EFF, ACLU Demolish “It’s Just Metadata” Claim in NSA Spying Appeal

Americans Deserve Full Protection of the Fourth Amendment for their Telephone Records, Groups Argue

Activist Post 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) today filed an amicus brief in Klayman v. Obama, a high-profile lawsuit that challenges mass surveillance, arguing that Americans' telephone metadata deserves the highest protection of the Fourth Amendment.

Larry Klayman, conservative activist and founder of Judicial Watch and Freedom Watch, was among the first plaintiffs to sue the National Security Agency (NSA) over the collection of telephone metadata from Verizon customers that was detailed in documents released by Edward Snowden. In December 2013, Judge Richard Leon issued a preliminary ruling that the program was likely unconstitutional, and the case is currently on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

In the new amicus brief in Klayman v. Obama, the EFF and ACLU lawyers repudiate arguments by U.S. officials that the records are "just metadata" and therefore not as sensitive as the contents of phone calls. Using research and new case law, the civil liberties groups argue that metadata (such as who individuals called, when they called, and how long they spoke) can be even more revealing than conversations when collected en masse.

Fear and Loathing in Paragould Arkansas

Mark Daniels
Global Political Awakening

The novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is based on two trips to Las Vegas, Nevada, that Hunter S. Thompson took with attorney and Chicano activist Oscar Zeta Acosta in March and April 1971. The first trip spawned from an exposé Thompson was writing for Rolling Stone magazine about the Mexican-American television journalist Rubén Salazar, whom officers of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department had shot and killed with a tear gas grenade fired at close range during the National Chicano Moratorium March against the Vietnam War in 1970. Thompson was using Acosta—a prominent Mexican-American political activist and attorney—as a central source for the story, and the two found it difficult for a brown-skinned Mexican to talk openly with a white reporter in the racially tense atmosphere of Los Angeles, California. The two needed a more comfortable place to discuss the story and decided to take advantage of a Sports Illustrated magazine offer to write photograph captions for the annual Mint 400 desert race being held in Las Vegas from 21–23 March. (Source)

Recent reports of plans by the City of Paragould (Arkansas) Police Chief and Mayor to deploy heavily armed SWAT TEAMS on the streets of Paragould, Arkansas in an effort to combat a recent increase in crime is similarly disturbing and has been met with both local and international outrage from the public.

Rita Sklar, executive director of ACLU-Arkansas, said that aspects of Paragould Police Chief Todd Stovall's plan to have officers dressed in SWAT gear and armed with AR-15 assault rifles demanding ID from citizens in high crime areas shows that he has "zero understanding of Constitutional rights, period." Meanwhile, the Paragould PD issued a statement cancelling further town hall meetings on the proposal, citing "public safety" concerns after a growing backlash about the proposal. (Source)

I recently interviewed several local residents who are deeply concerned about the potential for abuse (violation of rights) by local law enforcement and the refusal of the Mayor to listen to their repeated requests for answers.  The local residents have requested anonymity due to the fear of retribution for speaking out.

US Torture Victim Takes Case to International Human Rights Tribunal

Dees Illustration

Activist Post

The American Civil Liberties Union and Yale Law School’s Lowenstein International Human Rights Clinic today filed a petition against the United States with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IAHCR) for the unlawful detention and torture of José Padilla, a U.S. citizen, whom the United States detained and interrogated for four years.

The petition was filed by Padilla’s mother, Estela Lebron, on her own and on her son’s behalf. Padilla and Lebron had previously filed federal lawsuits – since dismissed – against current and former government officials for their roles in Padilla’s torture and other abuse.

The petition is an international complaint asking the IACHR, which is an independent human rights body of the Organization of American States, to conduct a full investigation into the human rights violations suffered by Padilla; to find that his mistreatment violated the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man; and to recommend that the United States publicly acknowledge the violations and apologize for its unlawful conduct.

“The U.S. justice system denied a day in court to a U.S. citizen who was arrested and then tortured on U.S. soil by his own government," said Steven Watt, senior staff attorney with the ACLU Human Rights Program. “The U.S. has historically been a leader in ensuring access to justice for human rights violations around the world, but it has effectively closed the courtroom door to all victims and survivors of the Bush administration’s torture regime. Denied redress in U.S. courts, torture survivors like Padilla are now left with no choice but to turn to international justice.”

ACLU Tells Supreme Court FISA Surveillance Law is Unconstitutional

Activist Post

The Supreme Court heard arguments today in Clapper v. Amnesty International, to decide whether clients of the American Civil Liberties Union can challenge the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), enacted by Congress after the abuses of the 1960s and 70s, regulates the government’s conduct of intelligence surveillance inside the United States. It generally requires the government to seek warrants before monitoring Americans’ communications. In 2001, however, President Bush authorized the National Security Agency to launch a warrantless wiretapping program, and in 2008 Congress ratified and expanded that program, giving the NSA almost unchecked power to monitor Americans’ international phone calls and emails.

ACLU of Michigan exposes police surveillance cameras being used in residential neighborhoods

Image: MI ACLU

Madison Ruppert, Contributor

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan recently put out a fascinating report (PDF) on the use of surveillance cameras in residential Lansing, Michigan which seems to be congruent with the ongoing rise of the use of surveillance cameras and associated technologies.

The growth in the use of surveillance cameras coincides with the increasingly common use of armored surveillance vehicles as well as expansion of the American surveillance state as a whole.

Remember, as a recent Senate panel discovered, invasive surveillance techniques such as those employed by fusion centers across the nation actually don’t stop terrorism but instead produce “a bunch of crap.”

While this type of surveillance technology is more commonly associated with large metropolises like New York City, the ACLU of Michigan’s report shows that the use has expanded into residential areas as well.

ACLU Sues CIA Over Drone Killings

Stephen Lendman, Contributor

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been around since the Vietnam era. They were used as reconnaissance platforms. In the 1980s, Harpy air defense suppression system radar killer drones were employed. In the Gulf War, unmanned combat air systems (UCAS) and X-45 air vehicles were used.

Others were deployed in Bosnia in 1995 and against Serbia in 1999. America's new weapon of choice is now commonplace in Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Yemen, elsewhere abroad, and domestically for law enforcement and surveillance. Escalated domestic and foreign use is planned.

A previous article called drone warfare remote control killing like sport. From distant or nearby command centers, operators wage virtual war. 

They dismissively ignore human carnage. It shows up as computer screen blips. They look no different from video game images. The difference, of course, is people die. 

They're mostly noncombatants. Studies show militants are successfully hit about 2% of the time. Others are wrongly targeted or happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

On January 13, 2010, the ACLU petitioned Washington under the Freedom of Information ACT (FOIA). It requested legal justification claimed for conducting predator drone targeted killings abroad.

Amnesty, ACLU call for independent probe after eighth Guantanamo detainee death

Wiki Commons

Eric W. Dolan
Raw Story

The American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International are calling for an independent investigation into the death of detainees at Guantanamo Bay after the U.S. military reported another death at the detention facility on Wednesday night.

"This latest death highlights the immediate need for a full and independent inquiry into deaths at Guantanamo," Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU Human Rights Program, said. "It also underscores the tragic consequences of indefinite detention and unfair trials of detainees."

A 37-year old Afghan detainee died at Guantanamo Bay in an apparent suicide, the U.S. military said in a statement.

The man, identified by one name, Inayatullah, was an admitted planner for Al-Qaeda terrorist operations, according to the Southern Command. He arrived in Guantanamo in September 2007. A spokeswoman for the detention center said he did not have a history of disciplinary problems and was "generally a compliant detainee."

Inayatullah was the eighth person to die at Guantanamo since the U.S. government started transferring prisoners there following the 2001 ouster of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

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Warrants Let Agents Enter Homes Without Owner Knowing

Dees Illustration

KOAT 7 News

A special type of government search warrant that allows authorities to search homes without informing the owner for months is becoming more common, Target 7 has learned.

Imagine someone walking through your neighborhood, coming into your home and rifling through your intimate belongings.“(They) search through your home, your dresser drawers, your computer files,” Peter Simonson, with ACLU New Mexico, said.These search warrants don’t involve knocking on doors or any type of warning at all. Delayed-notice search warrants, or "sneak-and-peek" warrants, allow federal agents to enter your home without telling you they’ve been there until months later.

The warrants have always been around, but their use has spiked since the revamped Patriot Act in 2005.

The number of delayed-notice search warrants spiked nationally from nearly 700 in fiscal year 2007 to close to 2,000 in 2009. 

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Bradley Manning activist sues feds over confiscated laptop, electronics

Wiki Commons Photo

Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story

A computer expert and vocal supporter of Pfc. Bradley Manning has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over the seizure of his laptop and other electronic equipment by federal agents.

David House, 23, was returning to the U.S. on Nov. 23, 2010, after a vacation to Mexico, when all of his electronics were seized by agents acting without a warrant.

He claimed they questioned him for hours about Manning and WikiLeaks, then refused to return his equipment. He also claimed to have a large software coding project saved to the computer's hard drive which agents never returned to him.

The lawsuit was filed Friday with a federal court in Boston on behalf of David House, an MIT researcher who co-founded The Bradley Manning Support Network. He's being represented by attorneys with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

"I feel like the American government has made me the target of intrusive and intimidating tactics simply because I joined a lawful group in order to stand up for what I believe is right," House said in an advisory issued by the ACLU. "The search and seizure of my laptop has had a chilling effect on the activities of the Bradley Manning Support Network, by silencing once-outspoken supporters and causing donors to retreat."

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Thermal cameras look inside homes to monitor energy efficiency

Pilot program in Boston part of home audit scheme to encourage compliance with green energy standards, drive business.

Aaron Dykes
Infowars

The city of Boston has been taken to task by the ACLU over concerns about a roll-out of thermal imaging cameras being used to monitor energy efficiency inside homes. A pilot program to take aerial and street-level photos of heat loss in Boston was part of a scheme to encourage participation in home energy improvement programs, as well as to drive consumers towards green companies.

According to CBS, the project had been halted following public outcry about invasions of privacy, namely that “infrared cameras would reveal information about what’s going on inside the homes.” Further objections have been raised about potential violations of the Fourth Amendment (but what’s that anyway?). Officials reportedly “planned on sharing the photos and analysis with homeowners, and were hoping the findings would increase enrollment in efficiency programs and also create business opportunities.”

MIT, who helped develop the technology’s use for energy tracking, has already thermally-mapped the entire city of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Their press writers brag that automated cameras attached to vehicles would collect data “similar to the way Google Street View vehicles obtain visual imagery.” This 55 second video provides a glimpse at their system:



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The Sport of War: US Troops Fire on Detainees (Video)

YouTube -- 91177info


US troops fire on Iraqi detainees after burning their Holy Quran books in front of them. Amateur footage recently posted on the internet shows American troops firing live ammunition on Iraqi prisoners during a riot in a US detention facility in Iraq back in 2005.

The footage shows US forces using disproportionate force and live rounds against prisoners at the US prison facility Camp Bucca located in Iraq.

The Iraqi detainees were protesting the American troops' desecration of Islam's holy book, the Qur'an.
At the time, the US military tried to cover up the bloodshed, saying the riot happened when the prisoners confronted a search for contraband in the prison.

But the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) later revealed that the real cause of the riot was the desecration of the Holy Qur'an by US troops.

Four prisoners were shot dead and five others wounded during the violence.

In 2008, the US military revealed that it held a total of around 20,000 detainees, some 17,000 of whom at Camp Bucca near Basra in southern Iraq, and more than 3,000 others at Camp Cropper in the capital Baghdad. 

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Obama has taken a ‘profoundly troubling’ position on assassinations, ACLU

David Edwards
Raw Story

Disclosure of government secrets often has little to do with the public's right to know and has everything to do an official's need to tell, according to ACLU deputy director Jameel Jaffer.

And that's especially true when it comes to assassinations, which have not traditionally been an openly admitted component of U.S. foreign policy -- but the American Civil Liberities Union is cautioning that the Obama administration is changing all of that.

In an exclusive interview with Raw Story, Jaffer, a key attorney with the rights group, even warned that the Democrat in office has taken a position on unilateral murder so extreme as to be "profoundly troubling" in its legal reach and potential for future use.

"U.S. officials hurt our democracy by withholding information from the courts but then disclosing it to the public whenever it suits their needs," Jaffer wrote in a Wednesday Los Angeles Times op-ed.

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Former FBI agent warns of government spying abuse

Photo: aclu.org

Rick Nagin
People's World

CLEVELAND - Surveillance policies now used by the FBI and other domestic intelligence agencies are "totally un-American and against the values Americans hold dear," Michael German, a former undercover agent, told a forum sponsored by the Cleveland Council on American Islamic Relations here Saturday.

Speaking to 150 at the Islamic Center of Cleveland, German said current guidelines allow federal agencies to spy, obtain private records and recruit informants against virtually all Americans even when "there is no factual basis to suspect they are engaged in illegal activity."

German, who resigned in protest at these abuses after 16 years with the FBI, joined the American Civil Liberties Union in 2006 and serves as its national security policy counsel.

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ACLU Sues Over Threats to Medical Marijuana

Marilisa Kinney Sachteleben
Yahoo News

The manufacture and sale of medical marijuana has been legal in California since the 1990s and in Michigan as the of the 2008 election. Several cities in Michigan and California have created city ordinances banning medical marijuana and the ACLU is suing.

In Michigan, the cities of Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Livonia, all suburbs of Metro Detroit have banned the growing, processing and sale of medical marijuana which Michigan voters legalized in a hotly contested vote in 2008. Last month in California, Orange County and Los Angeles (L.A.) County banned medical marijuana dispensaries from delivering the drug to patients. Orange county is home to 120,000 people and L.A. County to more than 1.5 million residents. Michigan city populations in Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Livonia totals almost 140,000 people.


Medical marijuana has been legal in California for over nearly two decades, but only about two years in Michigan. Michigan voters The ACLU is suing Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills and Livonia for the repeal of city ordinances that ban medical marijuana. ACLU attorney Dan Korobkin calls the city ordinances "egregious violations of the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act."

As a Michigan voter in the 2008 election, I voted to pass the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act. I am a mother and educator. In my years in adult and alternative education, marijuana and especially medical marijuana was a hotly discussed topic. Most students and voters, then and now, felt very strongly about the issue regardless of which side they were on.

Despite being a parent and knowing the dangers inherent in passing the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act, I voted in favor of the bill. I did promote the passage of the bill as I might do on other issues because medical marijuana is sensitive topic. I couldn't in good conscience, however, cast a "no" vote and deny patients the well-researched pain-relieving benefits of marijuana. I will never use medical marijuana. I will never apply to manufacture or sell medical marijuana. I will not allow medical marijuana in my home, simply because of possible danger or temptation to minors.

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ACLU: Flying Americans Fear Being Put On Government Watch List

Steve Watson
Infowars.com
December 3, 2010

The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that it is still receiving high volumes of complaints about the new airport screening procedures, and that some travelers say they have not filed official complaints with the TSA because they are fearful of being placed on a government watch list.

Last week the ACLU revealed that it had received over 900 complaints about the naked body scanners and the new pat down measures being implemented by the TSA.

That number swelled to over 1000 before November was through, according to the privacy watchdog.

“These complaints came from men, women and children who reported feeling humiliated and traumatized by these searches, and, in some cases, comparing their psychological impact to sexual assaults.” the ACLU website noted.

Meanwhile, TSA head John Pistole says there were only 49 complaints from travelers over the Thanksgiving weekend, a figure that prompted the TSA to suggest that Americans were largely unconcerned with the new procedures, and were even appreciative of them.

The ACLU disputes this notion, however:

“The low number of complaints received by the TSA is not an endorsement of the security procedures, but rather a result of real or perceived problems with the TSA’s complaint system.” notes Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst with the ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project.

“As the abundant complaints received by the ACLU illustrate, Americans do not want to be forced to choose between letting government agents touch their bodies or take naked pictures of them.” Stanley added.

The ACLU press release notes that the real reasons people have not filed official complaints with the government is because they believed they would either be totally ignored, or worse still, that their act of defiance would land them on a terror watch list.

“Some complainants reported that they had not filed a complaint with the TSA because they were afraid of being put on a watch list or otherwise retaliated against by the government. ” the ACLU press release notes.

“Large numbers of innocent Americans have been caught up by the government’s out-of-control watch list system.” it continues.

The concern is completely vindicated, following the leaking of a reported TSA memo that was circulated at the height of last month’s opt out controversy which “officially addresses those who are opposed to, or engaged in the disruption of the implementation of the enhanced airport screening procedures as ‘domestic extremists’.”

In response to the story, former Congressman Bob Barr filed a Freedom of Information Act request which demanded to know if the TSA had categorized those leading the charge against invasive security measures, namely Matt Drudge, Alex Jones, and John Tyner, via the websites drudgereport.com and prisonplanet.com, as “domestic extremists”.

The Department of Homeland Security has a history of engaging in such activity, and of course, it is well documented that there are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of entirely innocent Americans on the so called “no fly” list.

“The government should heed the very real complaints of countless Americans who object to the invasive new procedures and develop security measures that are safe, effective and respect civil liberties.” the ACLU’s Jay Stanley said.

“We must strive to be safe without abandoning our most sacred freedoms.” the senior analyst added.

According to the ACLU, recurring themes in the hundreds of reports they have received include:

• The searches are extremely invasive

• Many travelers are reporting intense feelings of violation and humiliation

• Some report being physically hurt by the searches

• Some feel their searches are punitive

• Reports of gawking by agents

• Reports of seemingly unnecessary repeated touching of intimate areas

• Many vow not to fly any more

• Any traveler may be forced to undergo one of these searches

This is the new America. The public fearing that they will be placed on a government database of subversives if they dare speak out over being zapped with ionizing radiation, photographed naked and aggressively groped by government agents, all in the name of protecting their liberties.

The only way such outright abuse of power will be halted is if the majority of Americans say no. A government watch list comprised of hundreds of million people is useless anyway. If the American people continue to hold their tongues, this tyranny will quickly expand beyond the airports and into everyday life.

If you have been on the receiving end of a TSA groping or have been forced through a naked body scanner, we implore you to file a complaint both with the ACLU here or here and with the TSA here.

Other ways to complain

Survey on the Spot is a third-party survey company that conducts feedback surveys for the TSA. Access the survey online or through an iPhone app. To submit a complaint, search for “TSA” in the text block. You will then select the TSA location closest to you. You will be asked, among other things, to:

• Rate the thoroughness of the passenger screening you received.

• Rate your confidence in the TSA’s ability to keep air travel secure.

• Be asked whether body-scan technology be used in passenger screening.

At the end of the survey, you will have a chance to submit a free text complaint. Note: It is unclear whether these responses are compiled with other complaints, so it is important that you fill out the TSA-designed complaint as well.

My TSA is an iPhone app produced by the Transportation Security Administration. Select “About” in the upper right-hand corner, then select “Provide Feedback to TSA.” You’ll be able to submit a free text complaint of up to 4,000 characters.

When you are at the airport, you have a right to complain to a supervisor at the security screening area. If you don’t want to speak to someone while going through security, you may also complain to one of the airport’s Customer Service Managers.

You can also submit a written complaint to:

Email: TSA.OCR-ExternalCompliance@dhs.gov

Postal mail:

Transportation Security Administration

Office of Civil Rights and Liberties (TSA-6)

External Compliance Division

601 S. 12th Street

Arlington, VA 20598

You may also submit a complaint to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties.

Email: civil.liberties@dhs.gov

Postal mail:

Department of Homeland Security

Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Review and Compliance

245 Murray Lane, SW

Building 410, Mail Stop #0190

Washington, DC 20528

Telephone:

Toll Free: 1-866-644-8360

Toll Free TTY: 1-866-644-8361

Fax: 202-401-4708

The Electronic Privacy Information Center is collecting incident reports about passenger experiences during airport security screening through an online form.

Let EFF Know

If you submitted a complaint to the TSA, the EFF asks that you forward a copy to toTSAComplaints@eff.org.

When you submit complaints to EFF, its lawyers will compare them to complaints EFF receives through Freedom of Information Act requests. The EFF states that it will not use a copy of your complaint for any other purpose without your prior permission. However, if you wish to allow the EFF to use your complaint for advocacy and public discussion purposes, you can give them permission when you submit the complaint.

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