American Civil Liberties Union
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• ACLU Asks Full Spy Court to Reconsider Refusal to Release Legal Rulings
  NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a motion with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) asking the full court to reconsider a recent decision by Judge John D. Bates refusing to disclose orders and legal papers pertaining to the scope of the government's authority to engage in the secret wiretapping of Americans and the court's interpretation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
• Federal Judge Wrongly Allows Exclusion of Renowned Muslim Scholar
  NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union strongly criticized a federal judge’s ruling today that allows the government’s exclusion of renowned Swiss scholar Tariq Ramadan from the U.S. The ACLU continues to believe that Ramadan, a leading European academic whose work addresses Muslim identity and the role of Islam in democratic societies, remains banned due to his political viewpoints.
• House Judiciary Committee Discusses Detainee Interrogations
  Washington, DC – As the House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing today to examine whether federal criminal laws apply to the interrogations of detainees, the American Civil Liberties Union reiterates its call that Attorney General Mukasey appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any violations of federal criminal laws, including possible obstruction of justice, that resulted from these interrogations.
• ACLU Demands Records of CIA Tape Destruction From White House, FBI
  NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today filed papers asking a federal judge to order the White House, the FBI, and other government agencies to produce all records in their possession relating to the destruction of two videotapes by CIA operatives in 2005 as well as transcripts and summaries of the tapes. The ACLU’s filing comes in the wake of revelations that administration officials took part in discussions with the CIA about whether to destroy the tapes, which show the harsh interrogations of two prisoners in U.S. custody, Abu Zubaida and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri. Today’s filing is an addendum to a motion to hold the CIA in contempt of court filed by the ACLU last week.
• ACLU Demands Disclosure of Legal Memos Justifying Illegal Spying
  WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union, the National Security Archive and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) today filed papers urging a federal judge to compel the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to disclose legal and policy memos relating to the National Security Agency’s (NSA) warrantless wiretapping program. Two years after the media’s disclosure that the NSA was secretly intercepting the phone calls and emails of people in the United States without a warrant in direct violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the government continues to withhold documents that could shed light on its legal justification for the program.
• Military Commission Judge Rebuffs Bush Administration and Applies Geneva Conventions to Guantánamo Detainee
  NEW YORK – In a rebuke to Bush administration policy, a military commission judge found Monday that Guantánamo Bay detainee Salim Ahmed Hamdan is entitled to a determination of whether he is a prisoner of war protected by the Geneva Conventions, which govern the rights and treatment of captives in wartime.
• Pivotal Domestic Spying Debate Begins Today, Congress Decides on Warrantless Wiretapping and Telecom Immunity
  Washington, DC – As the debate over domestic spying begins in the US Senate today, the American Civil Liberties Union urges senators to reject the Bush administration’s spying free-for-all and not provide immunity to telecommunications companies that broke the law over the past six years.
• ACLU Letter to the Senate Urging A "No" Vote on Cloture and "Yes" to Stripping Immunity During the Debate On The FISA Amendments Act of 2007
  
• Victory for Civil Liberties
  Washington, D.C. – In a clear victory for civil libertarians, the debate over domestic spying is delayed until after the holiday recess. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) announced the delay tonight on the floor of the U.S. Senate after Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) led an effort to keep immunity for telecommunications companies out of Senate legislation.
• ACLU Slams Wider Spying By NSA, Demands Congress Rein in Spy Powers, Block Telecom Immunity
  Washington, DC – This week the Senate will consider making vast changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and will determine whether telecommunications companies should be held liable for their role in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program. The New York Times ran a story today that elaborated on the administration and National Security Agency’s domestic spying partnerships with certain phone companies. The following is a statement from Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office.
• Bush Administration Rebukes Congress and Courts, Stymieing Investigations of Destroyed CIA Videotapes
  NEW YORK -- In a stunning rebuke of the constitutional system of checks and balances, the Justice Department — in a single 24-hour period — has warned a federal judge to back-off of his inquiry into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes, has told Congress to delay its own investigation into the matter, and has refused to cooperate with congressional inquiries into its own role in the elimination of the videotaped evidence.
• ACLU Opposes Government’s Attempt to Throw Out Rendition Case Under Guise of "State Secrets"
  NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed legal papers opposing the CIA’s attempt to throw out a lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for its participation in the CIA’s "extraordinary rendition" program. The ACLU charged that the U.S. government is improperly invoking the "state secrets" privilege to avoid judicial scrutiny of this unlawful policy.
• Coalition Letter to the Senate Urging Opposition to the Senate Intelligence Committe's Version of the FISA Amendments Act of 2007
  
• Specter Substitution is Immunity by Another Name
  Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to reject a bill offered by ranking member Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA). Senator Specter’s bill, the FISA Intelligence Surveillance Substitution Act of 2007, would remove the telecommunications companies and insert the federal government as the defendant in cases currently pending over domestic spying. The bill is scheduled to be marked up by the full Senate Judiciary Committee today.
• ACLU Urges Congress Not to Repeat History With FISA
  Washington, DC – Director of National Intelligence, Michael McConnell, and Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, were scheduled to hold a closed congressional briefing today with legislation aimed at amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). The Senate is expected to vote in the coming days on FISA legislation largely shaped by the White House and passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee. The bill includes a provision that would give immunity to telecommunications companies who aided in the administration’s domestic spying. Also today, a bill introduced by Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) that would substitute the government as the plaintiff in cases currently pending against the telecoms was voted down in a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
• ACLU Outlines Reasons Why Independent Prosecutor Is Necessary
  Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today sent a detailed 12-page letter to all members of Congress urging them to demand that Attorney General Mukasey appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate and prosecute any violations of federal criminal laws related to the interrogation of detainees, including any obstruction of justice.
• ACLU Asks Majority Leader Reid to Allow the Senate to Vote for Fourth Amendment Protections, Cheers Senato