April 2013, Vol. 12 No. 04

View this newsletter as a webpage: http://www.bordc.org/newsletter/2013/04

In this issue:

BORDC releases model legislation to address domestic surveillance drones

BORDC News

• BORDC holds convening for grassroots organizers in Boston, MA
• BORDC’s Shahid Buttar speaks in Boston, MA; Baltimore, MD; and Washington, DC
• BORDC legal fellow Nadia Kayyali speaks to community members and sheriff in San Juan County
• BORDC legal fellow speaks in Redmond, WA
• BORDC hosts celebration reception in San Francisco on May 5
• BORDC hosts reception in Washington, DC on May 19
• BORDC welcomes spring 2013 interns
• Summer 2013 internships available with BORDC
• BORDC announces 2013-2014 legal fellowships
• BORDC in the news
• Read the latest news & analysis from the People’s Blog for the Constitution

Highlights from the past month include:

• Is there hope for the rule of law? by Nadia Kayyali
• ICE under fire: public hearing held for Connecticut’s TRUST Act by Alok Bhatt
• Report reveals impact of NYPD’s surveillance of Muslims by Michael Figura
• Kimani Gray and state-sanctioned terrorism by Kyla Kuvach
• Surveillance a profitable business in NYC by Rebecca Palermo
• Montana Senate passes anti-NDAA bill 43-7, heads to Governor with vet-proof majority by Nick Sibilla
• CIA and NSA data collection programs by Yiqian Wang
• Son’s battle for records from 1960′s sheds light on today’s secrecy state by Dave Mitchell

Grassroots News

• April 2013 Patriot Award: Joe Scarry
• ICE raid detains 27 on day of immigration march in Connecticut
• Las Vegas, NV, rejects indefinite detention under NDAA
• Grassroots Updates
  • New York, NY: Community calls for broad profiling ban, protections against unlawful searches, and more
  • Charlotte, NC: Area residents call on City Council for increased transparency, examination into Review Board’s power
  • Asheville, NC: April 29 meeting will reflect on progress of grassroots organizing in Asheville
  • Chicago, IL: Community events shine light on civil liberties actions across the city
  • Los Angeles, CA: StopLAPD Spying coalition released “People’s Audit of the Los Angeles Police”
  • California: Assembly Public Safety Committee approves TRUST Act

Law and Policy

• #NYPDonTrial continues
• Hunger Strike at Guantánamo Continues, National Day to promote awareness
• Multiple state assemblies consider bills to stop indefinite detention
• House approves Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA)
• Week of action urges CFAA reform

New Resources and Opportunities

• Micro-grants offer opportunities for grassroots action
• BORDC to host grassroots convening in San Francisco this May

Speaking at a recent data conference in New York, chief technology officer Ira Hunt of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) commented on the increasing quantities of available information – including emails, videos, and tweets – in the current digital age. Regarding the prevalence and applications of such digital information, Hunt states that:

The value of any piece of information is only known when you can connect it with something else that arrives at a future point in time. Since you can’t connect dots you don’t have, it drives us into a mode of, we fundamentally try to collect everything and hang on to it forever.

With the enhanced abilities of computers to compute massive quantities of information, Hunt’s statements depict the CIA’s aspirations in accumulating and mapping large sets of data, a sentiment reflected in the agency’s recent contracts with industry giants such as Amazon.com. In this instance, this contract specifically focuses on cloud computing software, in that Amazon will aid the CIA in constructing a private cloud system, potentially for hosting sensitive and classified information that would otherwise be susceptible to security concerns in the public technological domain.

The CIA’s efforts are reminiscent of certain programs undertaken by the National Security Agency (NSA), which has conducted such investigations despite public worries over privacy and related Fourth Amendment concerns.  One such critic of the NSA is whistle-blower William Binney, whose was recently interviewed by filmmaker Laura Poitras for her documentary short regarding post-September 11th America. Having publicly admonished the NSA, Binney (who resigned from the agency in 2001) described a foreign intelligence program conducted by the NSA that focused upon classified domestic spying, which he believes to have been initiated shortly after September 11th. As reported by the New Yorker:

“Binney and a team of some twenty others believed that they had pinpointed the N.S.A.’s biggest problem—data overload. ThinThread, the “little program” that he invented to track enemies outside the U.S., “got twisted,” and was used for both foreign and domestic spying: “I should apologize to the American people. It’s violated everyone’s rights. It can be used to eavesdrop on the whole world.”

Such data programs espouse distinct similarities with a former Department of Defense (DOD) project known as the “total information awareness” program, which was “based on a vision of pulling together as much information as possible about as many people as possible into an ‘ultra-large-scale’ database.” However, in 2003, Congress de-funded the Defense Advanced Research Projects Area’s (DARPA) total information awareness program, which the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had often likened to the “Big Brother” project of the current era. In essence, the aforesaid CIA and NSA programs represent instances in which the executive has significantly expanded its power though its replication of policies that Congress has expressly rejected.

March 2013, Vol. 12 No. 03

View this newsletter as a webpage: http://www.bordc.org/newsletter/2013/03/

March 2013, Vol. 12 No. 03

View this newsletter as a webpage: http://www.bordc.org/newsletter/2013/03/

Paul leads filibuster of Brennan nomination to lead CIA

On March 6, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) forced a long overdue conversation in Washington about checks and balances on executive power by leading a bipartisan filibuster of John Brennan’s nomination to lead the CIA.

BORDC News

BORDC in the news

In the last month, BORDC and coalitions we support across the nation have appeared in various press outlets to promote concerns about constitutional rights and the powers of police and intelligence agencies that abuse them.

Read the latest news & analysis from the People’s Blog for the Constitution

Have you read BORDC’s blog lately? The People’s Blog for the Constitution has attracted a growing audience that has tripled over the past year. Featuring news & analysis beyond the headlines on a daily basis, it offers a great way to stay up-to-date and informed.

Highlights from the past month include:

• Strict immigration enforcement both wasteful and harmful by Munazza Fairooz Khan
• Virginia joins growing list of states to stand against drones by Michael Figura
• Berkeley community groups protest Kayla Moore’s death by Emily Walsh
• February 2013 Patriot Award: Peggy Littleton by Imad Khan
• Massachusetts legislature to consider drone privacy bills by Yiqian Wang
• Brown liars and the rise of ‘Warrior Academics’ by Kyla Kuvach
• San Francisco says no to indefinite military detention by Nadia Kayyali
• A promising step against domestic drones by Dave Mitchell
• Supreme Court ruling goes to the dogs by Rebecca Palermo
• BORDC in the News: March 4-11, 2013 by Alok Bhatt
• Killing us softly by Shahid Buttar

BORDC’s Shahid Buttar speaks in Austin, TX

On Tuesday, March 5, BORDC’s Shahid Buttar spoke at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin. Hosted by the American Constitution Society, his talk, which was videotaped and is available online, addressed “Power and Accountability in the Post-9/11 era: torture, targeted killing, and domestic drone surveillance.”

BORDC hosts reception to celebrate recent Bay Area organizing victories

On Sunday, May 5, BORDC will host a reception in San Francisco celebrating the organization’s first decade of grassroots organizing to restore civil liberties, and several recent policy victories across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Grassroots News

March 2013 Patriot Award: Mary Madden

Every month, BORDC honors an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in his or her community to the movement to restore civil liberties and the rule of law. This month, the Patriot Award goes to Mary Madden for her extraordinary and committed activism and organizing.

Grassroots updates

To view campaigns supported by BORDC at a glance, visit our interactive campaign maps for local coalitions addressing surveillance and profiling by local law enforcement, or military detention under the NDAA. To get involved in any of these efforts, please email the BORDC Organizing Team at organizing (at) bordc (dot) org. We’re eager to hear from you and help support your activism!

• Nationwide: Campaigns emerge to address domestic surveillance drones
• Boston and Cambridge, MA: Diverse coalition takes action in several ways
• Hartford, CT: Public education on how immigration enforcement could undermine civil liberties
• New York City, NY: Residents gather to challenge drones and detention, while lawsuit proceeds vs. NYPD stop-and-frisk profiling
• Annapolis, MD: Statewide coalition challenges NDAA, plans upcoming discussion event
• Asheville, NC: Coalition mobilizes to support proposed Civil Liberties Ordinance
• Cleveland, OH: Coalition launches monthly vigils, bus tour, and petitions
• Chicago, IL: Coalition mobilizes to challenge suppression of dissent, anti-immigrant profiling
• Madison, WI: New coalition initiates public education campaign
• Helena, MT: House votes unanimously to approve bill vs. NDAA
• Los Angeles, CA: Coalition plans community mobilization for upcoming Police Commission meeting
• San Francisco, CA: The 18th city to say “No!” to indefinite detention under the NDAA
• Seattle, WA: Community considers racial profiling and drones
• Friday Harbor, WA: Coalition organizes educational forum

Law and Policy

Bipartisan legislation introduced to curtail domestic surveillance drones

Earlier this month, Representatives Ted Poe (R-TX) and Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) introduced the Preserving American Privacy Act of 2013 (HR 637), a bipartisan bill that would establish basic legal ground rules for the domestic use of unmanned drone aircraft. The principles now governing searches by this new technology are vague, and the clarity of this bill would greatly benefit both police and the public.

CISPA threatens military control of domestic cybersecurity

The Cyber Information and Sharing Act (CISPA) was first introduced last year by Representatives Mike Rogers (R-MI) and Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD). It prompted widespread opposition, including a veto threat from President Obama, in addition to a petition with over 800,000 signatures, and a widespread online campaign dubbed “Stop Cyber Spying Week.” Nonetheless, CISPA is back.

Immigration enforcement: a Trojan horse?

Calls for comprehensive reform of federal immigration law have prompted a bipartisan debate on Capitol Hill. Most observers, however, have overlooked how stronger immigration enforcement could undermine the rights of not only immigrants, but also US citizens.

DC Circuit Court forces CIA to at least acknowledge documents about drones

On March 15, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the CIA must respond to a FOIA request by the ACLU seeking information about the targeted killing program using drone aircraft. While the decision does not require the actual disclosure of the documents, which the lawsuit will now move on to address, it does represent a rare example of the federal judiciary standing up to government secrecy and asserting an independent check and balance.

National Security Letters held unconstitutional

On March 15, a federal judge in California struck down National Security Letters (NSLs) as unconstitutional violations of free speech. US District Judge Susan Illston ordered the Justice Department and FBI to stop issuing NSLs, which are unilateral demands for private information unsupported by a judicial warrant, and also ordered them to stop enforcing gag orders attached to NSLs in other cases.

US Supreme Court places NSA above the law in Clapper v. Amnesty

On February 26, 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 to allow warrantless wiretapping to continue. The controversial decision places the National Security Agency (NSA) above the law and insulates it from judicial review.

New Resources and Opportunities

Join the struggle for Due Process vs. domestic military detention under NDAA

The transpartisan grassroots movement against the domestic detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is growing. Nearly 20 cities have passed resolutions supporting Due Process, and organizers are using Facebook to help build statewide campaigns in several states.

BORDC to host spring convenings in the Northeast and Bay Area

BORDC supports grassroots organizers as they build diverse coalitions seeking local protections and civil rights and civil liberties. A pair of upcoming convenings offer opportunities for organizers to travel to the Northeast in April, or Bay Area in May, to share skills and case studies with allies from other cities.

Micro-grants offer opportunities for grassroots action

To help encourage outreach, public education, and grassroots mobilization, BORDC has provided micro-grants to coalitions that have participated in one of BORDC’s anchor convenings, such as the May 2012 convening in Chicago. Grants of $300 to $500 are available to help active coalitions expand their local visibility, host events, or build capacity.

Tuesday’s decision by the Supreme Court in Clapper vs Amnesty Int’l reflects judicial formalism at its worst. The decision abandons fundamental rights and the courts’ constitutional mandate, while placing government agencies above the law, so long as they commit their abuses in secret.

Clapper is a constitutional travesty of the highest order, reflecting the erosion of privacy, judicial independence, and constitutional government all at once. By allowing executive secrecy to insulate violations from review, five Justices of the Supreme Court have effectively killed what shreds once remained of the Fourth Amendment.

Every American should be gravely concerned, and anyone who still considers America “the land of the free” should carefully reconsider their assumptions. Several elements of the decision are disturbing, especially when viewed in a broader context beyond the case itself.

Most obviously disappointing is the result of the ruling, not only for the plaintiffs, but also anyone who uses the phone system or Internet.

A scandal in plain sight

The Clapper saga started with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which was first passed in the 1970s to restrict domestic spying by government agencies. It was prompted by decades of abuses by the FBI, CIA, and other agencies that Congress investigated and found conducting “a sophisticated vigilante operation aimed squarely at suppressing the legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights of speech and association,” including a documented government campaign to “neutralize” Martin Luther King, Jr. and other civil rights leaders.

In 2002, the Bush administration authorized the National Security Agency (the NSA) to begin a secret warrantless wiretapping program in clear violation of the FISA law. It remained secret, at one point prompting a dramatic intra-executive showdown and threats of a mass resignation by Justice Department officials under the Bush administration, until the New York Times exposed the program in late 2005.

Aside from generating an earthquake across Washington, the first results of the Times‘ expose included government threats to prosecute the journalists. Their only “crime” was exposing the public to an issue that should never have been secret in the first place.  While prosecutors thankfully opted not to prosecute Lichtblau & Risen, others continued to face prosecution for pursuing transparency in the public interest.

In the middle of the 2008 presidential election race, Congress amended FISA to permit what the original statute had been passed to prohibit. Rather than require the agency to comply with the long-standing law, however, Congress instead watered down the law to allow the agency’s abuses to continue.

Congress’ 2008 amendments to FISA doomed oversight. As the dissenting Justices in Clapper observed, the 2008 amendments allow NSA monitoring not only of agents of a foreign power, but also law-abiding Americans. Congress in 2008 also removed FISA’s original requirement for the NSA to identify specific targets and locations for surveillance, enabling the agency to conduct bulk collection, or dragnet surveillance. Finally, the 2008 amendments subsidized corporate crime, extending a corporate subsidy in the form of immunity from lawsuits alleging privacy violations, ensuring that telecommunications companies could continue facilitating unconstitutional surveillance without fearing lawsuits from a justifiably hostile public.

That was the context in which a group of activists, journalists, and lawyers among the most likely suspects for NSA surveillance filed suit.

(more…)

February 2013, Vol. 12 No. 02

View this newsletter as a webpage: http://www.bordc.org/newsletter/2013/02/

CIA nominee Brennan ducks Senate question on torture, assassination without trial

On Thursday, February 7, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) held a hearing on the nomination of John Brennan to lead the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). BORDC live tweeted the hearing, and Executive Director Shahid Buttar attended the first five minutes of the hearing, before Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) removed the public after repeated criticism of Brennan’s record on torture, human rights, and arbitrary assassination.

BORDC News

BORDC in the news

In the last month, BORDC and coalitions we support across the nation have appeared in various press outlets to promote concerns about constitutional rights and the powers of police and intelligence agencies that abuse them.

Read the latest news & analysis from the People’s Blog for the Constitution

Have you read BORDC’s blog lately? The People’s Blog for the Constitution has attracted a growing audience that has tripled over the past year. Featuring news & analysis beyond the headlines on a daily basis, it offers a great way to stay up to date and informed.

Highlights from the past month include:

• Appeals court hears arguments on indefinite military detention under NDAA by Michael Figura
• Police consultants spread zero-tolerance policing over local objections…but who’s listening? by Nadia Kayyali
• An implausible inauguration speech by Shahid Buttar
• CIA torture whistleblower honored after criminal sentencing by Emily Walsh
• Demonstration condemns random bag searches on MBTA by  Annette Macaluso
• Oregon Senator questions CIA nominee on drone strikes by Yiqian Wang
• Drones talk in NYC inspires inquiry and action by Nabill Idrisi

CIA nominee Brennan latest official asked to declassify Senate report condemning torture

The first task of the incoming CIA Director will be to declassify a 6,000 page report on torture compiled by the SSCI based on a three year investigation. BORDC’s online petition calls on the President to declassify the report and enable its release to the public and the press, as required by his repeated pledges to promote transparency.

BORDC expands capacity in 2012

Thanks in part to record contributions from individual supporters like you, BORDC’s budget grew an astounding 60% in 2012! We expanded our vital work, but were able to do so only because our donors made the important choice to get involved.

Grassroots News

February 2013 Patriot Award: Peggy Littleton

Every month, BORDC honors an individual who has made an outstanding contribution in his or her community to the movement to restore civil liberties and the rule of law. This month, the Patriot Award goes to Peggy Littleton, from El Paso County, CO, for her longstanding commitment to civil liberties.

Grassroots updates

To view campaigns supported by BORDC at a glance, visit our interactive campaign maps for local coalitions addressing surveillance and profiling by local law enforcement, or military detention under the NDAA. To get involved in any of these efforts, please email the BORDC Organizing Team at organizing@bordc.org. We’re eager to hear from you and help support your activism!

• Seattle, WA: Coalitions challenge racial profiling
• Washington State fights back against the NDAA
• Oakland, CA: Community opposes Stop and Frisk
• San Francisco, CA: Coalition challenges inadequate briefing to Police Commission
• San Francisco, CA: Largest city to introduce resolution opposing detention under NDAA
• Alameda County, CA: Community mobilizes to stop Sherriff from deploying drones
• Los Angeles, CA: Coalitions challenge surveillance, profiling, and torture
• Wyoming moves toward nullifying the NDAA
• Dallas, TX: Dallas Peace Center launches local anti-NDAA campaign
• Chicago, IL:  Events across the city connect issues and communities
• Cleveland, OH: Groups mobilize to challenge racial profiling across the state
• Charlotte, NC:  Community members mobilize to challenge racial profiling
• Charlottesville, VA: First City in the country to regulate drones
• Maryland state legislators introduce bill to challenge indefinite military detention under the NDAA
• New York, NY: Manhattan events focused on drones, NDAA
• Boston, MA: Local groups oppose TSA searches on transit system, prepare broader campaign
• Vermont Law School event dives into debate on drones, torture, cybersecurity
• Montana Representative aims to ban indefinite detention with anti-NDAA bill

Law and Policy

Appeals court hears arguments on indefinite military detention under NDAA

On Wednesday, February 6, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral arguments in Hedges v. Obama, a lawsuit challenging domestic military detention authority under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2012.

BORDC joins in asking Supreme Court to protect email privacy

BORDC has joined an amicus brief, filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) calling for the Supreme Court to hear a case that could strengthen privacy protections for anyone who uses e-mail.

FAA expands drone authorizations, while some cities fight back

In response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recently released an updated list of jurisdictions in which drone use is now authorized across the country.

New Resources and Opportunities

BORDC to host spring convenings for organizers in the Northeast and Northwest

BORDC supports grassroots organizers as they build coalitions seeking to advance Local Civil Rights Restoration (LCRR) and to challenge the indefinite detention provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).

Micro-grants offer opportunities for grassroots action

To help encourage outreach, public education, and grassroots mobilization, BORDC has provided micro-grants to coalitions that have participated in one of BORDC’s anchor convenings, such as the May 2012 convening in Chicago. Grants of $300 to $500 are available to help active coalitions expand their local visibility, host events, or build capacity.

Over the past week, a number of law enforcement agencies have announced plans to expand their use of surveillance technologies. While claiming to offer new efficiency and ensure public safety, they each raise serious civil rights and liberties concerns.

In New York City, the NYPD announced it will begin testing a machine that detects radiation emitted by the human body, revealing items within a person’s clothing.  The NYPD claims that the machine will be used to detect concealed weapons from a distance, which would presumably enhance public safety–but has not announced any legal requirements limiting its use, enabling it to be used to virtually search unwitting pedestrians without the basis for suspicion required by our Constitution.

The Supreme Court has already prohibited the use of analogous devices, without a warrant, that detect heat signatures emitted from homes. But the law will not likely deter the NYPD from pursuing its plans.

It was also recently announced that devices used by the Transportation Safety Authority (TSA) for body scans at airports would be redeployed to law enforcement and military applications.  The machines, which use “backscatter” x-ray technology to create an outline of a passenger’s body underneath of their clothes, were the subject of widespread criticism and sustained controversy, culminating in a lawsuit by the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

Interestingly, the machines being transferred are being pulled from service because their manufacturer’s failure to implement congressionally required privacy software that masks and anonymizes the detailed outlines of the scanned persons body. The unmodified machines will now be used against constituencies whose objections to invasions of privacy and exposure to radiation don’t wield the same political power as airline passengers.

(more…)

• 1/7, Scott Shane, New York Times, Counterterror Adviser to Be Named Chief of C.I.A.
• 1/7, Carol Rosenberg, The State (SC), Guantanamo is a place of sometimes puzzling secrecy
• 1/7, John W. Whitehead, Rutherford Institute, The Magician’s Con: Renewing FISA and the NDAA Under Cover of the Fiscal Cliff Debates
• 1/6, Editorial, Los Angeles Times, Rights and the ‘war on terror’
• 1/6, Michael Kirkland, United Press International, Spying on Americans, phase 2
• 1/5, Jason Cherkis and Zach Carter, Huffington Post, FBI Surveillance Of Occupy Wall Street Detailed

Senate readies to extend FISA, allowing the NSA to remain above the law

BORDC News

• BORDC in the news
• New video showcases BORDC’s work across the nation
• BORDC seeks spring 2013 interns
• Support BORDC—without opening your wallet
• Read the latest news & analysis from the People’s Blog for the Constitution:
  • Call your Senators to demand privacy and transparency by Samantha A. Peetros
  • How much more money will we waste violating the Constitution? by Nadia Kayyali
  • All is fair in love and email: the Petraeus scandal as a case for digital privacy reform byAlok Bhatt
  • BORDC welcomes Privacy & Civil Liberties Oversight Board by Michael Figura
  • Supreme Court rejects appeal concerning anti-eavesdropping law by Yiqian Wang
  • Detainee’s death pronounced suicide, but details remain murky by Emily Walsh
  • 4 ways Congress could either protect your rights, or instead assault them by Shahid Buttar

Grassroots News

• Patriot Award: Ana Aguayo & Jose Luis Aguayo Herrera
• Grassroots Updates
  • Bill of Rights Day prompts grassroots actions across the country
  • New Britain, CT: Diverse activists come together from across the Northeast
  • Albany, NY: Center for Law and Justice calls on Governor to appoint commission on mass incarceration of people of color
  • Cleveland, OH: Nearly 20 organizations convene in the aftermath of police killings
  • Chicago, IL: Proposed closure of “Supermax” prison moves forward on budget grounds, if not human rights
  • Dallas, TX: Bill of Rights Day luncheon prompts defiance of local anti-dissent measure
  • Michigan: State House unanimously approves bill to repudiate NDAA’s domestic detention provisions
  • Alameda County, CA:  Hearing on drone purchase to take place in coming months

Law and Policy

• 2013 NDAA clears Senate and bicameral conference committee
• BORDC coordinates amicus briefs in Obama v. Hedges before the Second Circuit
• Ninth Circuit holds military accountable for violating First Amendment rights of civilians
• ECPA clears Senate Judiciary Committee with bi-partisan support
• Are zombies chasing us over the edge of the fiscal cliff?

New Resources and Opportunities

• BORDC seeks spring 2013 interns
• Resources for Teachers