ACLU Action Update: Congress Must Protect Against Domestic Spying

["Archie" <archie@moscow.com>]

Visionaries;
This should be of interest to many on the list.  I believe we are losing the very freedoms this
nation stands for.
Archie George, Moscow

----- Original Message -----
From: <action@dcaclu.org>
To: <aclu_list@capwiz.mailmanager.net>
Sent: Wednesday, June 05, 2002 2:54 AM
Subject: 06-05-02 -- ACLU Action Update: Congress Must Protect Against Domestic Spying


> TO: ACLU Action Network
> FR: Jared Feuer, Internet Organizer
> DT: June 5, 2002
>
> 1). Attorney General Guts Domestic Spying Restrictions
> 2). The ACLU Needs You Now More Than Ever!
>
> 1). Last week, Attorney General John Ashcroft gutted restrictions on the FBI's spying on domestic
religious and political organizations.  These constraints, some of the most fundamental controls of
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, were originally imposed on the FBI in the 1970s when it was
learned that the Bureau had engaged in decades of widespread domestic surveillance of individuals
involved in anti-war and civil rights activities.
>
> Under Ashcroft's new guidelines, the FBI is free to conduct undercover spying in any house of
worship or political group -- even if there is not a shred of evidence that someone in the group
has or plans to break the law.  Further, the FBI is also allowed to openly snoop through the
Internet, credit card data and such purchases as books and pharmacy items.
>
> The government's failure to process data that it had prior to the tragic attacks of September 11
does not argue for more data collection, it argues for better analysis.  Failure of the government
to assess this data must not be used to permanently expand unchecked government power or to
diminish the Bill of Rights.
>
> Take Action!  You can read more and send a FREE FAX to your Members of Congress, urging them to
call on Ashcroft to overturn these new guidelines from our action alert at:
>
> http://www.aclu.org/action/spy107.html
>
> 2). The ACLU Needs You Now More Than Ever! From CNN to The New York Times, from CBS and the other
major networks to The Washington Post and newspapers across the country, last week the ACLU was the
most prominent critic of Attorney General Ashcroft's decision to gut the domestic spying
guidelines.  You can help strengthen our already powerful voice in this country by becoming a
card-carrying member of the ACLU. Click below to join today!
>
> http://www.aclu.org/action/joinaclu.html