June 4, 2002
Joint Letter to Chairman Leahy and Ranking Member Hatch
Attorney General Guidelines on Domestic Surveillance
June 4, 2002
Chairman Patrick J. Leahy
United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Senator Orrin Hatch
United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Leahy and Senator Hatch:
We write to you on behalf of a broad range of organizations across the country about the decision of the Attorney General to loosen the guidelines that restrict the surveillance of religious and political organizations in the United States. This decision raises matters of Constitutional authority that require immediate Congressional attention. We do not believe that the Attorney General has the legal authority to pursue domestic spying. Your hearing this week provides a critical opportunity to assess the impact of the Attorney General's new guidelines.
We are particularly concerned about elements of the guidelines that appear to give the FBI the authority to search through electronic databases without satisfying any legal standard or requiring any judicial review. Such an approach to police authority in the United States is directly contrary to the First and Fourth Amendment and the system of checks and balances established by our form of government.
We are also concerned that the changes authorize unchecked surveillance of lawful religious and political activity, and that such surveillance will be targeted against Arab-Americans, Muslims and immigrants among others.
We urge you to consider the following issues at your hearing this week:
We would be pleased to work with you and your staff on this important matter.
Sincerely,
Marc Rotenberg
Executive Director
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Nan Aron
President
Alliance for Justice
Kareem Shora
Legal Advisor
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)
Laura W. Murphy
Director Washington Office
American Civil Liberties Union
Paula Johnson
Co-President
American Law Teachers
Emily Sheketoff, Executive Director
American Library Association Washington Office
Tom DeWeese
President
American Policy Center
Amy Isaacs
National Director, Americans for Democratic Action
Majed Jafari
Director, Government Relations
Arab American Institute
Margaret Fung
Executive Director
Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Kent Pollock
Executive Director
California First Amendment Coalition
Nancy Chang
Staff Attorney
Center for Constitutional Rights
James X. Dempsey
Deputy Director
Center for Democracy and Technology
Jeff Chester
Executive Director
Center for Digital Democracy
Kate Martin
Director
Center for National Security Studies
Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney
Christian Defense Coalition
Ken McEldowney
Executive Director
Consumer Action
Jason Erb
Director, Governmental Relations
Council on American-Islamic Relations
Lee Tien
Senior Staff Attorney
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Steven Aftergood
Project Director
Federation of American Scientists
Kit Gage
Director
First Amendment Foundation and NCARL
Florence C. Kimball
Legislative Education Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation
David J. Theroux
Founder and President
The Independent Institute
Mark Graham
Institute for Global Communication
Elisa Massimino
Director, Washington office
Lawyers Committee for Human Rights
J. Daryl Byler, Director
Mennonite Central Committee U.S., Washington Office
James Landrith
Editor & Publisher
The Multiracial Activist
Julian Bond
Chairman
NAACP
Kit Gage
National Coordinator
National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom
Susan Grant
Vice President for Public Policy
National Consumers League
Heidi Boghosian
Director
National Lawyers Guild
Dan Kesselbrenner
Director
National Immigration Project
National Lawyers Guild
Audrie Krause
Director
NetAction
Morton H. Halperin
Director
Open Society Policy Center
Ralph G. Neas
President
People For the American Way
Deborah Pierce
Executive Director
Privacyactivism
Beth Givens
Executive Director
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse
Manjit Singh
Executive Director
Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART)