Repeal Telecom Immunity

From AlterNet and Credo:

Roll back PATRIOT ACT abuses and repeal telecom immunity

It's time to roll back the worst abuses of the PATRIOT ACT and repeal telecom immunity for illegal spying.

Now is the time to revisit the Bush administration's unconstitutional assault on our civil liberties. Senators Russ Feingold and Dick Durbin* have now introduced the JUSTICE Act to roll back some of the worst abuses of the PATRIOT ACT and bring an end to telecom immunity.

On December 31, three key provisions of the USA PATRIOT ACT are set to expire, and the House and Senate will hold hearings on reauthorization. Feingold and Durbin are using the PATRIOT ACT reauthorization process to reverse Bush-era laws that take away our constitutionally guaranteed rights.

The JUSTICE Act would completely repeal the provision of the FISA Amendments Act intended to legally immunize big telecoms that illegally assisted in the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program. It would restore protections for the privacy of library and bookstore records. And it would also add strong checks and balances to PATRIOT ACT provisions governing FISA orders, wiretaps and national security letters.

In the days following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress passed at the behest of the Bush administration a raft of legislation that greatly expanded domestic spying programs but failed to include constitutional safeguards. Finally the champions of constitutional rights in the Senate are taking steps to undo the worst of the damage. Our friends and allies at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Campaign for Reader Privacy (which includes the American Library Association, American Booksellers Association, Association of American Publishers and PEN American Center) believe the JUSTICE Act is our best chance for reform this year. Please join them and us in supporting this bill.

* U.S. Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Jon Tester (D-MT), Tom Udall (D-NM), Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) are co-sponsors of the JUSTICE Act. If you live in Wisconsin, Illinois, Montana, Vermont, New Jersey or Hawaii, your signatures will be delivered to the senator from your state who is not yet a co-sponsor. Want to thank a co-sponsoring senator (especially if you live in New Mexico or Oregon)? Click here.

Please join them and us in supporting this bill.

Impeach Federal Judge Jay Bybee

From Think Progress:

TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress To Hold Impeachment Hearings Against Judge Jay Bybee

Last week, President Obama released four Bush-era legal memos authorizing torture. The earliest one, from 2002, was signed by Jay Bybee, then an Assistant Attorney General and now a federal judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. In the memo, Bybee authorized CIA interrogators to, among other techniques:

-- Slam a detainee's head against a wall: "any pain experienced is not of the intensity associated with serious physical injury."

-- Slap a detainee's face: "The facial slap does not produce pain that is difficult to endure."

-- Place a detainee into stress positions: "They simply involve forcing the subject to remain in uncomfortable positions."

-- Waterboard a detainee: "The waterboard...inflicts no pain or actual harm whatsoever."

These techniques are illegal by U.S. statute and international treaty to which the U.S. is a signatory. Bybee attempted to give legal cover to illegal acts, and thus broke the ethical, professional, and legal standards that should govern lawyers. For this, Judge Jay Bybee should be impeached. Congress needs to assert some accountability for these heinous acts.

ThinkProgress is sending a petition to the members of the House Judiciary Committee -- where impeachment articles are drawn -- imploring them to act now to remove Bybee from public office. Please join our efforts by signing onto our campaign. Here's how it could work:

Step One: Hearings. The House Judiciary Committee holds hearings to examine charges against Bybee.

Step Two: Articles of Impeachment. The House Judiciary Committee draws up the articles of impeachment and presents them to the full House with a simple majority vote.

Step Three: Passes the House. The full House moves to impeach Bybee with a simple majority, and then passes a resolution notifying the Senate

Step Four: Moves to the Senate. The Senate passes a resolution indicating its readiness to receive the House "managers" -- in effect, the prosecutors -- and to hear the full articles of impeachment.

Step Five: Trial. 51 Senators must vote to continue with the impeachment trial, and 67, a full two-thirds majority, are required to convict.

An impeachment hearing would require full answers from Bybee -- and would give the American people the answers they deserve. When Bush nominated Bybee in 2003, Congress had no knowledge of the full scope of Bybee's legalese somersaults to make torture appear legal. When asked, he refused to comment, citing executive privilege. Now we know how integral Bybee was to initiating Bush's years-long torture program.

Today, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), a senior member on the House Judiciary Committee, endorsed impeaching Bybee. "He ought to be impeached," Nadler told the Huffington Post. "It was not an honest legal memo. It was an instruction manual on how to break the law."

Jay Bybee has neither the legal nor the moral authority to sit in judgment of others.

Please sign our petition.

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Update: Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) renewed his call for full investigations into Bush's torture policies today: "It is simply obvious that, if there is no accountability when wrongdoing is exposed, future violations will not be deterred."
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Update: Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), a Judiciary subcommittee chair, said she is "not comfortable with the fact that [Bybee] will be on the federal bench for a lifetime appointment."

Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine: UPDATE

Think Progress has launched a campaign asking O'Reilly's major sponsors to issue a clear statement opposing O'Reilly's Harassment Machine.

The bottom line is O'Reilly's thuggish brand of gotcha journalism has got to end, and you can hold O'Reilly to a higher standard by signing up to tell his corporate sponsors to shut down the O'Reilly Harassment Machine.

On Saturday, March 21, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly sent one of his producers to stalk, harass, and ambush ThinkProgress.org’s managing editor Amanda Terkel. Upset over a ThinkProgress report that noted O’Reilly’s insensitivity to rape, O’Reilly sent two men to track Amanda in a car for two hours, and then confronted her with hostile questions while she was on vacation.

Sadly, Amanda is just one of at least 40 different victims of O’Reilly’s Harassment Machine. O’Reilly has hired producers whose job is to track, harass, and intimidate anyone whom O’Reilly perceives as an opponent. That’s not “journalism” — that’s a mafia-style operation. And we need to put an end to it.

Tell O’Reilly’s advertisers that you want them to issue a clear statement explaining their opposition to O’Reilly’s “ambush journalism.” Fill out the form below to tell O’Reilly’s corporate advertisers to stop supporting the O’Reilly Harassment Machine, and e-mail us if you receive any responses.

Legal Disclaimer: Please note that the publication of the corporate trademarks/content on the site is not associated with the trademark owners. This campaign is not sponsored by or affiliated with the trademark owners.

NOTE: When you fill out this form and send your message, your comment will be sent to ALL of Bill O’Reilly’s leading corporate sponsors. The sponsors are noted by their trademark above.

Sign up here.

UPDATE: From Think Progress

More than 10,000 of you have stood up to Bill O’Reilly.

Since the launch of our Stop Supporting The O’Reilly Harassment Machine campaign on Wednesday afternoon, more than 10,000 of you have taken action. Thank you for all your support! In just two days, here’s all the successes we’ve had:

– UPS announced it will no longer advertise on The Factor

– Capital One expressed “regret” for O’Reilly’s insensitivity and explain that it does not endorse his views.

– A Ford spokesman candidly told us that he agreed with us about the “rantings of the hopelessly pig-headed Mr. O’Reilly.” (Ford then clarified that the statement did not speak for the company)

– AT&T said it makes “every effort” to ensure their advertisers are in keeping with the company’s “corporate values and philosophy,” but it would not say whether O’Reilly’s show was in keeping with that philosophy.

– Bill O’Reilly lashed out at us, calling us “insects”

– Amanda appeared on MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann to discuss the campaign

Let’s urge more companies to follow the lead of UPS. Please join our campaign.