Feds Win Right to War Protesters' Records Sat Feb 7, 2:06 PM ET BY RYAN J. FOLEY, Associated Press Writer DES MOINES, Iowa - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered a university to turn over records about a gathering of anti-war activists. In addition to the subpoena of Drake University, subpoenas were served this past week on four of the activists who attended a Nov. 15 forum at the school, ordering them to appear before a grand jury Tuesday, the protesters said. Federal prosecutors refuse to comment on the subpoenas. In addition to records about who attended the forum, the subpoena orders the university to divulge all records relating to the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, a New York-based legal activist organization that sponsored the forum. The group, once targeted for alleged ties to communism in the 1950s, announced Friday it will ask a federal court to quash the subpoena on Monday. "The law is clear that the use of the grand jury to investigate protected political activities or to intimidate protesters exceeds its authority," guild President Michael Ayers said in a statement. Representatives of the Lawyer's Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) said they had not heard of such a subpoena being served on any U.S. university in decades. Those served subpoenas include the leader of the Catholic Peace Ministry, the former coordinator of the Iowa Peace Network, a member of the Catholic Worker House, and an anti-war activist who visited Iraq (news - web sites) in 2002. They say the subpoenas are intended to stifle dissent. "This is exactly what people feared would happen," said Brian Terrell of the peace ministry, one of those subpoenaed. "The civil liberties of everyone in this country are in danger. How we handle that here in Iowa is very important on how things are going to happen in this country from now on." The forum, titled "Stop the Occupation! Bring the Iowa Guard Home!" came the day before 12 protesters were arrested at an anti-war rally at Iowa National Guard headquarters in Johnston. Organizers say the forum included nonviolence training for people planning to demonstrate. The targets of the subpoenas believe investigators are trying to link them to an incident that occurred during the rally. A Grinnell College librarian was charged with misdemeanor assault on a peace officer; she has pleaded innocent, saying she simply went limp and resisted arrest. "The best approach is not to speculate and see what we learn on Tuesday" when the four testify, said Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union, which is representing one of the protesters. Mark Smith, a lobbyist for the Washington-based American Association of University Professors, said he had not heard of any similar case of a U.S. university being subpoenaed for such records. He said the case brings back fears of the "red squads" of the 1950s and campus clampdowns on Vietnam War protesters. According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the Drake subpoena asks for records of the request for a meeting room, "all documents indicating the purpose and intended participants in the meeting, and all documents or recordings which would identify persons that actually attended the meeting." It also asks for campus security records "reflecting any observations made of the Nov. 15, 2003, meeting, including any records of persons in charge or control of the meeting, and any records of attendees of the meeting." Several officials of Drake, a private university with about 5,000 students, refused to comment Friday, including school spokeswoman Andrea McDonough. She referred questions to a lawyer representing the school, Steve Serck, who also would not comment. A source with knowledge of the investigation said a judge had issued a gag order forbidding school officials from discussing the subpoena. http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=716&e=7&u=/ap/20040207/ap_on_re_us/activist_investigation
They should just sic the RIAA on them.... I just know that those protesters are also the ones stealing the music....get em boys !!! DD
Very scary...and the only thing anyone can do about it is vote against Bush. If that doesn't work, history tells us that this sort of thing will happen with greater frequency and degree. Ashcroft is a piece of ****, and should never have had a job with more power than a janitor.
It's a bit saddening that this issue hasn't raised more of a furor (instead of a Fuhrer). Americans really do take their freedoms for granted - even when they seem to be gradually disappearing. A few more years like this, and that move to Europe may become an even more attractive prospect.
More scary news: Ashcroft requests medical records of patients who had legal abortions. What is up with this guy?! Judge denies Ashcroft's request for patient medical records By Mark Taylor A move by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to subpoena the medical records of 40 patients who received so-called partial-birth abortions at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago was halted—at least temporarily—when a Chicago federal judge quashed the information request. The ruling is the first in a series of subpoenas by the U.S. Justice Department seeking the medical records of patients from seven physicians and at least five hospitals, Crain's sister publication Modern Healthcare has learned. Besides Northwestern, Mr. Ashcroft is seeking patient records from University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers in Ann Arbor; Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia, owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp.; Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital both of which are part of the New York-Presbyterian Healthcare System; and an unidentified San Francisco-area hospital. http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=11447
I'm starting to feel like I live in one of those second tier countries... you know, the ones with a democratic government in name only, with a figurehead for a leader and a bunch of dark, dirty people running things in the shadows, popping up in the public eye from time to time enough for you to know who they are. Things are getting bad, folks. Things are getting real bad. And the BBS goes on for three pages about homosexuality in animals. I guess we're eclectic. (not that there's anything wrong with that)
To be sure, Deckard, there are few things worse than the article that started this thread (well, the illegal, immoral, unjust Iraq war comes to mind...), but what's the point really? Most thoughtful conservatives on this board have given up the debate and disappeared. basso's an exception, but for the most part he just posts conservative editorials (does he even notice that those of us on the left generally eschew opinion pieces that would make our case?) or articles from right wing blog sites. At least he hasn't run away or fallen dumb like so many others. Other than basso lately though, the new strategy seems to be registering fakeout votes in a BBS poll. L-O-f*cking-L. So what's the use? Yes, I am outraged by the latest in a series of attacks on our civil liberties -- on the very things that make patriotism in this country anything more than jingoism -- but why register that outrage here? So Jorge can say something in ALL CAPS about a bone saw and then go vote Democrat for Bush in a BBS poll? So basso can post the latest command post "op ed?" So treeman or johnheath or sinohero can... what ever happened to those stalwart defenders of the right anyway? So Max or Refman can acknowledge their party engages in troubling behavior? Well, that one actually, at least, is worth something. But it doesn't exactly engender debate. Yes. This is bull****. This is not American. It is fundamentally against America. But neither song lyrics nor funny jpegs nor manifestos expressing outrage will bump it to three pages if no one on the right is willing to defend this sort of behavior. I'm trying to take it as good news. I'm trying to see it as indefensible policy going undefended (much like rimrocker's Overtime thread, excepting Stupid Moniker's unfortunate attempts there). And I'm trying to take that as a sign of good things to come. It would be perfectly in keeping with the most unsuccessful SOTU speech in recent memory followed by a Meet the Press interview that was, by all accounts, a colossal failure. Yes, this is awful. There are few things more awful. Good news is on the horizon though. There should be very little reason to doubt that. Especially when no one here -- even in ******* Texas -- can mount even the feeblest defense of this president's outrageous policies.
It's true that several of the more energetic "defenders of the faith" are hiding in the bushes, so to speak. There have been several times lately that I've more than half expected treeman, johnheath and company to post in a thread and raise some semi-coherent hell. It's a bit strange to miss them. I really think Bush is going to continue to look worse and worse to the general public. He'll look even more extreme than he does already and Ashcroft is typical of those who are helping that along. It's almost like the Administration is seeing the writing on the wall and doing whatever mad thing they can get away with while their guy is still in power. The more nervous they get, they more they are screwing up. And the easier it gets to beat them. The interview Sunday was another of a string of disasters, each one seemingly worse than the one before. At this rate, whoever the Democrats give the nomination to won't have to worry about the RNC's 150 million. Or whatever ungodly sum they end up with. They'll be lucky if it makes the election close enough to be respectable. I'm really starting to believe that.
Batman, I thik you are correct the usual defnders don't want to touch this thread. I rmember, John Heath, I think it was saying that we could not cite one example of Ashcroft stifling free speech. The sad thing is that even though the defenders know this is indefensable that they will all vote for Bush anyway. More on the case. ************ The Des Moines Register Fourth activist in D.M. ordered to testify The federal probe also focuses on a November antiwar forum held at Drake University. By JEFF ECKHOFF and MARK SEIBERT 02/06/2004 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A federal investigation expanded Thursday as prosecutors subpoenaed a fourth peace activist to appear before a grand jury and secured a court order forbidding Drake University officials to discuss a demand for information about a November antiwar conference on campus. Federal authorities so far have refused to disclose what the investigation is about or what laws might have been broken. But an officer with the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force served a subpoena to Wendy Vasquez of Des Moines on Thursday morning. Vasquez, an antiwar activist who visited Iraq in 2002, was surprised. "Just the whole idea that somebody would think I'm a terrorist is ludicrous," she said. Vasquez's summons was the latest grand jury subpoena issued as part of a federal investigation that includes three other antiwar activists, as well as records of an activist legal group at Drake. Vasquez was among dozens of activists who attended a Nov. 15 conference at Drake called "Stop the Occupation! Bring the Iowa Guard Home!" The conference was hosted by the Drake Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. The event was followed the next day by a demonstration at the Iowa National Guard Headquarters in Johnston where 12 protesters were arrested. On Wednesday, federal investigators subpoenaed three activists involved that weekend. Elton Davis, Patti McKee and Brian Terrell have been ordered to appear in Des Moines before a federal grand jury on Tuesday. Davis and Vasquez were arrested at the Nov. 16 demonstration, which Terrell also attended. McKee, who could not be reached for comment, is listed as an organizer of the conference. Federal prosecutors have refused to discuss the investigation or the purpose of the grand jury. But Thursday morning, at the request of the U.S. attorney's office in Des Moines, U.S. District Judge Ronald Longstaff issued an order under seal - meaning its contents are secret. Sources say the order prohibits Drake employees from commenting about a separate subpoena demanding university records. The Drake subpoena asks for all records relating to the Nov. 15 conference. It also demands information about leaders of the National Lawyers Guild, location of the guild's offices and any annual reports since 2002. Part of the subpoena asks for "all records of Drake University campus security reflecting any observations made of the November 15, 2003, meeting, including any records of persons in charge or control of the meeting, and any records of attendees of the meeting." The National Lawyers Guild is a New York-based organization that regularly involves itself in social activism and the defense of protesters. A guild official vowed that the group will fight the subpoena "with everything that we have." "It's a clear First Amendment violation and a clear attempt to intimidate lawful expression," said Heidi Boghosian, the guild's executive director. "We have no intention of turning anything over." Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Vanderschel said Thursday that he could "neither confirm nor deny the existence of any ongoing investigation." "I'm not able to provide any further comments," he said. Drake officials also declined to comment when asked about the existence of a gag order. Terrell, one of the activists who has been subpoenaed, was skeptical about the effort to silence Drake employees. "What they're doing is they're claiming it's to protect the privacy of students," he said. National Lawyer's Guilld
Batman Jones, I definitely understand your frustration. Believe me. That we only engage in debate when we believe we're "right" is a sad commentary on the American psyche. Because of the horserace mentality that's been instilled in us, we often put party above principle. We'd rather our guy "win." What does that say about us? Until we all learn to put principle above party, civil discourse might never elevate to anything more than he said/she said. But it can start here. I've come to realize that frustration never righted a country. Frustration never changed regimes, and frustration never made a difference. Action did. And action will. Posting a story on this BBS is a very small action. It takes minimal effort. Copy and paste. Big deal. But small actions often lead to greater ones. And if more Americans do "small" things to encourage open-minded political discourse, the prospects of a strong American future can only improve.
