ACLU Demands Immediate Release of Inspector General Report on FBI's Role in Illegal Interrogations

On the heels of President Bush directly admitting that the White House was deeply and intimately involved in decisions about the CIA’s use of torture, the ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request this week with the Departments of Justice and Defense for the release of a report on a long-running investigation of the FBI's role in the unlawful interrogations of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay.

The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) launched the investigation after internal government documents - uncovered by an ACLU lawsuit - revealed that FBI agents stationed at Guantánamo Bay expressed concern after witnessing military interrogators' use of brutal interrogation techniques.

Sacramento Public Library meeting on Thursday, April 24, 3:00 PM at the Board of Supervisors Chambers, 700 H St.

Internet Censorship at Libraries in Sacramento, San Jose

With the growth of the Internet as a pivotal means of accessing information at the library, attempts to censor reading material are alive and well. ACLU-NC is concerned about library Internet use policies in Sacramento and San Jose.

The Sacramento policy requires blocking software on all public library computers and San Jose is currently considering whether to install such software on its computers. Studies have shown that such blocking software improperly prevents access to important political, reproductive health, and LGBT issues. The Sacramento policy further infringes on First Amendment rights by directing library staff to also ask an Internet user to “end a search or change a screen,” if the content is deemed to be “subject matter that would interfere with the maintenance of a safe, welcoming and comfortable environment.”

Restrictive Internet use policies are particularly harmful to low-income communities and communities of color who often rely on public library computers for computer access. Read More »

ACLU, Lawyers’ Committee and S.F. City Attorney Agree To Removal Process from Gang Injunction Lists

Civil rights attorneys will monitor City Attorney’s implementation of the opt-out process

For Immediate Release: March 24, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO – A new process that allows people who have been placed on a gang injunction enforcement list to petition to have themselves removed by showing that they are no longer active gang members is a positive step, say ACLU of Northern California and LCCR attorneys, who today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the San Francisco City Attorney. The agreement follows months of negotiation.

“We continue to have serious concerns with gang injunctions,” said ACLU-NC Legal Director Alan Schlosser. “They pose the danger of sweeping too broadly, and historically in California have had a disparate and stigmatizing impact on people and communities of color. However, since San Francisco has chosen to use gang injunctions, it is important to have a clear and transparent opt out process to provide hope to targeted individuals that these restrictions will not become a lifetime sentence.”

[From the ACLU-NC website]

Library Censorship - Same Old Issue, New Medium

San Jose and Sacramento are currently debating whether to censor access to internet information at their libraries. The internet has become a pivotal means of accessing information at the library and with its growth in importance, the age-old issues of library censorship have followed.

To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple, and Heather Has Two Mommies are just a small selection of material that some have tried to keep off library shelves because the content made them “uncomfortable.” But it has always been the duty of the library to offend a few in order to ensure that all have a means to be truly educated about the many sides of an issue.

Children’s librarian Dorothy Broderick says that every library in the country ought to have a sign on the door reading: “This library has something offensive to everyone. If you are not offended by something we own, please complain.”

California Backs Off Real ID

In a Tuesday letter (pdf) to Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff, the head of California's DMV said that while California had already applied for and gotten an extension on the Real ID deadline, it wasn't actually committing to complying with Real ID rules by 2010. That's when states who ask for extension have to begin issuing driver's licenses and state IDs that comply with the federal rules.

Support Open Access - Urge Library Board to Repeal Internet Censorship Policy

The Sacramento Library Board will be debating whether to continue censoring access to internet information at its libraries at its meeting on March 27, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. at the City of Sacramento Board of Supervisors Chambers. If you live or work in Sacramento, please call and email the Library Board members and attend the meeting to urge them to support access to information and repeal the current internet use policy that censors internet access.

The internet has become a pivotal means of accessing information and with its growth in importance, the age-old issues of library censorship have followed.