Some of the latest challenges to our civil liberties, and what you can do about it:

• Officials at the highest levels of the Bush Administration signed off on explicit torture techniques According to recent reports from the AP, and other sources:
  

  Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality, The Associated Press has learned.

  The officials also took care to insulate President Bush from a series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and ultimately approved.

  What you can do about it:
  The legal memos and DOJ documents underpinning the decision to use torture on prisoners were released due to an ACLU FOIA lawsuit. The ACLU is calling for a special counsel to investigate how torture came to be sanctioned and used. You can read the ACLU letter to congress calling for a special prosecutor here. You can call your Members of Congress and urge their support by calling the Capitol Hill Switchboard at (202)224-3121.

  You can also sign the petition at www.endtorturenow.org,. Sponsored by our friends at Human Rights First, the petition challenges all Presidential candidates to explicitly support 5
  

  
  
  • Put an end to torture and ensure a single standard of humane treatment for all interrogations conducted by U.S. personnel -- including by the CIA and private contractors.
    
  • Halt the "extraordinary rendition" of detainees to countries known to torture prisoners.
    
  • Close Guantanamo and try detainees suspected of committing crimes in accordance with international and U.S. law.
    
  • Urge Congress to restore the right of habeas corpus to non-citizens – including longtime permanent residents of the U.S. – to ensure that courts can oversee the decision to detain anyone as an "unlawful enemy combatant."
    
  • Ensure that trials of detainees are full and fair. Any trials by military commissions will be conducted consistent with the Uniform Code of Military Justice and in compliance with the procedures set forth in the Manual for Courts-Martial.
  
  You can also contact your Senators and Congresspersons, as well as candidates for US Congress and Senate, and ask them to subscribe to the same prinicples. You can find contact information for them at http://www.politics1.com/il.htm.

• ACLU And NACDL Assembling Guantánamo Defense Teams
  On April 3rd, the ACLU launched its new John Adams Project, in partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers, to assist in representing prisoners held at Guantanamo. From the Release:

  In order to protect American values of fairness and justice and the constitutional guarantee of due process, the American Civil Liberties Union, together with National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), announced today that it is assembling defense teams to be available to assist in the representation of detainees facing prosecution in the military commissions proceedings at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. The Guantánamo military commissions process - which allows detainees to be convicted on the basis of secret evidence, hearsay, and confessions derived from torture - is an affront to civil liberties and a stain on America's reputation around the world.

  
  What you can do about it: Senator Harkin has introduced the The Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility Closure Act of 2007 (S. 1469), would close the Guantanamo Bay prison within 120 days of enactment and end the practice of indefinite detention without charge for hundreds of detainees, among other steps to restore the Constitution. You can send a free fax to your Senators, calling on them to support and co-sponsor the bill at the ACLU website. You can read more about the John Adams Project, and the efforts to close Guantanamo as well.

• Gay Couples Treated Unfairly Due to Lack of Legal Recognition
  A recent AP article confirms the lived expereinces of many gay and lesbian couples in Illinois - the law treats them unfairly. According to the article:

  Gay couples often pay higher taxes because they don't get the federal tax benefits that go with marriage. And for couples in state-sanctioned domestic partnerships, civil unions or same-sex marriages, filing federal income taxes can involve doing three sets of paperwork instead of one.

  "It's a significant financial disability," said Beth Asaro, who last year entered into one of New Jersey's first legally recognized civil unions.

  While Civil Unions will provide many important benefits that couples in Illinois need right now, only a national solution, providing full equality will resolve the issue. In Illinois, we are currently fighting to provide the basic legal protections of civil unions as a first step towards full marriage equality.

  What you can do about it: Download the ACLU Get Busy Get Equal toolkit and get involved.

  You can also join the ACLU of Illinois civil union efforts by coming to Springfield with us, meeting with your state representative, or sending a free fax to your elected officials in support of fairness and civil unions.

  Contact Nick at nrutan@aclu-il.org or 312-201-9740 x339 for more information or to get involved.