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FOIA Documents Show FBI Using “Mosque Outreach” for Intelligence Gathering

March 30, 2012 Comments off

FOIA Documents Show FBI Using “Mosque Outreach” for Intelligence Gathering
Source: American Civil Liberties Union

For several years, the FBI’s San Francisco office conducted a “Mosque Outreach” program through which it collected and illegally stored intelligence about American Muslims’ First Amendment-protected beliefs and religious practices, according to government documents released today by the American Civil Liberties Union from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the ACLU of Northern California, Asian Law Caucus and the San Francisco Bay Guardian.

The San Francisco FBI’s own documents show that it recorded Muslim religious leaders’ and congregants’ identities, personal information and religious views and practices. The documents also show that the FBI labeled this information as “positive intelligence” and disseminated it to other government agencies, placing the people and organizations involved at risk of greater law enforcement scrutiny as potential national security threats. None of the documents indicate that the FBI told individuals interviewed that their information and views were being collected as intelligence and would be recorded and disseminated.

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New ACLU Report Documents Destructive Impact of Prison Privatization

November 4, 2011 Comments off

New ACLU Report Documents Destructive Impact of Prison Privatization
Source: American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union today released a new report providing the first comprehensive analysis of the destructive impact of prison privatization.

The report, “Banking on Bondage: Private Prisons and Mass Incarceration,” traces the rise of the for-profit prison industry over the past three decades and shows how private prison companies have capitalized on the nation’s addiction to incarceration to achieve gigantic profits. All the while, the report shows, mass incarceration wreaks havoc on communities by unnecessarily depriving individuals of their liberty, draining government resources and bringing little or no benefit to public safety.

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ACLU Report Highlights Ways to Reduce State Budgets and Prison Populations

August 12, 2011 Comments off

ACLU Report Highlights Ways to Reduce State Budgets and Prison Populations
Source: American Civil Liberties Union

Bipartisan reforms in historically “tough on crime” states have significantly reduced incarceration rates, saved taxpayers billions of dollars, lowered crime rates and should be emulated nationwide, according to a new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The report, “Smart Reform is Possible: States Reducing Incarceration Rates and Costs While Protecting Communities,” underscores the need for states to enact cost-effective and evidence-based policies that save states money and combat the nation’s addiction to incarceration. The nation’s pre-trial, sentencing and parole systems have made the U.S. the largest incarcerator in the world, hitting communities of color the hardest. One in 99 adults is living behind bars in the U.S., and though whites commit crimes at comparable rates and make up a majority of the country’s population, 60 percent of prison inmates are people of color.

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ACLU Report Calls for Radical Reforms to Combat Government Secrecy

August 1, 2011 Comments off

ACLU Report Calls for Radical Reforms to Combat Government Secrecy
Source: American Civil Liberties Union

In the years since 9/11 the United States government has spent over a trillion dollars on national security measures that have increased government secrecy exponentially. A new report by the American Civil Liberties Union, “Drastic Measures Required,” illustrates the vast and systemic use of secrecy, including secret agencies, secret committees in Congress, a secret court and even secret laws, to keep government activities away from public scrutiny.

“Drastic Measures Required” highlights the significant powers Congress holds under the Constitution to stem the tide of government secrecy: the authority to regulate the military and national security activities, as well as the tools to investigate executive branch authorities. The report lays out specific recommendations for Congress to help turn the tide of excessive government secrecy – including reforming the misused state secrets privilege, strengthening congressional oversight of national security programs and enacting legislation to limit and regulate the executive branch’s classification power.

+ Full Report(PDF)

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