] Please join us in support of Mike Hawash on Monday April
] 7 at 8:30 on the steps of the U.S. Courthouse. We believe
] that Mike has a hearing scheduled for that time and
] expect that a show of support will help his cause. We
] expect a lot of press coverage so the more people, the
] better.

If you live in Portland you could do worse then to attend this. Guilty or Innocent we should not have people taken away and held secretly without charges in this country.

Apparently the District Attourney has denied Sen. Wyden's request for more information in this case. The DA has stated that more information *might* be available in May. Wyden's office has stated that they may attempt to use Wyden's position on the Intelligence Subcommittee to get more information. Apparently Hawash has been allowed to see his children. I imagine this is the result of pressure as it was specifically mentioned by the DA and the Hawash website has been updated to reflect this.

Free Mike Hawash - Rally

] Because of the campaign, the office of Oregon Democratic
] Sen. Ron Wyden has promised to contact the FBI about the
] case, McGeady said.

Bloggers gen coverage in Wired (and SF Chron). Politicos agree to inquire...

Wired News: Ex-Intel VP Fights for Detainee

So are you more likely a terrorist if you have a small bank account with lots of NFS's or if you have millions of dollars and large transactions? More dangerously "Unlike the current system, in which data stays with the airlines' reservation systems, the new setup will be managed by TSA. Only government officials with proper security clearance will be able to use it.". This means if you keep getting flagged as a problem, you cannot review the information and make corrections. Disturbing.

U.S. plan: Threat level for every flyer - Feb. 28, 2003

] The documents were among intelligence files that the city
] released as a result of an unrelated lawsuit in which the
] police are accused of violating the constitutional rights
] of protesters.
]
] The American Civil Liberties Union sued the city last
] March after learning that the Denver Police Department
] had compiled surveillance files on at least 3,200 people
] and 208 groups. The organization said the police didn't
] just target known or suspected criminals, but also
] singled out peaceful activists.
]
] The documents released Wednesday indicate that officers
] watched people ranging from anti-war protesters to
] members of militia groups and motorcycle gangs.

CNN.com - Police kept files on 'Trench Coat Mafia' group after Columbine - Feb. 20, 2003

From Boing Boing (http://www.boingboing.net/):

Zed sez: "An Indian-born Canadian citizen was flying home from India to Toronto, and transferring at O'Hare. INS decided her passport was funny-looking, destroyed it, denied her access to the Canadian consul, and deported her to India via Kuwait with her papers in such disorder she might not have been able to get into India if Kuwaiti and Indian authorities hadn't been so co-operative."

Permanent link to Boing Boing post: (http://boingboing.net/2003_02_01_archive.html#90351481)

US INS destroys Canadian woman's passport, sends her to India

] First, air travelers had to submit to an electronic wand
] waved over the body. Then they were asked to remove their
] shoes. After that, their checked luggage was opened and
] searched. Now, with the nation under a Code Orange alert,
] local police are pulling over drivers as they approach
] airport terminals for random searches of their vehicles.

washingtonpost.com: Police Searching Cars at Random Outside Airports

] I'm asking for a declaration from the court that would
] overturn the unconstitutional requirement that US persons
] must show ID to travel throughout the US. Not only
] airplanes, but trains, buses, cruise ships, and major
] hotel chains are now enforcing ID requirements, largely
] at the behest of the Federal Government.

This is actually a very interesting case. I scanned through a number of case documents. If Gillmore can prove that the ID requirement exists in most means of transportation then the government's arguments will fall, because the government is simply saying that its ok to restrict one form of travel if other options are available.

Whats more interesting is that Gillmore has provided a very compelling arguement that the "no-fly list" is unconstitutional because it is not limited to verifying that the people who fly are not carrying weapons. The defense the government offers is that Gillmore doesn't have standing to challenge the no-fly list because he's not on it. Gillmore counters that the "no-fly list" is the reason for the ID requirement and therefore he has a basis to challenge it. I'm not really clear on the standing issue after looking at these documents, but if he does have standing I think the "no-fly list" may fall, and if he doesn't, then the first person who does will probably topple it. Most of the people on the list are not the sort who make good plaintifs, but there have been examples of people who have the same NAME as people on the list who have been hassled. Any one of those people probably has standing and a reasonable arguement to end the practice.

politechbot.com: John Gilmore's suit over secret FAA regs in SF court on 1/17

] "The government is trying to paint a picture of
] terrorism, but these dentists, lawyers and high-tech
] workers are not the terrorists," she said. "Not the ones
] who willingly go the INS office for a six-hour
] registration process."

Fallout from last month's mass detention... 3 Canadians working in Silicon Valley were detained for a week because they got their dates screwed up. INS is catching a fair amount of hell in the press.

3 tech workers freed after INS detention / Bay Area men face deportation hearings

] "The two fundamental pillars of liberty, without which no
] other rights are secure, remain alive and fairly healthy:
] the separation of powers with the judiciary refusing, so
] far, to defer entirely to the executive branch and the
] freedom of the American people to voice dissent."

This is a fairly even handed look at what has gone on with Civil Liberties in the last year. Its a little wordy, and covers a lot of ground that MemeStreams readers are likely already familiar with, but it offers a reasonable conclusion on the state of things at this time. Which is to say that a lot of bad things have been attempted, but they have not been uniformily successful, and several of the key pillars of what we call freedom are still intact despite some serious challenges.

politechbot.com: Harvey Silverglate on state of civil liberties at end of 2002

] "Portland's top brass said it was OK to swipe your
] garbage--so we grabbed theirs."

Real journalism is almost non-existant these days. This is a gem. You may have heard rumblings about this controversy. The government in Portland has been swiping people's trash without a warrant for several decades. Fortunately, a judge has declared this practice unconstitutional.

Journalists go trashing.