【原文題目】Twenty Examples of the Obama Administration Assault on Domestic Civil Liberties
【中文題目】奧巴馬政府公然挑戰國內公民自由權的20個例證
【來       源】http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/12/twenty-examples-of-the-obama-administration-assault-on-domestic-civil-liberties/
【發表日期】2011年12月1日
【原文作者】Bill Quigley
【譯       者】立哥
【聲       明】譯文為原創，轉載務必注明譯者及出處“獨家網dooo.cc”。
【摘       要】奧巴馬在其任期內繼續和發展了幾乎所有布什當政時期政府倡導的對國內公民自由權的嚴重干預。以下是奧巴馬公然挑戰公民自由權的20個例證。自奧巴馬上位之后，遭侵犯的公民權利包括言論自由權、集會自由權、自由結社權、隱私權、公平審判權、宗教自由權、信仰自由權等。看過這些，我們應該更清楚，奧巴馬與布什并沒有本質的區別。美國總統其實都是為利益集團存在的。

【譯      文】
       奧巴馬政府承認，其任期內繼續和發展了幾乎所有布什當政時期政府倡導的對國內公民自由權的嚴重干預。下面將介紹奧巴馬政府公然挑戰公民自由權的20個例證。自奧巴馬上位之后，遭侵犯的公民權利包括言論自由權、集會自由權、自由結社權、隱私權、公平審判權、宗教自由權、信仰自由權等。考慮完這些方面，然后再下結論——到底布什政府和奧巴馬政府在國內公民自由權方面是否有本質的區別。

       愛國者法案

       2011年5月27日，奧巴馬不顧兩黨內部廣泛的反對意見，支持將本應到期失效的《愛國者法案》中有爭議的幾項條款的有效期延長4年。而早在2010年3月，奧巴馬就曾批準了該法案延期一年的類似提議。《愛國者法案》中的條款允許政府部門，在獲得某個特殊的秘密法院的批準之后，在當事人不知情的情況下獲取其履歷，對與恐怖組織無明顯瓜葛的可疑人士實行秘密監控，并竊聽嫌疑人所有的電話通信。

       對持不同政見的人的刑事定罪和警隊軍事化

       近幾年參加過任何和平或正義示威的人都會發現——當地的警隊先是變成了特種部隊，然后又從特種部隊變成全副武裝的軍隊。不管是友好還是不友好的警官都變成了穿著統一服裝警察，像士兵一樣。他們手持盾牌，帶著護脛，穿著加強型防彈背心，戴著軍用頭盔和護目鏡，以及大規模升級的武器裝備。對陣示威人群的警察變身成忍者神龜，還有直升機、特殊坦克為其護航，有些時候甚至連在伊拉克戰場上首次出現的聲波爆破裝置都用上了。無線指紋掃描器（首用于伊拉克戰場）被地方性警局推廣到用來核查司機的身份。亞利桑那州以及其他司法轄區開始運用戰區采用的面部識別軟件。而在與墨西哥和加拿大交界的地方使用的無人機與科索沃、伊拉克、阿富汗戰爭中使用的幾乎完全一樣。奧巴馬時期，這些行動還在繼續膨脹。

       竊聽

       由于獲得聯邦或州法院的批準，對私密對話、電子以及有線通信的竊聽達到了前所未有的高峰。據美國法院行政管理局統計，與2009年相比，2010年竊聽上升了34%。

       言論罪

       因他們口述或發布于網絡上的煽動性言論，美國的穆斯林人士已經被奧巴馬政府的司法部門注意很久了。憲法第一修正案對言論自由的保護條款指出，即使煽動性言論鼓吹暴力行為政府也無權懲罰，除非有跡象顯示發言人將會煽動他人或自己制造該行動。這一條款最近一次運用是在1969年最高法院審判布蘭登伯格訴俄亥俄州案時。（注：布蘭登伯格是美國俄亥俄州三K黨（Ku Klux Klan）的一個首領，他在1968年通過電視傳媒召集地方三K黨成員，在電視上辱罵黑人和猶太人，并揚言“如果我們的總統、國會和最高法院繼續壓制高加索白種人，我們將采取某些報復行動。我們有40萬人，將于7月4日向國會進軍。”他被指控違反了俄亥俄州的《組織犯罪防治法》，該法禁止任何以犯罪、破壞、暴力或其他非法恐怖手段達成政治改革的主張。據此，俄亥俄州法院判布蘭登伯格1000美元罰款和10年監禁。這名三K黨首領以《組織犯罪防治法》違憲為由上訴至聯邦最高法院。1969年6月9日，聯邦最高法院的全體一致得出裁決，推翻了州立法院的原判，并認為俄亥俄州的此項法律具有違憲性質。裁決書指出：憲法保障言論自由，不允許政法禁止或限制任何主張暴力或主張不遵守法律的言論，除非該言論是以煽動他人“即刻”地違法或產生“即刻”的非法行動為目標，而且該主張的確可能會煽動或產生這種“即刻”的違法行為，才可以對其進行限制或懲罰。聯邦最高法院要求言論不但相當可能導致即刻的危害，而且危害必須相當明顯和嚴重，政法才能采取限制言論的行動，這一裁決修正并正式確認了霍爾姆斯大法官1919年首次提出的“明顯且即刻的危險”檢測標準。）2011年9月，一位在美國合法居住巴基斯坦人因在YouTube上上傳視頻被司法部指控。司法部聲稱，該視頻支持恐怖主義（盡管該視頻不含任何暴力因素）。2011年7月，司法部指控一位原賓夕法尼亞州立大學學生，理由是，該學生上網暗示目標，提供炸藥制作方法（該方法網絡上早已流傳）的鏈接。

       政府對國內穆斯林團體的監控

       針對紐約及其他地方的一些穆斯林團體，紐約市警察局和中央情報局聯手進行了一些情報工作，這些行動侵犯了宗教自由、言論自由以及一些其他法律。    為方便監控穆斯林團體，無權監聽美國人的中央情報局正與警方合作繪制“人類學圖譜”（通常被看作是專門描述與種族和宗教有關的人物的簡介）。    據美聯社2011年8月的報道，奧巴馬執政期間，代號為“清真寺爬蟲”的臥底警察監視了布道者、書店以及咖啡屋。

       美國的絕對機密

       2010年7月，華盛頓郵報發表了題為“美國：絕對機密”系列報道，詳細介紹了經過兩年調查獲得的結果——以“國家安全、情報工作和反恐”為名迅速擴張的秘密帝國。    該系列報道給出了一組驚人的數據：1271個政府組織，1931個反恐和保衛國家安全的私營企業，以及覆蓋全美的10,000個情報機構分支。    每一天，美國國家安全局都要攔截并保存超過17億個郵件、電話和其他通信內容。聯邦調查局名為“保衛者”的秘密數據庫中包含了所有聯邦、州以及地方的關于可疑活動的執法報告存檔。    據華盛頓郵報報道，截止2009年12月，“保衛者”數據庫總計有161,948個文件檔案。據聯邦調查局的報告，他們根據這個數據庫的資料開展了103次全面調查，至少逮捕了5名嫌疑人。    奧巴馬政府絲毫沒有公開這些行動。

       其他國內間諜活動

據美國公民自由聯盟近期發布的一份報告顯示，全美至少有72個資料收集中心，它們收集當地警方信息，并將其與多轄區情報中心的信息結合。這些情報中心共享來自聯邦、州以及地方的執法信息，以及一些私營承包商通過對一些美國人的秘密監控獲得的信息。奧巴馬執政起期間，這一切都在繼續擴張和繁榮。

       FBI情報業務的濫用

       美國非營利機構電子前沿基金會記載了2001-2008年間的數千起美聯邦調查局的違規情報操作。該機構估計，類似的違規操作每年超過4000起。奧巴馬還頒布了一項行政命令加強情報監督委員會的職能。該機構本是為了監督FBI、CIA等間諜情報機構依法辦事。其他變動尚未觀察到。

       維基解密

       維基解密公開美國外交電文的行為，以及隨后主流媒體的跟風報道，遭到奧巴馬政府官員們的嚴厲譴責。官員們表示，政府文件的完全公開，其危害不亞于對美國進行軍事襲擊。美司法部長宣布對此進行犯罪調查，并聲稱“這不是武力威脅”。政府官員警告國務院工作人員不要下載這些可公開下載的文件。國務院的一位官員與哥倫比亞市的一些官員們甚至警告學生們，討論維基解密或是在社交網站上連接其文件都將影響到他們未來的從政之路。該觀點持續了數日，直到被其他哥倫比亞官員否定。在本文完成之后，奧巴馬政府還在繼續努力，試圖起訴維基解密的發布者。

       中央情報局對書籍的審查

       2011年，中央情報局要求前聯邦調查局探員阿里•蘇凡刪除其回憶錄中的諸多內容，因為該書抹黑了該機構的形象。蘇凡在書中詳細描述了該機構虐待被逮捕罪犯具體做法，以及9•11事件發生的原委。前中央情報局特工格倫・卡爾遭遇了類似的事情。他也被要求刪除其所寫的關于虐囚方法一書中的大部分內容。奧巴馬執政期間，中央情報局繼續擴大其審查范圍。

       阻止美士兵虐囚照的發布

       2009年5月，奧巴馬總統（此前曾表示不會阻止虐囚照公開）一改三周前的態度，堅決反對公開美國士兵虐待囚犯的照片。而2009年4月，美國防部還曾告知某聯邦法院，將公開這些照片。這組照片與近200個士兵虐囚事件調查有關。

       技術監控

       2011年8月，海灣地區交通系統聽信了關于警察將示威抗議槍擊死刑的謠言，因此關閉了當地4個警局的手機通信服務。一些西方國家的企業向中國、利比亞和敘利亞等專制政權出售郵件監控軟件，方便他們對示威行走者和人權激進分子的監控。犯罪高發區、街角、以及其他政府大樓都裝有監控攝像頭以監視居民。警察局的計算機系統要求公用事業公司提交該地區每一戶居民的信息（包括姓名和地址），信息列表每天更新。警車的內置計算機經過每一輛時都對其牌照進行掃描。奧巴馬政府從未試圖想公眾公開這些新的監控技術。

       以“國家機密”為由阻止政府及其他人士審查

       為了將待刑訊的囚犯運送至其他國家，布什政府向某波音子公司租用了私人飛機。這件事被抓包后，布什政府成功的說服聯邦初審法庭不予受理被刑訊的未判決囚犯的上訴，因為若進行公開審判將泄漏“國家機密”，并威脅國家安全。而奧巴馬當選后，在一次聯邦高級法院的審判中，有關保護“國家機密”的說辭再一次被搬上臺面。這一說辭一直奧巴馬政府的重要借口，以此來隱瞞政府當前的行動以及布什時期的一些見不得人的政府作為。

       在另一個案例中，布什時期的聯邦調查局試圖回避憲法第四修正案的條款，并尋求法律授權直接從電信公司獲得電話及網絡記錄。這一企圖2005年逐漸浮出水面。   除其他監控方式外，政府和電信公司還建立了專門用于電話和網絡通信監控的密室。    2008年，政府對電信公司涉嫌大范圍侵犯其客戶隱私權作出無罪赦免。   總之，客戶曾起訴電信公司。但奧巴馬政府以避免泄漏國家機密為由，成功地說服了地方法院拒絕受理該案件以及其他類似案件。   這一案件目前仍在上訴。

       物資支持

       奧巴馬政府還曾向美最高法院請求不應用憲法第一修正案，并允許政府將某些合法活動定為犯罪。這些活動包括人道主義援助和向其他國外機構（在其名單上，被定為恐怖組織的機構）提供建議和支持。該請求獲得了最高法院的批準。該“物質支持”法現在可用于對宣揚人權和提供人道主義援助的人定罪。現任司法部副部長曾向最高法院表示，“當你幫助黎巴嫩真主黨造房子的時候，其實你是在幫他們造炸彈。”最高法院接納了奧巴馬的觀點，同意在這些情形下，國家安全超越言論自由。

       芝加哥反戰大陪審團調查

       2010年9月，聯邦調查局的探員分別在芝加哥、明尼阿波利斯市和大急流城三地突襲了7個倡議和平的活動家，沒收了電腦、手機、護照和其他證件。超過20個反戰爭積極分子遭到聯邦大陪審團的傳訊，而全國范圍內被叫去問詢的人則更多。被懷疑的人中有些是當地的工會組織成員，其他的是另一些組織（類似阿拉伯-美國行動網絡、哥倫比亞行動網絡、雙子城反戰爭運動、自由之路社會主義者機構等組織）的成員。其中大多數人在國際上都小有名氣，他們還經常聯系在哥倫比亞和巴勒斯坦的地下反抗組織。陪審團的傳訊會引導這些人交代任何與哥倫比亞、巴勒斯坦、約旦、敘利亞、以色列或中東相關的活動。2011年，洛杉磯的一位積極分子的家遭到突然襲擊，他因為與2010年9月那批積極分子的聯系而被懷疑。所有這些調查工作都是奧巴馬政府下達的指令。  

       虐待揭發者

       奧巴馬政府依據《間諜法》起訴了五個揭發人，這比歷屆政府加一起都要多。 一個國家安全機構顧問向媒體透露，政府竊聽人員正在一些錯誤的注定會失敗的項目上浪費數以億計的錢。政府因此按《間諜法》指控他十項重罪。項目失敗后才批準了其改為輕罪的請求，而政府也因實施不合理項目被大法官責難。奧巴馬政府還起訴了中央情報局、國務院以及聯邦調查局的一些離職人員。他們甚至傳訊了一個記者和為這些揭發人打官司的一位律師。

       士兵布拉德利•曼寧

       二等兵布拉德利•曼寧，因為將成千上萬的政府文件泄露給維基解密，而受到指控。這些文件暴露了美政府官員不計其數的謊言——包括為掩飾其在伊拉克的暴行而非法殺害平民和警察、有關被關在關塔那摩的人的信息、未公開的無人機襲擊、虐待兒童以及美政府胡作非為的許多其他證據。雖然丹尼奧•艾爾斯伯格和其他揭發人認為布拉德利是一個美國英雄，美國政府依然將他監禁起來，并且威脅將以間諜罪起訴他，這一罪名可能被判死刑。曼寧被獨立關押了數月，并被警衛要求赤裸睡覺。而當被問及曼寧的監禁生活狀況時，奧巴馬總統還曾打包票說，他可以肯定監獄環境良好企且符合我們的基本標準。

       獨立關押

       有人曾多次估算，至少有20,000人被獨立關押在美國的監獄和拘留所。   盡管聯邦、州及地方監獄和拘留所都沒有公開具體數字，根據學術調查統計，數以外籍的人每天有23到24個小時被關在“特殊”牢房¬，包括超高度安全監獄、 一級囚犯禁閉室、獨立安全房、“黑洞”、特殊管理拘留所或是行政隔離室。    根據非政府組織——人權觀察的報告，三分之一到一半的被獨立關押的囚犯很可能患有精神類疾病。    2006年5月，聯合國反刑訊委員會認為，美國政府應該“對將拘留者關押在獨立監獄——特別是長期隔離——的制度進行反思。”  奧巴馬上臺以后絲毫沒有減少對聯邦、州及地方獨立監獄的使用。

       特殊行政措施

       特殊行政措施（SAMS）是指，對囚犯（包括未判決的被拘留者）給予額外嚴酷的監禁環境。美國監獄管理局對隔離關押、限制或禁止與外界聯絡的囚犯有明文規定，包括：除律師外不得與其他探訪者見面，不得與媒體接觸，不得使用手機，禁止通信，禁止與家屬聯絡，不得與獄警交談，24小時錄像監控。2009年，美國司法部曾承認，有數十位罪犯（包括數位未判決囚犯）被以“特殊行政措施”監禁，他們大多為穆斯林人士。奧巴馬上臺后特殊行政措施的采用只可能有增無減。

       上述20個具體的例證證明了奧巴馬執政時期不斷侵犯國內公民自由權。老實說，在這個方面奧巴馬跟布什有什么區別呢？

       作者Bill Quigley是新奧爾良洛約拉大學法學教授，他同時是“憲法權益中心”（總部在紐約的一個非政府組織）助理法務總監。
【原    文】
The Obama administration has affirmed, continued and expanded almost all of the draconian domestic civil liberties intrusions pioneered under the Bush administration.  Here are twenty examples of serious assaults on the domestic rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience that have occurred since the Obama administration has assumed power.  Consider these and then decide if there is any fundamental difference between the Bush presidency and the Obama presidency in the area of domestic civil liberties.

Patriot Act

On May 27, 2011, President Obama, over widespread bipartisan objections, approved a Congressional four year extension of controversial parts of the Patriot Act that were set to expire.  In March of 2010, Obama signed a similar extension of the Patriot Act for one year.  These provisions allow the government, with permission from a special secret court, to seize records without the owner’s knowledge, conduct secret surveillance of suspicious people who have no known ties to terrorist groups and to obtain secret roving wiretaps on people.

Criminalization of Dissent and Militarization of the Police

Anyone who has gone to a peace or justice protest in recent years has seen it – local police have been turned into SWAT teams, and SWAT teams into heavily armored military.  Officer Friendly or even Officer Unfriendly has given way to police uniformed like soldiers with SWAT shields, shin guards, heavy vests, military helmets, visors, and vastly increased firepower.  Protest police sport ninja turtle-like outfits and are accompanied by helicopters, special tanks, and even sound blasting vehicles first used in Iraq.  Wireless fingerprint scanners first used by troops in Iraq are now being utilized by local police departments to check motorists.  Facial recognition software introduced in war zones is now being used in Arizona and other jurisdictions.  Drones just like the ones used in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan are being used along the Mexican and Canadian borders.  These activities continue to expand under the Obama administration.

Wiretaps

Wiretaps for oral, electronic or wire communications, approved by federal and state courts, are at an all-time high.  Wiretaps in year 2010 were up 34% from 2009, according to the Administrative Office of the US Courts.

Criminalization of Speech

Muslims in the US have been targeted by the Obama Department of Justice for inflammatory things they said or published on the internet.  First Amendment protection of freedom of speech, most recently stated in a 1969 Supreme Court decision, Brandenberg v Ohio, says the government cannot punish inflammatory speech, even if it advocates violence unless it is likely to incite or produce such action.  A Pakistani resident legally living in the US was indicted by the DOJ in September 2011 for uploading a video on YouTube.  The DOJ said the video was supportive of terrorists even though nothing on the video called for violence.  In July 2011, the DOJ indicted a former Penn State student for going onto websites and suggesting targets and for providing a link to an explosives course already posted on the internet.

Domestic Government Spying on Muslim Communities

In activities that offend freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and several other laws, the NYPD and the CIA have partnered to conduct intelligence operations against Muslim communities in New York and elsewhere.  The CIA, which is prohibited from spying on Americans, works with the police on “human mapping”, commonly known as racial and religious profiling to spy on the Muslim community.  Under the Obama administration, the Associated Press reported in August 2011, informants known as “mosque crawlers,” monitor sermons, bookstores and cafes.

Top Secret America

In July 2010, the Washington Post released “Top Secret America,” a series of articles detailing the results of a two year investigation into the rapidly expanding world of homeland security, intelligence and counter-terrorism.   It found 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence at about 10,000 locations across the US.  Every single day, the National Security Agency intercepts and stores more than 1.7 billion emails, phone calls and other types of communications. The FBI has a secret database named Guardian that contains reports of suspicious activities filed from federal, state and local law enforcement.  According to the Washington Post, Guardian contained 161,948 files as of December 2009.  From that database there have been 103 full investigations and at least five arrests the FBI reported.  The Obama administration has done nothing to cut back on the secrecy.

Other Domestic Spying

There are at least 72 fusion centers across the US which collect local domestic police information and merge it into multi-jurisdictional intelligence centers, according to a recent report by the ACLU.  These centers share information from federal, state and local law enforcement and some private companies to secretly spy on Americans.  These all continue to grow and flourish under the Obama administration.

Abusive FBI Intelligence Operations

The Electronic Frontier Foundation documented thousands of violations of the law by FBI intelligence operations from 2001 to 2008 and estimate that there are over 4000 such violations each year.  President Obama issued an executive order to strengthen the Intelligence Oversight Board, an agency which is supposed to make sure the FBI, the CIA and other spy agencies are following the law.  No other changes have been noticed.

Wikileaks

The publication of US diplomatic cables by Wikileaks and then by main stream news outlets sparked condemnation by the Obama administration officials who said the publication of accurate government documents was nothing less than an attack on the United States.  The Attorney General announced a criminal investigation and promised “this is not saber rattling.” Government officials warned State Department employees not to download the publicly available documents.  A State Department official and Columbia officials warned students that discussing Wikileaks or linking documents to social networking sites could jeopardize their chances of getting a government job, a position that lasted several days until reversed by other Columbia officials.  At the time this was written, the Obama administration continued to try to find ways to prosecute the publishers of Wikileaks.

Censorship of Books by the CIA

In 2011, the CIA demanded extensive cuts from a memoir by former FBI agent Ali H. Soufan, in part because it made the agency look bad.  Soufan’s book detailed the use of torture methods on captured prisoners and mistakes that led to 9-11. Similarly, a 2011 book on interrogation methods by former CIA agent Glenn Carle was subjected to extensive black outs.  The CIA under the Obama administration continues its push for censorship.

Blocking Publication of Photos of U.S. Soldiers Abusing Prisoners

In May 2009, President Obama reversed his position of three weeks earlier and refused to release photos of US soldiers abusing prisoners.  In April 2009, the US Department of Defense told a federal court that it would release the photos.  The photos were part of nearly 200 criminal investigations into abuses by soldiers.

Technological Spying

The Bay Area Transit System, in August 2011, hearing of rumors to protest against fatal shootings by their police, shut down cell service in four stations.  Western companies sell email surveillance software to repressive regimes in China, Libya and Syria to use against protestors and human rights activists.  Surveillance cameras monitor residents in high crime areas, street corners and other governmental buildings.  Police department computers ask for and receive daily lists from utility companies with addresses and names of every home address in their area.  Computers in police cars scan every license plate of every car they drive by.  The Obama administration has made no serious effort to cut back these new technologies of spying on citizens.

Use of “State Secrets” to Shield Government and Others from Review

When the Bush government was caught hiring private planes from a Boeing subsidiary to transport people for torture to other countries, the Bush administration successfully asked the federal trial court to dismiss a case by detainees tortured because having a trial would disclose “state secrets” and threaten national security.  When President Obama was elected, the state secrets defense was reaffirmed in arguments before a federal appeals court.  It continues to be a mainstay of the Obama administration effort to cloak their actions and the actions of the Bush administration in secrecy.

In another case, it became clear in 2005 that the Bush FBI was avoiding the Fourth Amendment requirement to seek judicial warrants to get telephone and internet records by going directly to the phone companies and asking for the records.  The government and the companies, among other methods of surveillance, set up secret rooms where phone and internet traffic could be monitored.  In 2008, the government granted the companies amnesty for violating the privacy rights of their customers.  Customers sued anyway. But the Obama administration successfully argued to the district court, among other defenses, that disclosure would expose state secrets and should be dismissed.  The case is now on appeal.

Material Support

The Obama administration successfully asked the US Supreme Court not to apply the First Amendment and to allow the government to criminalize humanitarian aid and legal activities of people providing advice or support to foreign organizations which are listed on the government list as terrorist organizations.   The material support law can now be read to penalize people who provide humanitarian aid or human rights advocacy. The Obama administration Solicitor General argued to the court “when you help Hezbollah build homes, you are also helping Hezbollah build bombs.”  The Court agreed with the Obama argument that national security trumps free speech in these circumstances.

Chicago Anti-war Grand Jury Investigation

In September 2010, FBI agents raided the homes of seven peace activists in Chicago, Minneapolis and Grand Rapids seizing computers, cell phones, passports, and records.  More than 20 anti-war activists were issued federal grand jury subpoenas and more were questioned across the country.  Some of those targeted were members of local labor unions, others members of organizations like the Arab American Action Network, the Columbia Action Network, the Twin Cities Anti-War Campaign and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.  Many were active internationally and visited resistance groups in Columbia and Palestine.  Subpoenas directed people to bring anything related to trips to Columbia, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Israel or the Middle East.  In 2011, the home of a Los Angeles activist was raided and he was questioned about his connections with the September 2010 activists.  All of these investigations are directed by the Obama administration.

Punishing Whistleblowers

The Obama administration has prosecuted five whistleblowers under the Espionage Act, more than all the other administrations in history put together.  They charged a National Security Agency advisor with ten felonies under the Espionage Act for telling the press that government eavesdroppers were wasting hundreds of millions of dollars on misguided and failed projects.  After their case collapsed, the government, which was chastised by the federal judge as engaging in unconscionable conduct allowed him to plead to a misdemeanor and walk.  The administration has also prosecuted former members of the CIA, the State Department, and the FBI.  They even tried to subpoena a journalist and one of the lawyers for the whistleblowers.

Bradley Manning

Army private Bradley Manning is accused of leaking thousands of government documents to Wikileaks.  These documents expose untold numbers of lies by US government officials, wrongful killings of civilians, policies to ignore torture in Iraq, information about who is held at Guantanamo, cover ups of drone strikes and abuse of children and much more damaging information about US malfeasance.  Though Daniel Ellsberg and other whistleblowers say Bradley is an American hero, the US government has jailed him and is threatening him with charges of espionage which may be punished by the death penalty.  For months Manning was held in solitary confinement and forced by guards to sleep naked.  When asked about how Manning was being held, President Obama personally defended the conditions of his confinement saying he had been assured they were appropriate and meeting our basic standards.

Solitary Confinement

At least 20,000 people are in solitary confinement in US jails and prisons, some estimate several times that many.  Despite the fact that federal, state and local prisons and jails do not report actual numbers, academic research estimates tens of thousands are kept in cells for 23 to 24 hours a day in supermax units and prisons, in lockdown, in security housing units, in “the hole”, and in special management units or administrative segregation.  Human Rights Watch reports that one-third to one-half of the prisoners in solitary are likely mentally ill.  In May 2006, the UN Committee on Torture concluded that the United States should “review the regimen imposed on detainees in supermax prisons, in particular, the practice of prolonged isolation.”  The Obama administration has taken no steps to cut back on the use of solitary confinement in federal, state or local jails and prisons.

Special Administrative Measures

Special Administrative Measures (SAMS) are extra harsh conditions of confinement imposed on prisoners (including pre-trial detainees) by the Attorney General.  The U.S. Bureau of Prisons imposes restrictions such segregation and isolation from all other prisoners, and limitation or denial of contact with the outside world such as: no visitors except attorneys, no contact with news media, no use of phone, no correspondence, no contact with family, no communication with guards, 24 hour video surveillance and monitoring. The DOJ admitted in 2009 that several dozen prisoners, including several pre-trial detainees, mostly Muslims, were kept incommunicado under SAMS.  If anything, the use of SAMS has increased under the Obama administration.

These twenty concrete examples document a sustained assault on domestic civil liberties in the United States under the Obama administration.  Rhetoric aside, how different has Obama been from Bush in this area?

Bill Quigley is a professor of law at Loyola University New Orleans and Associate Legal Director at the Center for Constitutional Rights. He can be reached at: [email protected]. Read other articles by Bill.

× 烏有之鄉 WYZXWK.COM

您的打賞將用于網站日常運行與維護。
幫助我們辦好網站，宣傳紅色文化！

歡迎掃描下方二維碼，訂閱烏有之鄉網刊微信公眾號