Civil Liberties Roundabout for May 30, 2006
Tuesday May 30, 2006
Over the past week, as I and my fellow About.com guides have remembered those who have given their lives to protect our freedoms, we've also been hard at work blogging, as we always are.
Quite often, other guides will cover civil liberties issues. In my weekly Civil Liberties Roundabout, I'll scour the About.com Network for the best civil liberties content and provide handy links--just for you, my beloved readers.
So check your telephone for bugs and make sure all of your immigration papers are in order, because this is Civil Liberties Roundabout:
Hot Topic: Immigration Reform
Last week, the U.S. Senate passed the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA). This is the U.S. Senate's version of H.R. 4437, the House immigration reform bill that inspired millions to take to the streets in protest--but the differences between the two bills are considerable. In addition to describing English as our "common unifying language" and increasing the number of H-1B (skilled worker) visas to satisfy corporate needs, the Senate bill includes a citizenship path, a new guest worker program, and additional funding to fix the broken and neglected border patrol system. Estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggest that the bill will raise almost as much as it costs, increasing the U.S. population by 8 million in the process, but the House and Senate must reach a compromise before the bill becomes law.
Many opponents to the bill continue to use inflammatory racial rhetoric, right-wing talk show pundits such as Bill O'Reilly speaking of a need to preserve America's "white" culture, one Alabama attorney general candidate calling for the mass slaughter of undocumented immigrants, and one anti-immigration activist going so far as to recruit Neo-Nazis to take matters into their own hands. Meanwhile, the Washington State Republican Party has voted to support a constitutional amendment retroactively stripping the citizenship of children whose parents immigrated to the United States illegally. But generous immigration laws have given us some of our most treasured citizens--and besides, it's not as if other countries, such as France and Spain, aren't also struggling with the question of undocumented immigration.
See also:
- The Top 10 Immjgrants' Rights Blogs
- Opposing Viewpoints on Immigration Reform
- Immigration Laws: How are They Made?
Hot Topic: The War on Terror
The NSA is in the news again, this time for creating a universal database of telephone calls. Unlike as was the case with the earlier spygate scandal, where most agreed that the administration's surveillance was technically in violation of federal law and debate centered on whether Congress has the authority to restrict executive decisions during wartime in the first place, this time the NSA's actions may actually be legal. A good argument can be made that since there is no law on the books preventing telephone companies from voluntarily handing over their call databases, the NSA's latest decision is technically kosher. Or maybe not. Although opinions are mixed, the NSA's latest antics have brought criticism from unexpected places, and are perceived by some as an indication that the so-called War on Terror is moving us ever closer to a police state--and some people seem distressingly pleased at the prospects of such a scenario. But I suspect the motivation is much more banal than that.
In other news, the United States has freed 16 more prisoners from Guantanamo Bay--but many detainees who have been cleared of terrorist connections are still being held there. What's the deal? You'd think we were using Gitmo as a World War II-era internment camp or something.
Also troubling, but more remote from the U.S. theater, are reports that a group of U.S. soldiers may have slaughtered 24 civilians, "execution-style," in the city of Haditha. While I have been reticent to criticize reports of Iraqi casualites, due to the Iraqi opposition's well-known tactic of impersonating civilians and using civilians as human shields, this is a particularly disturbing case that has attracted attention from some very credible quarters. I'll keep you posted.
In other news, the United States has reestablished diplomatic ties with Libya after a 26-year moratorium, and Malaysian prime minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi believes that Bush's antiterrorism policies have made the world a less friendly place. Certainly the same can be said of Westboro Baptist Church, whose members have been gleefully picketing the funerals of military veterans with signs bearing slogans like "thank God for dead soldiers." President Bush has just signed a bill providing a buffer zone at military funerals in an effort to keep them at bay.
See also:
- Late-Night Jokes About Spygate
- Guantanamo: Guilt by Association?
- No Public Senate Hearings for Spygate Scandal
Free Speech and Religious Liberty
- Ticked off at the FCC's radio anti-indecency crusade? Maybe it's time to privatize radio frequencies and take the medium out of the government's hands.
- The U.S. House of Representatives has just approved a bill that would allow military chaplains to evangelize with the government's blessing.
- For 35 years, the Supreme Court has relied on the five-point Lemon test when determining whether the First Amendment's establishment clause is being violated.
Gender and Sexuality
- This just in: The first human case of HIV-AIDS was almost certainly that of a heterosexual man who was bitten by a wild chimpanzee in Cameroon. We may now wait in vain for a televangelist to report that HIV-AIDS is God's way of punishing wild chimpanzees for biting people.
- The Federal Marriage Amendment is heading to the Senate soon. I'm preparing a feature on this topic for later in the week as a rebuttal to Amy Hess' argument in favor of the amendment, which does an excellent job of summarizing arguments against gay marriage and should be read by people on both sides of this issue.
- The U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Violence Against Women is currently being hosted in New York City--which calls attention to the fact that the United States still refuses to ratify its declaration condemning anti-woman violence.
- And speaking of the United Nations, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has stated her support for admitting gay rights groups as non-governmental U.N. members.
- Governor Kathleen Sebelius (D-KS) has vetoed a bill requiring abortion doctors to provide extensive information on women and their pregnancies to the state.
- U.S. government officials continue to stonewall access to Plan B emergency contraception, despite a recent British study confirming its effectiveness.
- In separate incidents, a bank teller was fired from her job, and a schoolteacher disciplined, because they had been photographed wearing swimsuits while off-duty. Did this happen in Iran? Saudi Arabia? No--Florida and Tennessee.
- Lesbian novelist and playwright Lillian Hellman (author of The Little Foxes) withstood an unhappy marriage, censorship, and investigation from the House Un-American Activities Committee to become a literary and theatrical giant.
- Sodomy laws destroyed the life of Oscar Wilde, arguably the greatest British humorist and playwright of the 19th century.
- A Georgia superior court judge has struck down the state's 2004 anti-gay marriage amendment due to inconsistencies between the ballot's description of the ordinance and the actual text of the amendment.
International Human Rights
Kofi Annan's term as U.N. secretary-general ends on December 31st. While he has been subject to a great deal of criticism on his recent years, his courageous and groundbreaking work in the international community should not be forgotten (here's just one example of his leadership in action). He is a very real hero of our times--a flawed hero, but a hero just the same.
Africa (Sub-Saharan)
- The human rights community is presently debating whether the crisis in the Sudan is really genocide, or something less premeditated.
- South Africans reflect on their nation's legacy of apartheid at the Apartheid Museum--and a museum made from the hull of Robben Island Prison, where anti-apartheid activist and future South African president Nelson Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in prison. And while you're looking at Alistair's site, be sure to check out his new biography of 19th-century South African feminist philosopher Olive Emilie Albertina Schreiner.
- Alistair also brings us a biography of Idi Amin, the notorious "butcher of Uganda."
- Chinese government officials are having a hard time censoring Internet traffic, but manage to stay busy by persecuting environmentalists.
Europe
- Hate crime has become a serious problem in Belgium, some arguing that the nation's aggressive anti-immigrant movement has been fanning the flames. Tens of thousands of Belgians are marching through the streets of Antwerp in protest against the recent wave of violence.
- Hate crime has become such a serious problem in Germany that one government official suggested that non-whites should stay out of east Germany entirely.
- And lest we become too comfortable with the idea that the hate crime epidemic is limited to "Old Europe," even Britain is struggling with this problem.
- Susan Pizarro-Eckert provides a good overview of the European hate crime epidemic, and attempts ordinary Europeans are making to deal with the problem.
The Middle East
- Outgoing Palestinian Fatah PM Mahmoud Abbas has issued an ultimatum to the incoming Hamas government, demanding that they reach a settlement with Israel. Americans who see no difference between Hamas and Fatah, take note.
- Unofficial sectarian violence against gay Iraqis has been ongoing for years, but word now comes that Iraqi police have recently joined in, murdering a 14-year-old boy for alleged homosexuality.
Race and Equal Opportunity
- Check out these amazing galleries of the civil rights movement and early school desegregation efforts, courtesy of Jessica McElrath.
- And speaking of early school desegregation, Jessica takes a look back at the Little Rock Nine--the group of nine very brave black students who integrated Little Rock Central High.
- The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) played a central role in the civil rights movement.
- The very white--and very, uh, proud--Larry Darby, a candidate for Alabama attorney general, has gone from bad to worse.
- Above, we mentioned hate crimes in Europe. Sadly, we're not doing so well ourselves--the number of hate groups in the United States has increased by 33% within the past five years.
- Students at East Hampton High School are tackling the hate crime problem head-on.
Comments
How to Report a Complaint about Waste, Fraud, Abuse, or Misconduct in the Department of Justice:
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) investigates allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, and misconduct by Department of Justice employees, contractors, and grantees. The OIG is an independent entity within the Department of Justice that reports to both the Attorney General and Congress on issues that affect the Department’s personnel or operations.
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You may report waste, fraud, abuse, or misconduct to the OIG by mail:
Office of the Inspector General
U.S. Department of Justice
Investigations Division
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Room 4706
Washington, DC 20530
e-mail: oig.hotline@usdoj.gov
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Subj: RE: abuse of civil rights by justice employees
Date: 12/13/2002 8:54:30 AM Eastern Standard Time
From: Inspector.General@usdoj.gov (General, Inspector)
To: Kstbylite1@aol.com (’Kstbylite1@aol.com’)
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Dear Ms. Kimball:
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The purpose of this letter is to acknowledge receipt of your Internet submission dated October 31, 2002. The matters that you raised have been reviewed by the staff of the Investigations Division, Office of the Inspector General.
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The primary investigative responsibilities of this office are:
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· Allegations of criminal, as well as non-criminal, misconduct committed by U.S. Department of Justice employees and contractors; and
· Waste and abuse by high ranking Department officials, or that affects major programs and operations.
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This Office does not have jurisdiction in the matter you described.
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Section 1001 of the USA Patriot Act, signed into law by President Bush on October 26, 2001……
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Therefore, your complaint has been forwarded to:
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Office of Personnel Management
Office of the Inspector General
1900 E Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20415
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Allegations of criminal misconduct committed by- OIG OPM – U.S. Department of Justice employees and contractors – FEHBP Health Insurance Contracting Divisions.
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Office of Inspector General
Office of Personnel Management
Joseph Frech investigator
dtd: 9 may 2002
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” The matters discribed in your letter are not within the jurisdiction of this office. The OIG had also recieved information regarding your case in September 2000. At that time we determined that the ( OPM FEHBP ) Health Benefits Contracts Division has sole jurisdiction over your complaint. The decision made by the contracts division is final and the OIG will NOT Investigate ( OPM FEHBP Contracting Divisions assisting, allowing & concealing felony federal health care offences against Retired FEHBP ). ”
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I hope this answers any questions regarding this matter.
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Sincerely,
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The Office of the Inspector General
Department of Justice
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Subj: RE: Request for Complaint Referral
Date: 3/18/2004 1:41:40 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: referrals@usccr.gov
To: SpiritDancerMita@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
March 17, 2004
Dear SpiritDancer:
The United States Commission on Civil Rights recently received your correspondence.
We assist the many people who write to us alleging discrimination on the basis of race, sex, age, disability, national origin or religion by forwarding their complaints to the appropriate civil rights enforcement agency.
After carefully reviewing your correspondence, we find that it does not contain allegations that may be forwarded to an enforcement agency.
We are therefore returning your correspondence and regret that we cannot assist you further.
Sincerely,
TERRI A. DICKERSON
Assistant Staff Director
of Civil Rights Evaluation
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FBI: Criminal Cases – Health Care Fraud
FBI: Economic Crimes Unit
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Subject: FBI Response
Date: 5/26/2004 10:26:33 AM Eastern Daylight Time
From: tips11@fbi.gov
Reply To:
To: LawISAmootIssue@aol.com
CC:
BCC:
Sent on:
Sent from the Internet (Details)
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Dear Ms. Kimball,
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THIS IS NOT AN AUTOMATED RESPONSE
Thank you for your submission to the FBI Internet
Tip Line. After a careful evaluation of your
information, it is our determination that your
complaint should be reported to your local law
enforcement authorities or District Attorney’s
office. If you wish pursue legal matters against
the hospital you should contact an attorney.
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The OIG has jurisdiction over all complaints of misconduct against Department of Justice employees, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Prisons; U.S. Marshals Service; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; United States Attorneys Offices; and employees who work in other Divisions or Offices in the Department of Justice. (The one exception is that allegations of misconduct involving Department attorneys that arise from their authority to investigate, litigate, or provide legal advice are the responsibility of the Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility.)