Exposure: The woman behind the camera at Abu Ghraib

One of the speakers at our annual Bill of Rights Dinner this year will be Errol Morris, director of the Berlin Film Festival prize-winning film, S.O.P.: Standard Operating Procedure. In this film, Morris examines the incidents of abuse and torture of prisoners at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.

In last week's New Yorker, Morris has co-written a long, fascinating article about Specialist Sabrina Harman, the soldier who took many of the infamous photos of abuse at the Abu Ghraib prison. It's about what conditions were like and why she did what she did.

One year after the New Bedford raid, has anything changed?

Today marks one year since the raid on the Michael Bianco factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has said that it has learned its lesson. But raids continue at an alarming pace, both in workplaces and in homes.

In the past year, ICE carried out over one hundred workplace and home raids, and it plans to do more. In Fiscal Year 2007, ICE deported 276,912 persons - an all time record - and this year promises to be no different, with immigration detention now being the fastest growing form of incarceration in the country.

Immediately following the New Bedford raid, ACLUM, together with other advocates, filed a lawsuit challenging ICE’s practices. While a court ultimately found that jurisdictional issues prevented it from hearing the case, it said that it hoped “ICE .. will treat this … series of events as a learning experience in order to devise better, less ham-handed ways of carrying out its important responsibilities.”

Yesterday at a press conference, ICE chief Julie Myers continued to defend the New Bedford raid, stating that no children were left stranded. Of course, we know that this simply is not true. On the day of the raid, community groups counted 200 affected children and could name those who had been left without a caretaker. While ICE, at the insistence of Senator Kerry, has come up with humanitarian standards to be used when carrying out large raids, problems continue, and the “ham-handed” approach still seems to dominate.

Just last month, the ACLU of Southern California was forced to bring a lawsuit when 100 immigrants were arrested in a workplace raid and ICE denied their lawyers the ability to accompany them to interviews where officials questioned them about their status.

Without binding rules and extensive training on how to conduct enforcement actions, each raid is an opportunity for abuse.

In Massachusetts, fear and distrust of authorities continues in immigrant communities, leading to crimes going unreported and previously active members of communities going underground. The Boston Globe recently reported that a pair of robbers dressed as police officers were targeting homes of undocumented immigrants because they knew that they would not report the robberies.

ACLUM continues to fight against unjust policies that put families and communities at risk by challenging illegal conduct and educating the public about ICE abuses.

Keith Olbermann discusses FISA with John Dean

On Feb. 9, as the U.S. Senate prepared to give legal immunity to telecoms that went along with the White House's warrantless surveillance of American citizens, former White House Counsel John Dean discussed the issue with Keith Olbermann.

Keith Olbermann was one of our guest speakers at the ACLU of Massachusetts Bill of Rights Dinner 2007, and John Dean will be one of our speakers at our next Bill of Rights Dinner, on May 28, 2008.

Press Release: Ellsberg, Maddow to headline ACLU of Mass. Membership Conference

Amid 2008 election season, gathering will focus on "Reclaiming Our Civil Liberties," Saturday at Bentley College

BOSTON -- More than 300 people from Cape Cod to the Berkshires plan to attend the first annual membership conference of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, this Saturday, January 26, 2008, at Bentley College in Waltham. The conference theme is "Reclaiming Our Civil Liberties."

WHAT: ACLU Membership Conference: Reclaiming Our Civil Liberties
WHERE: Bentley College, Waltham, Massachusetts, Lindsay Hall, 1st Floor
WHEN: January 26, 2008, 12–6 pm

Speakers include Daniel Ellsberg, the writer, activist, and former U.S. military analyst who released the Pentagon Papers in 1971, and Rachel Maddow, the Air America host and frequent commentator on networks such as MSNBC, CNN, and LOGO. Ellsberg will speak on "2008 and Beyond: What will it take to end the abuse of power?" Maddow's speech is entitled "Don't Wait for November '08!"

The conference also features ten workshops:

• Moving Beyond the War on Drugs
  
• Confronting the Surveillance Society: Real ID, NSA Spying, Warrantless Wiretapping, and Fusion Centers
  
• Torture, Rendition and Guantánamo
  
• Next Steps for LGBT Rights
  
• Freedom of Speech and Association in the Post 9/11 World
  
• Racial, Ethnic & Religious Profiling in the Post 9/11 World
  
• Ensuring Reproductive Freedom
  
• Which Way Forward for the Immigrant Rights Movement?
  
• Blogging for Civil Liberties
  
• Building and Sustaining Strong Student Groups
  

"Many of us concerned about the abuses of power we've seen in our country in recent years are focused on the 2008 elections. That's important, but for our conference this year, we've chosen to focus on specific issues and what individual people can do about them," said Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. "The erosion of our civil liberties has been so severe that it is unlikely that the next president and Congress alone will be able to undo the damage. We need the sustained involvement of concerned, committed citizens, and that is what the ACLU is working to develop."

News: Greenberg rejoins law firm

The Worcester Telegram notes a retired Appeals Court judge's involvement in the local chapter of the ACLU.

Press Release: ACLU of Massachusetts Salutes Adams Pro Bono Publico Award Recipients

BOSTON - The ACLU of Massachusetts salutes the recipients of the sixth annual Adams Pro Bono Publico awards, conferred on June 4th by the Supreme Judicial Court Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services. The awards recognize outstanding commitment to providing volunteer legal services for the poor and disadvantaged in Massachusetts.

This year's recipients were Attorney Leigh-Ann Patterson Durant of Lexington, Associate General Counsel of Clinical Trials and Medical Affairs for EMD Serono, Inc. in Rockland, and formerly of Nixon Peabody LLP; Attorney Holly Sanborn Dyar of Kingston, a solo practitioner in Plymouth; and the Boston office of the law firm of Dechert, LLP.

The SJC Committee also recognized the pro bono work of approximately seventy attorneys in private practice who volunteered to represent people detained or affected by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials' raid in New Bedford on March 6, 2007. Attorneys from the ACLU of Massachusetts and Greater Boston Legal Services have also been working-within hours of the raid-to assist detainees and their families.

"The rule of law and our country's ideals of equality can be compromised when legal representation is out of financial reach," said Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. "We commend these attorneys for their unselfish devotion to fairness, as well as the Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services for recognizing the importance of this service."

For more information about the Adams Awards, the recipients, and their work, please see the SJC's press release:

http://www.mass.gov/courts/press/pr060507_print.html

Feature: Take five with Keith Olbermann

In advance of his appearance at an ACLU banquet tomorrow, the Boston Globe is running a "Take Five" feature on its homepage with Keith Olbermann's answers to five questions.

Olbermann is an MSNBC anchor who has attracted a loyal following thanks to his sharp critiques of the war in Iraq, and will serve as one of our headline speakers at tomorrow's Bill of Rights Dinner.

Press Release: ACLU Honors Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift and Prof. Neal Katyal

MSNBC Anchor Keith Olbermann and Humorist Roy Blount, Jr. to Headline Sold-Out Bill of Rights Dinner

BOSTON - During its annual Bill of Rights Dinner at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel on Thursday, May 31, the ACLU of Massachusetts Foundation will honor Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift and Georgetown Law Professor Neal Katyal. Swift and Katyal sued the U.S. government in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that the military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay violate both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the four Geneva Conventions.

Keith Olbermann, MSNBC anchor and host of "Countdown With Keith Olbermann," will speak at the event. Olbermann is known for his sharp critiques of the war in Iraq and was dubbed "The Most Honest Man in News" by Rolling Stone magazine in February.

Humorist Roy Blount Jr. will speak as well. Blount is a panelist on NPR's popular "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me" program and is author of nineteen books, most recently Feet on the Street: Rambles Around New Orleans.

ACLUM's annual Bill of Rights Dinner, which takes place this year at Boston's Park Plaza Hotel beginning at 6:00 pm, is sold-out, but spaces on a waiting list are available. Call 617.482.3170 extension 335, or email mwarde@aclum.org for wait-list details.

ACLU of Massachusetts board members Arnie Reisman and Jodie Silverman serve as co-chairs for the event. The dinner's host committee includes Anne & Ramon Alonso, Ron Ansin & Jim Stork, Elyse Cherry, Christian Draz, Thomas Dwyer, Jr., Richard Ferrante & Tobie Weiner, Frank Fisher & Ellen Paradise Fisher, Celia & Walter Gilbert, Robert A. Glassman, Holly Gunner & Anne Chalmers, Paul & Patricia Hogan, Ambassador Swanee Hunt & Charles Ansbacher, Jeffrey F. Jones, Wendy Kaminer & Woody Kaplan, Carol Master & Sherry Mayrent, Alex MacDonald & Maureen Strafford, Paul and Ann B. Sagan, Norma & Ben Shapiro, Drs. John & Holly Thomas, and Kate & Phil Villers.

For more details about the honorees, speakers, and the event, see: http://acluma.convio.net/site/Calendar/1412640139?view=Detail&id=100321

News: ACLUM suit makes Tennessee paper

In Airport will add a face check, the Memphis Commercial Appeal mentions an ACLU lawsuit to stop profiling at Logan Airport.

Editorial: Real ID, unrealistic law

The Boston Globe says plans for the coming national identity card should be scrapped, and mentions the ACLU's opposition: Real ID, unrealistic law.

News: HRJ Conference Reviews 20 Years in Human Rights Advocacy, Teaching

The Harvard Law School Record gives ACLUM's Executive Director, Carol Rose, a mention as an example of what its graduates will be able to do.

Press Release: ACLUM joins lawsuit to protect rights of workers swept away in last week’s raid

BOSTON – Calling the rushed mass transfer of people detained in last week’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid at a New Bedford factory an abuse of power, the ACLU of Massachusetts (ACLUM) has joined a lawsuit filed in federal court for a writ of habeas corpus and for injunctive and declaratory relief.

The lawsuit alleges that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) violated the rights of workers when it conducted a massive raid last week. Since the immigration raid, hundreds of individuals have been shipped out to detention centers as far away as Texas and Florida, leaving behind devastated and distraught families. The lawsuit alleges, among other things, that despite assurances from ICE to the contrary, attorneys and the Department of Social Services have been denied meaningful access to the workers and have been unable to provide the support they were willing and able to provide.

Last week, lawyers from several groups raced against the clock to file an emergency petition for the detainees to remain in Massachusetts, only to find that ICE put most of them on planes and flew them out of the state. “It’s unfortunate that federal immigration officials were so quick to ship people out of state that any attempts at keeping the detainees from being transferred out of Massachusetts was impossible,” said ACLUM’s Equal Justice Works Fellow, Anjali Waikar.

The raid took place early in the morning on Tuesday, March 6, 2007, at the Michael Bianco, Inc., plant in New Bedford, where workers were busy stitching armored vests and backpacks for U.S. soldiers. The owner and managers of the factory were charged criminally for conspiring to hire illegal immigrants, but they were quickly released from custody that same day and have since been allowed to travel to Puerto Rico for a business meeting.

Many of the workers had small children who were in daycare or school when the raids took place and found themselves without parents that evening. Advocates know of at least 70 detained parents of minor children and estimate that at least 210 children have been impacted by the raid.

“These people work hard to care for their families, and their job is to provide armor for our troops,” said ACLUM attorney Laura Rótolo. “While the company’s managers were released and sleeping in their own beds on the same day they were arrested, the workers were separated from their families and transferred halfway across the country.” Rótolo was at the detention facility until 4 am the night after the raid as part of a legal team attempting to help detainees.

“The ACLU of Massachusetts denounces these tactics, which not only ignore people’s rights but are carried out so quickly that there is not even time to assert those rights,” said Executive Director Carol Rose. “This is an abuse of power, and children are now suffering because of the government’s misguided rush to eject people.”

-end-

News: Lynn's ‘broken windows’ policing not a new theory

Reporter Jill Casey quotes ACLUM's Legal Director, John Reinstein, in this story for the Lynn Daily Item on "broken windows" policing.

News: Could it happen here?

Ethan Jacobs at Bay Windows wrote this comprehensive and disturbing story about what a campaign to defeat the anti-marriage amendment might look like if it goes to the ballot. The article quotes ACLUM's new Communications Manager, Chris Ott, who worked on a similar campaign in Wisconsin.

News: Democracy at risk, ACLU head warns

The Berkshire Eagle carried this story about remarks by ACLUM's Executive Director, Carol Rose, at Berkshire College.

News: 2nd try at restricting offenders

Coverage of controversy over sex-offender restrictions in the Globe, quoting Ron Madnick, director of ACLUM's Worcester office.

News: Forum to give 'voice to the excluded'

Advance coverage of ACLUM's "An Evening Without" event featuring the works of banned authors, in the Springfield Republican. This story probably helped turnout: more than 350 attended.

News: Workers, families unsure of next step after raid

New Bedford Standard-Times mentions presence of ACLUM's Human Rights Fellow, Laura Rótolo, on legal team assisting ICE detainees.

Press Release: ACLU and Disability Law Center Applaud Secretary Galvin’s Decision on New Voting Technology

BOSTON – The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the Disability Law Center today again joined forces to applaud Secretary of State William F. Galvin’s decision to approve the use in Massachusetts elections of a ballot marking voting machine that is both accessible and secure.

“Voting equipment that is both accessible and secure is essential to ensuring the integrity of the entire elections system in the Commonwealth,” said Carol Rose, Executive Director of the ACLU of Massachusetts. “The Secretary’s decision to fund an automatic ballot marking system best ensures that Massachusetts voters with disabilities – and thus all voters – are guaranteed equal access to a secure ballot.”

Stanley J. Eichner, Executive Director of the Disability Law Center, also welcomed the Secretary’s decision. “The automatic ballot marking device has consistently received the highest overall ratings from the disability community,” he said. “Providing secure voting machines for voters with disabilities is part and parcel of protecting their rights to equal access to the ballot and to having their votes reliably counted.”

In January, the ACLU of Massachusetts and the Disability Law Center urged the Secretary to fund the ballot marking machines and to avoid purchasing direct electronic recording (DRE) systems. Although both types of voting technology had been certified for use in Massachusetts, only one technology is to receive state funding under the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.

From an accessibility perspective, the automatic ballot marking device permits disabled voters to use Braille, jelly buttons, a puff-sip interface and audio technology to mark a paper ballot, which can be counted by optical scan or by hand. In contrast, the direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines both mark and count votes, and are considered by many voting security experts to be prone to error and vulnerable to tampering.

“DREs are susceptible to both intentional system-wide tampering and accidental ‘bugs,’ since a single programmer at a DRE manufacturer could conceivably change the code in many or all of the DRE products without detection,” said Rose. “DREs also carry the danger of statistical tampering—changing the software to miscount an undetectable, but significant, number of votes in favor of, or against, one party or candidate or issue.”

“The decision by the Secretary shows that it is both possible and essential to build common ground between the disability rights community and the growing number of citizens who are concerned that many of the proposed new technologies are subject to tampering and error,” said Eichner. “We must debunk the myth that we have to choose between accessible voting and verifiable voting. Democracy requires that we have both.”

To read the letter to Sec. Galvin, go to www.aclum.org/news/ACLUM_DLC-Galvin.pdf and www.dlc.org.

-end-

News: Proposal targets illegal immigrants

Boston Globe quotes Sarah Wunsch, staff attorney, in story on proposed local law requiring business owners and landlords to provide proof they are not hiring or renting to undocumented immigrants.