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ACLU Says No Deal on an Unconstitutional FISA Compromise (06/05/2008)
Washington, DC – As news continues to trickle down from Capitol Hill regarding a deal on surveillance legislation, the American Civil Liberties Union once again voiced its fervent opposition to any attempt to undercut the Fourth Amendment or allow the telecommunications companies to gain blanket immunity for illegal spying. Before the Memorial Day recess the ranking member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO) floated what he claims is a compromise on surveillance legislation that will allow for sham court proceedings, virtually guaranteeing immunity to telecommunications companies. The ACLU strongly opposes this unconstitutional proposal.

ACLU Statement On Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's Rejection Of Legal Defense (06/05/2008)
GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA - At his arraignment today before a Guantánamo military commission on terrorism-related charges, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and other detainees accused of participating in the 9/11 attacks refused legal representation by military and civilian defense attorneys.

ACLU At Guantánamo Today to Attend Military Commissions (06/05/2008)
GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA - As part of a $15 million commitment to provide adequate legal defense for several Guantánamo detainees, attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union are present for the arraignment today of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed on terrorism-related charges before the Bush administration's military commissions. Earlier this week, attorneys David Nevin and Scott McKay met for several hours with Mohammed as part of the John Adams Project, a partnership between the ACLU and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) to supplement the under-resourced military defense teams that have been assigned to the detainees.

ACLU Urges Congress to Investigate Role of Top State Department Officials in Torture (06/04/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today urged members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Human Rights Subcommittee to use its hearing this morning to start an investigation into the role of current top U.S. Department of State officials in approving the use of torture on detainees. The Department of Justice Inspector General Glenn Fine is scheduled to testify before the subcommittee about the recently released Office of the Inspector General report of the FBI’s role in the interrogation of detainees held by the U.S.

9/11 Victims' Families Send Letter Decrying Politicization Of Guantánamo Military Commissions (06/03/2008)
NEW YORK – Family members of 9/11 victims have sent a letter today to Susan Crawford, Convening Authority of the Guantánamo military commissions, sharply criticizing the politicization of the system. According to news reports, a Pentagon representative secretly invited an outspoken supporter of the military commissions to Guantánamo Bay for Thursday's arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees on terrorism-related charges, but did not make this option available to family members who have expressed criticism of the commissions. This type of politicization is symptomatic of the unconstitutional and biased tribunal system, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

Abrupt Dismissal Of Judge Is More Evidence Of Military Commissions' Illegitimacy (05/30/2008)
NEW YORK - Providing more evidence of the illegitimacy of the Bush administration's fundamentally flawed military commission system, the Pentagon abruptly dismissed judge Army Col. Peter Brownback without explanation late yesterday from the case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian detainee. According to Khadr's lawyer, Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, the timing of the judge's removal was suspicious because Brownback had recently threatened to suspend the case if prosecutors refused to hand over important records about Khadr's confinement to the defense lawyers. Just last week, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the legal system under which Khadr was detained and prosecuted at Guantanamo violated international law.

ACLU Obtains Heavily Redacted CIA Documents Regarding Waterboarding (05/27/2008)

ACLU Praises Adoption of Amendment Requiring Video Recording of Interrogations (05/23/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union praises last night's House of Representatives floor vote that adopted, by a margin of 218-192 (including 15 Republicans) the Holt/Tauscher/Grijalva/Schakowsky Amendment to the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment requires the recording and retention of videos of strategic interrogations of persons under the custody or control of the Defense Department. The amendment would bring these interrogations into line with recommended best practices for military and law enforcement interrogations - increasing accountability for compliance with the McCain Anti-Torture Amendment and other anti-torture laws.

ACLU Rejects FISA “Compromise” (05/23/2008)
Washington, DC – Responding to a proposal from Senate Intelligence Ranking Member, Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO), the American Civil Liberties Union today criticized yet another attempt to gut the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and grant immunity to telecommunications companies. The proposal, which has the backing of the Bush administration, would allow for cases against the telecommunications companies to be held in a secret court and redundantly would restate the provision already in FISA making it the exclusive means to wiretap within the United States – after weakening FISA to allow the president’s warrantless wiretapping program to proceed virtually unfettered.

Canadian Supreme Court Rules Guantanamo Detention And Prosecution Of Prisoner Violated U.S. And International Law (05/23/2008)
NEW YORK - The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled today that Canadian officials violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - analogous to the U.S. Bill of Rights - by turning over interrogation records of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr to the United States. The court reached this result after finding that, at the time Canadian officials interrogated him, Khadr was being detained and prosecuted at Guantanamo in violation of U.S. and international law.

ACLU To Observe Unconstitutional Guantánamo Military Commissions This Week (05/21/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union will be at Guantánamo Bay this week to observe the U.S. military commission pre-trial hearing of Sudanese national Ibrahim Ahmed Mahmoud al-Qosi and the arraignment of Afghan national Mohammed Kamin. The ACLU has been present as an independent observer at every commission hearing since 2004 and continues to see no indication that the proceedings are fair, impartial or in accordance with constitutional principles.

ACLU Tells Congress to Strengthen Whistleblower Protections (05/21/2008)
Washington, DC – Testifying at a hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security today, the American Civil Liberties Union urged members to extend whistleblower protections to intelligence and law enforcement employees. ACLU National Security Policy Counsel and FBI whistleblower, Mike German, was joined on the panel by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Bassem Youssef, another whistleblower who currently works in the FBI’s counter-terrorism division. Both German and Youssef complained to superiors at the FBI about the handling of counter-terrorism investigations. The ACLU is calling on Congress to offer better protection for government employees who uncover wrongdoing or national security breaches.

Scott Calls for Reinstatement of Critical Safeguards on FBI Spying (05/21/2008)
Washington, DC -- The ACLU commends Rep. Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) for introducing H. Res. 1211, a resolution calling on Congress to reinstate the pre-Ashcroft guidelines, which provide stronger protections from unwarranted, domestic FBI spying for ordinary Americans. On May 30, 2002 Attorney General John Ashcroft adopted his own guidelines in order to loosen the internal policies that guide federal investigations. These guidelines have enabled have enabled the Department of Justice and the FBI to track Americans’ dissent against the Bush administration and the government without showing cause or evidence of any criminal activity.

Justice Department Report Reveals Senior Government Officials Knew Early On Of Interrogation Abuse But Did Not Stop It (05/20/2008)
NEW YORK - The results of an internal Justice Department investigation released today reveal that officials at the highest level of government — including the White House - received reports on the abuse of prisoners in U.S. military custody overseas as early as 2002. Congress called on the department's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to conduct the investigation after documents made public through an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request revealed FBI agents at Guantánamo had raised concerns about methods used by military interrogators. Today's government report is the first to identify that then-National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice received complaints of torture.

ACLU Online Symposium To Feature Leading Writers On Torture (05/20/2008)
NEW YORK – Several of the nation's top writers and experts on the subject of torture will participate in an online symposium beginning today in conjunction with the launch of the American Civil Liberties Union's new blog, the ACLU Blog of Rights. The symposium will be a recurring feature on the ACLU Blog of Rights, bringing together ideologically diverse groups of bloggers to focus on pressing civil liberties issues. The guest writers in this week's symposium include writers from some of the Web's most widely read blogs.

Government Rushes Guantánamo Cases While Delaying Detainees' Access To Prospective Counsel (05/14/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union expressed outrage today at the Pentagon's announcement of a June 5 date for the arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees accused of crimes related to September 11 before all of the defendants have met with their prospective lawyers.

ACLU Obtains Defense Department Documents About Prisoner Deaths And Interrogations (05/14/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union has obtained previously withheld documents from the Defense Department, including internal investigations into the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody overseas. Uncensored documents released as a result of the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit shed light on the deaths of detainees in Iraq and internal disagreement within the military over harsh interrogation practices used at Guantánamo Bay.