Refuse & Resist! and the National Lawyers Guild Present
a Forum on the New Police State Measures
Saturday
December 1
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Merifield Hall, Loyola Law School
919 Albany, Los Angeles CA
(near Olympic and the 110 Freeway)
Speakers:
Stephen Rohde, President of the ACLU of Southern California
Carol Sobel, Civil Rights Attorney
A speaker from Refuse & Resist!
This forum will examine the new draconian USA Patriot Act (the "anti-terrorism" law), and other repressive measures so rapidly put in place since the horrendous events on September 11th.
Over 1100 people, mainly Arabs and Muslims, have been rounded up by the FBI and INS and kept in detention, many on the basis of secret evidence or no evidence at all and without any contact with a lawyer. The government has refused to reveal the identities, nationalities and whereabouts of the detained people. These have become the new "disappeared." Law enforcement authorities are openly debating the use of torture to extract information from those they've arrested. The Justice Department has expanded it's authority to eavesdrop on attorney-client conversations, further eroding the rights of all federal inmates.
Each day government officials present new ideas for increasing society-wide control, and many are being quickly adopted: video cameras and facial recognition ID systems in public areas and police checkpoints at major thoroughfares, airport militarization and "Smart Cards" for travelers that would contain their travel history and other personal information, demands that internet providers reconfigure computer systems so government agencies can more efficiently spy on e-mail and track computer searches. Numerous calls have been made for the establishment of a national ID card that would contain encoded personal information which could be read by police.
Top administration officials have made it clear these are not short-term measures and that this "war" may not end in our lifetimes. They warn this police state repression is the "new normalcy" and that we had better get used to it. What is the government's real agenda under the cover of the "War on Terrorism"? Will these new repressive measures make us safer? None of these measures have much to do with actually stopping terrorist attacks on innocent civilians, but they do have much to do with what the government is planning for the future. These sweeping changes are very dangerous to the people, and must be resisted and fought. The speakers will address these issues and there will be lots of opportunity for questions and discussion. We will come out of this forum with a plan of action.
Contact: Refuse & Resist, 323-962-8084, RandRLA@aol.com
Admission free, snacks available
Loyola Law School does not endorse the events for which it provides community forums.
[posted 11/27/01]
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