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ACLU Launches Nationwide Action Against NSA Snooping on Americans' Phone Calls ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri Is One of 19 State Affiliates Urging Local Officials to Investigate Phone Companies' Cooperation with Spy Agency; FCC Action Also Sought FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT : Brett Shirk, Executive Director NEW YORK -- Responding to reports that phone companies are enabling illegal government spying by turning over private details about Americans' telephone calls to the National Security Agency, the American Civil Liberties Union today sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission demanding an investigation. In addition, the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri and affiliates in 18 other states today filed complaints with Public Utility Commissions or sent letters to state Attorneys General and other officials demanding investigations into whether local telecommunications companies allowed the NSA to spy on their customers. “It's time for this illegal invasion of privacy, that could affect everyone in this country, to be unveiled,” said Brett Shirk, Executive Director of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, which today sent letters to Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon and Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. “The ACLU does not seek to obstruct legitimate law enforcement activities,” Shirk said, “but we are determined to stand up for the fundamental privacy and due process rights of innocent people whose telephone records have been divulged without a warrant, notice or consent.” Shirk's letter urged Attorneys General Nixon and Kline to utilize the power granted to them under their respective state laws to launch investigations into the illegality of the telephone companies' activities. If the Attorneys General find that the NSA spying program is in violation of their respective state laws, Shirk asked Nixon and Kline to issue “cease-and-desist” orders to the offending telecommunications companies. The ACLU's National office letter to the FCC points to the phone companies' denials of wrongdoing as well as recent attempts by the Bush administration -- via a Presidential Memorandum -- to immunize the companies from some liability for false statements they make in concealing matters of “national security .” “The inconsistency of these statements and the conscious disregard of the law underscore the need for an independent entity like the FCC to conduct a review and uncover the truth,” the ACLU letter said. In addition to the letter sent by ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, actions were filed today by ACLU affiliates in Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Other ACLU affiliates are expected to file additional letters and complaints in the coming weeks. “We cannot sit by while the government and the phone companies collude in this massive, illegal and fundamentally un-American invasion of our privacy,” said ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero. “And unfortunately, we cannot wait for Congress to act. The ACLU is mobilizing its members and supporters nationwide to demand investigations into this shocking breach of trust. And we are asking the FCC to use its authority to uncover the facts about how far the president's illegal spying has gone. The American people want answers.” As part of its nationwide campaign, the ACLU today is running full-page advertisements in The New York Times and half a dozen major daily newspapers, with the headline: “If You've Used a Telephone in the Last Five Years, Read This.” The advertisement provides a link to www.aclu.org/dontspy , where individuals can add their names to the public record in the ACLU's complaints with Public Utility Commissions and send e-mails to the FCC urging that it investigate the matter. “We are seeking to create the perfect storm to end illegal NSA spying,” said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU's Technology and Liberty Program. When the NSA spying program was initially uncovered last December, the ACLU was one of the first organizations to bring a legal challenge, acting on behalf of a prominent and politically diverse group of journalists, scholars and lawyers. That challenge will be heard before Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit on Monday, June 12; it will be the first ever hearing on the legality of NSA spying since the program was disclosed. More information on the case is online at www.aclu.org/nsaspying . The ACLU's FCC letter, the affiliate letters, today's full-page advertisement and other background is online at www.aclu.org/dontspy
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