September, 10 2009, 01:35pm EDT
ACLU Announces New Legislative Counsel for Technology and Privacy Issues
Technology and Liberty Project’s Christopher Calabrese Takes on New Role
WASHINGTON
The American Civil Liberties Union today announced that Christopher Calabrese will be serving as Legislative Counsel for privacy-related issues for its Washington Legislative Office. Prior to joining the Washington Legislative Office, Calabrese served as Project Counsel to the ACLU Technology & Liberty Project, which monitors the interplay between cutting-edge technology and civil liberties. In his new role as Legislative Counsel, Calabrese will be working with members of Congress, their staff and federal agencies to keep Americans' privacy safe from threats posed by the ever-expanding collection of personal information by the government and private sector.
"As Americans become increasingly reliant on technology, the kind of experience and knowledge Chris Calabrese brings to the post of Legislative Counsel is needed more than ever," said Michael Macleod-Ball, Acting Director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office. "His intellect and dedication to protecting civil liberties will be huge assets in the fight to protect the public's personal information both online and in American society."
Calabrese has led several campaigns at the ACLU, including opposing the implementation of the Real ID Act, which creates a National ID card; urging state public utility commissions to investigate telecommunications companies' illegal cooperation with the National Security Agency; limiting the Constitution Free Zone, which allows unconstitutional searches with 100 miles of the U.S. border; and ending law enforcement's use of commercial databases and datamining as part of the Multi-State Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange (MATRIX) program. Calabrese has appeared on several media outlets, including CBS Evening News, Fox News and National Public Radio, discussing technology and privacy issues, and he has been quoted in a variety of publications including the New York Times, Washington Post and Associated Press. In addition to his communications outreach, Calabrese has also initiated Freedom of Information Act requests and provided legal guidance on the impact of new technologies on civil liberties.
"I am proud to join the Washington Legislative Office in the fight to protect privacy, and I'm excited to take on this new responsibility within the ACLU," said Calabrese. "We need strong laws to assure that as technology becomes more powerful it does not keep Americans from living lives free from unwarranted surveillance."
Before joining the ACLU in 2004, Calabrese served as the Legal Counsel to the Massachusetts Senate Majority Leader, Linda J. Melconian. In that capacity, he helped draft the Massachusetts Genetic Anti-Discrimination and Privacy Law and a number of other measures aimed at preserving individual rights. Calabrese is a graduate of Harvard University and holds a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.
The American Civil Liberties Union was founded in 1920 and is our nation's guardian of liberty. The ACLU works in the courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States.
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Sanders Says 'Political Movement,' Not Murder, Is the Path to Medicare for All
"Killing people is not the way we're going to reform our healthcare system," he said. "The way we're going to reform our healthcare system is having people come together."
Dec 12, 2024
Addressing the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and conversations it has sparked about the country's for-profit system, longtime Medicare for All advocate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday condemned the murder and stressed that getting to universal coverage will require a movement challenging corporate money in politics.
"Look, when we talk about the healthcare crisis, in my view, and I think the view of a majority of Americans, the current system is broken, it is dysfunctional, it is cruel, and it is wildly inefficient—far too expensive," said Sanders (I-Vt.), whose position is backed up by various polls.
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"Killing people is not the way we're going to reform our healthcare system," Sanders added. "The way we're going to reform our healthcare system is having people come together and understanding that it is the right of every American to be able to walk into a doctor's office when they need to and not have to take out their wallet."
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The 83-year-old Vermonter, who was just reelected to what he says is likely his last six-year term, is an Independent but caucuses with Democrats and sought their presidential nomination in 2016 and 2020. He has urged the Democratic Party to recognize why some working-class voters have abandoned it since Republicans won the White House and both chambers of Congress last month. A refusal to take on insurance and drug companies and overhaul the healthcare system, he argues, is one reason.
Sanders—one of the few members of Congress who regularly talks about Medicare for All—isn't alone in suggesting that unsympathetic responses to Thompson's murder can be explained by a privatized healthcare system that fails so many people.
In addition to highlighting Sanders' interview on social media, Congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) pointed out to Business Insider on Wednesday that "you've got thousands of people that are sharing their stories of frustration" in the wake of Thompson's death.
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"You condemn the murder of an insurance executive who was a father of two kids," he said. "At the same time, you say there's obviously an outpouring behavior of people whose claims are being denied, and we need to reform the system."
Two other Medicare for All advocates, Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), also made clear to Business Insider that they oppose Thompson's murder but understand some of the responses to it.
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Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.)—a co-sponsor of Sanders' Medicare for All Act—similarly toldHuffPost in a Tuesday interview, "The visceral response from people across this country who feel cheated, ripped off, and threatened by the vile practices of their insurance companies should be a warning to everyone in the healthcare system."
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Reporters Without Borders' (RSF) 2024 roundup, which was published Thursday, found that at least 54 journalists were killed on the job or in connection with their work this year, and 18 of them were killed by Israeli armed forces (16 in Palestine, and two in Lebanon).
The organization has also filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court "for war crimes committed by the Israeli army against journalists," according to the roundup, which includes stats from January 1 through December 1.
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When counting the number of journalists killed by the Israeli army since October 2023 in both Gaza and Lebanon, the tally comes to 155—"an unprecedented massacre," according to the roundup.
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Meanwhile, in a statement released Thursday, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) announced that at least 139 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the war in Gaza began in 2023, and in a statement released Wednesday, IFJ announced that 104 journalists had perished worldwide this year (which includes deaths from January 1 through December 10). IFJ's number for all of 2024 appears to be higher than RSF because RSF is only counting deaths that occurred "on the job or in connection with their work."
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Emily Peterson-Cassin, director of corporate power at Demand Progress Education Fund, said Thursday that "instead of heeding bad-faith calls to disarm before the end of the year, the FTC is taking bold, needed action to fight back against monopoly power that's raising prices."
"By suing Southern Glazer under the Robinson-Patman Act, a law that has gone unenforced for decades, the FTC is doing what our government should be doing: using every tool possible to make life better for everyday Americans," she added.
According to the FTC:
Under the Robinson-Patman Act, it is generally illegal for sellers to engage in price discrimination that harms competition by charging higher prices to disfavored retailers that purchase similar goods. The FTC's case filed today seeks to ensure that businesses of all sizes compete on a level playing field with equivalent access to discounts and rebates, which means increased consumer choice and the ability to pass on lower prices to consumers shopping across independent retailers.
"When local businesses get squeezed because of unfair pricing practices that favor large chains, Americans see fewer choices and pay higher prices—and communities suffer," Khan said in a statement. "The law says that businesses of all sizes should be able to compete on a level playing field. Enforcers have ignored this mandate from Congress for decades, but the FTC's action today will help protect fair competition, lower prices, and restore the rule of law."
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Southern Glazer's published a statement calling the FTC lawsuit "misguided and legally flawed" and claiming it has not violated the Robinson-Patman Act.
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