E-Actions for Freedom

Sign On to Defend the First Amendment, Oppose the FBI's Targeting of the Antiwar Movement

Sign On to Defend the First Amendment, Oppose the FBI's Targeting of the Antiwar Movement

Initiated by the International A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition

As of December 16, over 20,000 organizations and individuals have already signed the following statement in support of the First Amendment and in opposition to the FBI's targeting of the antiwar movement (over 6000 on the first day!). Initial signers include former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; historian Howard Zinn; National Lawyers Guild Executive Director, Heidi Boghosian; Ron Kovic, author Born on the Fourth of July, and others. If you would like to sign the statement, click here.

Sign the NoJailForPot.com statement, pass it on

DEAR FRIENDS

This short note has been sent to you because you took a stand, and signed
your name to NoJailForPot.com, along with nearly SIX THOUSAND other people.

That is a lot of people, particularly since word about us is spread strictly
by word of mouth, person to person.

The federal government is still pushing its war on marijuana. Pushing hard.

But there has been a shift in the wind.

Ed Rosenthal, arrested by the Federal government for growing pot that was
legal according to the laws of the State of California has been sentenced to
ONE DAY in jail, and released, credited with time already served by a
Federal judge.

He could have spent nearly the rest of his life in jail.

This is how alcohol prohibition ended. Judges and juries stopped imposing
severe sentences and then stopped imposing sentences altogether.

Now is the time for our voices to be heard.

Timing is everything, and now, while the shift is happening, the time has
come to show and increase the strength of our voices. There is nothing more
powerful than an idea whose time has come.

My request is:

Please send the following short, simple message to every appropriate email
address you have.

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Dear Friend:

I believe laws against the use, possession, sale, growing and transportation
of marijuana/hemp are foolish, unjust, counterproductive, and harmful to
society. Please join me in signing the Declaration at www.nojailforpot.com
which declares that no one in the United States should be in jail for these
simple, peaceful actions.

Signed,

A Friend.
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Our nearly six thousand voices can multiply into the tens of thousands,
maybe to the hundred's of thousands. The more who sign, the more powerful
our voice. Please cut and paste and send this email today.

It costs nothing to sign, it takes less than a minute, and when enough
people sign, it can result in the end of marijuana prohibition.

Support the Freedom to Read Act

Dear Bill of Rights defender:

Getting the Freedom to Read Protection Act (HR 1157) passed is one of the first tests of the growing grassroots movement to restore and protect essential rights and liberties in the United States.  Our web page on the bill includes up-to-date information on current cosponsors by state and a petition you may download and use to show local support for the bill: http://www.bordc.org/freedomtoread.htm#petition.

If your House member is already a cosponsor of HR 1157, please thank him or her.  If he or she is not, please organize delegations to meet with your House member or a senior aide when the member is in your district, and call or write your member's district office and Washington office.

Members of the American Library Association have recently visited the Washington, DC, offices of many House members and provided us with the following list of those who especially need local follow-up.  The list is divided into districts with communities that include Civil Liberties Safe Zones and those that do not (yet!).

Districts that include Civil Liberties Safe Zones and need follow-up visits and local calls:

Arizona 1st, Rep. Rick Renzi
California 2nd, Rep. Wally Herger
Colorado 3rd, Rep. Scott McInnis
Colorado 4th, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave
Florida 6th, Rep. Cliff Stearns
Montana at-large, Rep. Denny Rehberg
New Hampshire 2nd, Rep. Charlie Bass
Oregon 2nd, Rep. Greg Walden
Pennsylvania 19th, Rep. Todd Platts
Tennessee 2nd, Rep. John Duncan

Other potential cosponsors who need follow-up visits and local calls:

Wisconsin 6th, Rep. Tom Petri (has expressed civil rights concerns with the Patriot Act)
Pennsylvania 8th, Rep. Jim Greenwood (moderate Republican)
Tennessee 1st, Rep. Bill Jenkins
California 3rd, Rep. Doug Ose
California 11th, Rep. Richard Pombo
Arizona 3rd, Rep. John Shadegg
Nevada 3rd, Rep. Jon Porter
Virginia 10th, Rep. Frank Wolf

For more information about the act and useful links, go to http://www.bordc.org/freedomtoread.htm.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Margaret Mead

Editor: Nancy Talanian, Codirector
Bill of Rights Defense Committee
140 Pine Street, Room 10
P.O. Box 60591
Florence, MA 01062

Web: www.bordc.org
Email: info@bordc.org (Please note: new email address!)
Telephone: 413-582-0110

Demand Accuracy Requirements in National Criminal Database

From EPIC (The Electronic Privacy Information Center):

A broad coalition of organizations across the United States has endorsed a letter urging the reestablishment of accuracy requirements for the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC), the nation's largest criminal justice database.

More than 4,000 individuals from 47 states and the District of Columbia have signed an online petition to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) also supporting the Privacy Act accuracy requirements.

The petition drive will continue until the OMB acts on the request. Individuals may sign petition online at: http://www.petitiononline.com/ncic/petition.html

The Justice Department has administratively discharged the FBI of its statutory duty to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the over 39 million criminal records it maintains in its National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database. This action poses significant risks to privacy and effective law enforcement.

The NCIC system provides over 80,000 law enforcement agencies with access to data on wanted persons, missing persons, gang members, as well as information about stolen cars, boats, and other information. The Privacy Act of 1974 requires the FBI to make reasonable efforts to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the records in the NCIC system. Now, the Justice Department has exempted the system from the accuracy requirements of this important law.

We believe it is particularly important to ensure that Privacy Act obligations are applied to government record systems as the government considers dramatic expansion of record-keeping systems and the incorporation of private sector databases that are frequently inaccurate and unreliable.

The Privacy Act should continue to govern the maintenance and use of this important law enforcement database.

Read More

Sign the Petition