November, 17 2009, 11:48am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Matthew Allee,(202) 580-6922 or,mallee@constitutionproject.org
Constitution Project Releases Report on Reforming Material Support Statutes
Reforming the Material Support Laws: Constitutional Concerns Presented by Prohibitions on Material Support to "Terrorist Organizations" released by the organization's Liberty and Security Committee
WASHINGTON
Today, a bipartisan coalition of former government officials,
scholars, practitioners, and other experts serving on the Constitution
Project's Liberty and Security Committee have proposed reforms to
federal laws prohibiting material support for terrorism that are needed
to ensure constitutional liberties. The recommendations come at an
especially critical time, as yesterday the Humanitarian Law Project
filed its opening brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in Holder v. Humanitarian Law Project,
challenging the application of federal material support laws to punish
pure speech that seeks to further lawful, non-violent ends.
The consensus report, Reforming
the Material Support Laws: Constitutional Concerns Presented by
Prohibitions on Material Support to "Terrorist Organizations,"
proposes eight reforms to remedy serious First, Fourth and Fifth
Amendment concerns created by existing federal law. The Liberty and
Security Committee calls for narrowing the scope of conduct prohibited
by the material support statute, so that pure speech furthering lawful
ends would not be considered criminal conduct. As the statement notes:
Our government should have the tools needed to apprehend and punish
not just terrorist leaders, but also those who work to facilitate and
enable acts of terrorism. But in providing the legal authority to
prohibit and punish such conduct, it is essential that the law respect
constitutional freedoms.
The report also calls for reforms to protect the due
process rights of organizations in the United States that are
designated as "terrorist organizations" to challenge these executive
branch decisions in court.
"Prohibiting assistance to terrorist
organizations is an important tool in our nation's efforts to combat
terrorism, but we must also ensure that Americans' constitutional
freedoms are protected, including the rights to free speech and freedom
of association," said Sharon Bradford Franklin, senior counsel for the
Constitution Project. "Our current laws are so broad that it could be a
criminal act to attempt to convince members of a group designated as
'terrorist' to pursue peaceful tactics. The recommendations made in Reforming the Material Support Laws
To view Reforming
the Material Support Laws: Constitutional Concerns Presented by
Prohibitions on Material Support to "Terrorist Organizations," go to:
https://www.constitutionproject.org/manage/file/355.pdf
strike the proper balance between combating terrorism and respecting the constitutional rights of all Americans."
The Constitution Project is a politically independent think tank established in 1997 to promote and defend constitutional safeguards. More information about the Constitution Project is available at https://constitutionproject.org/.
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"The headlines of state-aligned media screech and crow about the nefarious designs of your fellow citizens and the necessity of foreign wars without end, but find few words for a crime against the Constitution."
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Goitein used similar language to condemn the vote.
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NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden added, "America lost something important today, and hardly anyone heard. The headlines of state-aligned media screech and crow about the nefarious designs of your fellow citizens and the necessity of foreign wars without end, but find few words for a crime against the Constitution."
Schumer announced a deal late Friday to vote on a series of amendments to the bill clearing the way toward its passage, according toTheHill. However, all five amendments that would have added greater privacy protections were voted down, The Washington Post reported.
"If the government wants to spy on the private comms of any American, they should be required to get approval from a judge, as the Founding Fathers intended."
These included an amendment from Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) to require a warrant and another from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to remove the House language expanding the entities who could be forced to spy, according to Roll Call. The amendments were rejected 42-50 and 34-58 respectively.
"Congress' intention when we passed FISA Section 702 was clear as could be—Section 702 is supposed to be used only for spying on foreigners abroad. Instead, sadly, it has enabled warrantless access to vast databases of Americans' private phone calls, text messages, and e-mails," Durbin posted on social media.
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Wyden said in a statement: "The Senate waited until the 11th hour to ram through renewal of warrantless surveillance in the dead of night. But I'm not giving up. The American people know that reform is possible and that they don't need to sacrifice their liberty to have security. It is clear from the votes on very popular amendments that senators were unwilling to send this bill back to the House, no matter how common-sense the amendment before them."
Wyden was not the only one who pledged to keep fighting government surveillance overreach.
Vitka praised Durbin and Wyden, as well as other legislative privacy advocates including Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), saying the lawmakers had "built a formidable foundation from which we will all continue to fight for civil liberties."
Goitein also said the opposition of outspoken senators and concerned citizens were "silver linings."
"Because of the heat we were able to bring, we extracted some promises from the administration and the Senate intelligence committee chair. I do think they'll be forced to make SOME changes to mitigate the worst parts of the law, which they can do by including those changes in an upcoming must-pass vehicle, like the National Defense Authorization Act," she added.
The American Civil Liberties Union also responded to the vote on social media.
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