted a bill to Congress asking for changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The American Civil Liberties Union urged lawmakers to reject this new attempt to erode the Fourth Amendment and its protections.