Act now to save right to challenge detentions and to stop legalization of warrantless domestic wiret

Gadfly checking in. Worried is sick. I'm posting in her place.

Patrice McDermott <info@openthegovernment.org> wrote:

Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 15:33:59 GMT
From: "Patrice McDermott" <info@openthegovernment.org>
To: "(deleted)
Subject: Act now to save right to challenge detentions and to stop legalization of warrantless domestic wiret

Greetings, An important Action Alert from The Bill of Rights Defense Committee: The White House is pushing Congress to pass its version of bills on warrantless domestic surveillance and military commissions before the end-of-September adjournment. Elements in each bill could enduringly change fundamental rights. All of us must stop Congress from rushing these bills through in the days ahead! Telephone your representative and your senators right away to stop these rights abuses! Call even if you called last week, and tell them that Congress must not rush to pass legislation on wiretapping or military commissions. In fact, in our view no legislation is better than any of the bills under consideration. Dial the Capitol Switchboard at 202 224-3121 (24 hours) and ask the operator to connect you, or Click here to look up your senators' and representative's direct numbers. Message for Your Senators: Tell the person who answers the phone that you have problems with bills to address the President's warrantless domestic wiretapping program and detainee policy. Ask that the Senator: OPPOSE Senator Specter's S. 2453, Senator DeWine's S. 2455, and any legislation that would give the executive branch new surveillance powers that are immune to oversight. CLOSE LOOPHOLES within Senator Feinstein's S. 3001 (cosponsored with Senator Specter last March and recently amended), such as the ability of the Attorney General to designate FBI and NSA supervisors to surveil without warrants in some cases. OPPOSE S. 3901 (Senators Warner, McCain and Graham) in its current form, because it would deny U.S. detainees worldwide the writ of habeas corpus. SUPPORT the Specter-Levin amendment to S. 3901, which would allow all detainees the fundamental habeas corpus right to have some objective review of their detention. OPPOSE S. 3861 (the White House's military commissions bill), which would allow secret evidence and evidence obtained using torture. Message for Your House Rep: Tell the person who answers the phone that you want your Representative to OPPOSE Rep. Wilson's H.R. 5825. The bill would allow warrantless surveillance of all international calls and emails of Americans and businesses in the U.S. without any evidence they're involved with any terrorist organization. We need to reinforce Fourth Amendment protections of Americans' rights, not erase them. Contact Your Senators and Representatives By Phone in D.C. and Back at Home In addition to calling your senators and representative, please ask your representative to meet with you on one of these upcoming weekends, if she or he is back in the district. Take along a city council member or other civic leader, and demand that they vote against all of these hastily crafted bills that would strip basic rights and endow the executive with an abundance of power with no accountability. Click here for more BORDC talking points and helpful links on warrantless wiretapping Click here for BORDC talking points and links on military commissions. Thank you for all you do! The Bill of Rights Defense Committee Nancy Talanian, Director Chip Pitts, President Hope Marston, Organizer Linda Stone, Organizer Meredith Gray, Administrator

---

How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.