U.S. Government Reports on Surveillance:
DOJ Report Confirms Deficient Domestic Intelligence Oversight
Justice Department Report on Improper FBI Monitoring of Activists
Dissent and Surveillance
Dissent and Surveillance Overview
Headlines & Opinion
- Former Fed Informant Now Suing FBI
- WikiLeaks: Private Intelligence Company Paid to Monitor Activists’ Activities
- Groups Urge Senate to Hold Confirmation Hearings to Ensure Privacy and Civil Liberties are Protected
- Investigation of Anti-war Activists Remains Active
- ACLU: FBI used outreach to Spy on Muslims
- Lawsuit Alleges Government Spy Infiltrated Civil Rights Group
- Mixed Ruling in Lawsuit Seeking To Shed Light On FBI Investigation Manual
- Activist Group Wins Internet Free Speech Ruling
- Conservatives Seek Updating 4th Amendment Protections for the Digital Age
- JUSTICE Act Targets Patriot Act Abuses
- DOJ Appeals Warrantless Wiretapping Ruling
- Document Sheds Light on Military Spying on Peace Groups
- Government Wants Access to Wiretap the Internet
- The G-Men Who Kicked the Hornets Nest
- Penn. Governor Apologizes for Treating Activists Like Terrorists
- Widespread Surveillance of Peace Activists in Washington State
- Listed Charity Proposes Government Pay Damages to Another Charity
- Judge Rule Warantless Wiretap of Charity was Unconstitutional
- President Asked to Nominate Appointees to Privacy and Civil Liberties Board
- Planned Parenthood and Others were Target of Unlawful Intelligence Gathering
- Will Lieberman Use Fort Hood Shooting to Crush our Right to be Radical?
- Documents Show Govt Intelligence Gathering Conducted on Peaceful Protests
- Court Orders Return of CAIR Documents
Patriot Act
- (un)Patriot Act Turns Ten
- Patriot Act Spying Powers Extended until 2015
- New JUSTICE Act Would Target Patriot Act Abuses
- Senate Votes to Extend Patriot Act 90 Days
- Dueling Patriot Act Reauthorization Bills Differ on Timing and Safeguards
- DOJ Rejects Calls to Reform Patriot Act
- Senator asks DOJ for Patriot Act Oversight
FBI
- Investigation of Anti-war Activists Remains Active
- Revised Guidelines Lower FBI’s Surveillance Bar
- Expanded FBI Surveillance Powers Raise Serious Privacy Concerns
- FBI Documents Left During Raid Reveal Political Nature of Investigation
- Bank Freezes Account of Midwest Activist
- Lowered Standards for Domestic Surveillance Led to Thousands Targeted by FBI
- Lawsuit Alleges FBI used Indiscriminate Surveillance at Mosques
- FBI Infiltrated Peace Groups
- Nationwide Protests Over FBI Subpoenas
- FBI Asked to Stop Targeting Activists by Human Rights and Civil Society Groups
- DOJ Cancels Subpoenas of Anti-War Protestors After Flurry of Protests
- Subpoenas Issued in Chicago and Minneapolis Targeting Anti-War Activists
- Senate Hearings Review Problems with FBI Surveillance Guidelines
- ACLU Make Inquiry on FBI Racial Profiling Practices
- Muslim Charity Lawsuit Seeks FBI Guidelines on Surveilling Charities and Mosques
- Court Orders Review of FBI Records as Complaints Emerge
- American Muslim Frustration towards FBI Boils Over
Fusion Centers
- Massachusetts Bill Calls for Oversight of Fusion Centers
- Fusion Center Analyst Caught Spying on Peaceful Protestors
- House Hearing on Fusion Centers
RNC 8
Former Fed Informant Now Suing FBI
A former FBI informant who infiltrated several California mosques in 2006 has joined the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) lawsuit against the FBI for its controversial spying program, according to the Guardian on March 20, 2012. This and other incidents such as the NYPD's secret CIA-backed intelligence gathering operation aimed at innocent Muslim-Americans in the New York and New Jersey area appear to indicate that law enforcement is unfairly targeting people based on their religious beliefs. Monteilh agrees, saying, “The way the FBI conducts their operations, It is all about entrapment … I know the game, I know the dynamics of it. It’s such a joke, a real joke. There is no real hunt. It’s fixed.”
WikiLeaks: Private Intelligence Company Paid to Monitor Activists’ Activities
On Feb. 27, 2012, WikiLeaks began releasing emails from Stratfor, a private intelligence firm based in Texas, that indicate the company was monitoring the legal activities of political groups around the world. The emails reveal a pattern of conduct that is designed to intimidate and harass activists, thus effectively denying the rights to free speech and peaceful protest. This is the second release of previously confidential material exposed by Wikileaks. In September 2011, a searchable archive of over 250,000 unredacted U.S. State Department cables became available on the internet.
Lawsuit Alleges FBI Informant Used Indiscriminate Surveillance At California Mosques
The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) violated the First Amendment rights of hundreds of Muslim Americans by using a former convict to infiltrate several California mosques, says a lawsuit filed on Feb. 22, 2011. The lawsuit alleges Muslim Americans were targeted by the FBI solely for their religious beliefs, and this conduct adversely affected their community and religious donations. Filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California and Council on American-Islamic Relations Los Angeles office on behalf of three plaintiffs, the suit seeks unspecified damages and the destruction or return of information the FBI collected.
Groups Urge Senate to Hold Confirmation Hearings to Ensure Privacy and Civil Liberties are Protected
A diverse coalition of twenty groups sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 13, 2012 requesting it to promptly hold confirmation hearings on President Obama's nominees to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). “President Obama has finally offered a full bipartisan slate of candidates to serve on this essential oversight board. It is now time for the Senate to carry out its duties,” the groups told Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA), the committee's chairman and ranking member. The PCLOB is intended to play a vital, independent role in overseeing the privacy and civil liberties implications of national security programs and policies, but no one has been confirmed to serve on it.
Al-Haramain Proposes U.S. Pay Damages for Illegal Surveillance to Another Charity
The legal proceedings following a federal court's March 2010 ruling in Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHIF) v. Obama that the government illegally wiretapped the charity and two of its lawyers from Feb. 19, 2004 to Sept. 9, 2004 have raised a novel issue: can the government pay a damage award to a listed terrorist organization? Lawyers for AHIF have proposed a novel solution, asking the court to turn over AHIF's share of the damages to one or more other charities.
Government Ordered to Pay $2.5 million for Illegal Wiretap of Charity and its Lawyers
On Dec. 21, 2010 a federal judge ordered the government to pay legal fees and damages for illegally spying on a U.S. charity. Nine months after ruling that the government had conducted “unlawful surveillance” of phone calls between leaders of the now defunct Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (Al- Haramain) and two of its U.S. attorneys, U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker awarded $20,400 to the attorneys . He also awarded $2.5 million in attorney’s fees to their lawyers. The Department of Justice (DOJ) has not said if it will appeal or pay the damages as ordered.
AG Holder Disturbed by NYPD Surveillance
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has confirmed the Justice Department is reviewing the NYPD’s widespread surveillance of Muslims in the northeastern U.S., according to Democracy Now. Testifying before a Senate panel on Feb. 28, Holder said that police seeking to monitor activities by citizens "should only do so when there is a basis to believe that something inappropriate is occurring or potentially could occur."
Investigation of Anti-war Activists Remains Active
The investigation of the Midwest peace activists who homes and offices were raided by the FBI in September 2010 remains active, reports Fight Back. According to an attorney for one of the activists, Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas confirmed the “investigation is continuing” in a Jan. 24 phone call. Many documents relating to the case are under seal and will remain unavailable to the activists’ attorneys "pending completion of the investigation." Since 2010, 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists have been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in Chicago. All have refused to testify.
Privacy Concerns Ignored, Patriot Act Spying Powers Extended until 2015
Despite bipartisan concern about extensive violations and lack of civil liberties safeguards, on May 26, 2011 three expiring domestic surveillance provisions of the Patriot Act were extended until 2015. The Patriot Sunsets Extension Act of 2011, signed via autopen by President Obama, extends federal authority to obtain personal and financial records of individuals without their knowledge or a court order, use roving wiretaps to monitor electronic communications of suspected targets of an investigation and the never used “lone wolf” provision (additional information about all three provisions is available here).
