[CitizensTruth] ARTICLE-Congress looking at police spying

[Walterb306 at cs.com]

All,

FYI.

Story to watch.

Beverley





Congress looking at police spying

 Information sought on whether state police used federal funds
 http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.spy24jul24,0,2542117.story
 By Laura Smitherman and Matthew Hay Brown
 Baltimore Sun reporters / July 24, 2008 / Washington
 Federal lawmakers are scrutinizing the Homeland Security Department's role 
in efforts by Maryland State Police to spy on peace activists and death penalty 
protesters, raising concerns that the operations were supported with federal 
dollars.

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, 
asked the department yesterday for a "full accounting" of actions by the state 
police and of any federal funding it provided to the law enforcement agency. 
In a letter to Michael Chertoff, the department secretary, Thompson questioned 
whether the covert operations violated constitutional safeguards.

The state police have come under fire for surveillance conducted on protest 
groups in 2005 and 2006 during the administration of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. 
Documents detailing those activities were released last week by the American 
Civil Liberties Union, which had filed a lawsuit seeking the information. The 
state General Assembly is also planning hearings on the matter.

"These allegations are extremely troublesome and bring to light past domestic 
covert operations, which were found to be not only unconstitutional but also 
damaging to the rule of law and America's democratic principles," Thompson, a 
Mississippi Democrat, wrote in his letter. He added that funding of the state 
police actions with federal taxpayer dollars would constitute "a waste of 
valuable resources, both human and financial."

Members of the Maryland delegation including Rep. Steny H. Hoyer, the House 
majority leader, and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore Democrat, expressed 
support for the congressional scrutiny.

"I was shocked that the state of Maryland ... would have that kind of 
activity going on," Cummings said. "And it makes me wonder how all of this came 
about. Is this truly in the name of homeland security? We must always protect our 
homeland, but we must also at the same time protect our constitutional rights."

The ACLU and civil liberties activists have warned for years that the 
Homeland Security Department's efforts after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to give 
local law enforcement agencies a national security role could encourage 
unwarranted investigations of private citizens. ACLU officials have said the Maryland 
case is reminiscent of the FBI's infiltration of civil rights and anti-war 
groups decades ago.

"The Department of Homeland Security has for quite some time been seeking to 
enlist local law enforcement to become domestic surveillance agencies and has 
been pouring literally millions upon millions of dollars into them," said 
David Rocah, a staff attorney with the ACLU of Maryland.

"These local agencies then have a need to justify the extraordinary amount of 
funding that they are getting, and in the absence of actual terrorists, they 
have to find a terrorist under every rock," he said.

Col. Terrence B. Sheridan, the state police superintendent, has denied that 
any illegal actions have been taken by state police against lawful protesters. 
Gov. Martin O'Malley, a Democrat, has said the operations ended before he took 
office in January 2007.

State police spokesman Gregory Shipley said public safety concerns prompted 
the surveillance and that he had not been briefed on information regarding 
federal funding.

"In the future, this certainly will not occur unless there is some sort of 
illegal activity or criminal nexus that is part of the investigation," Shipley 
said. "There just won't be any intrusion unless that is present."

Ehrlich, a Republican, said in an interview on WBAL-AM that he was not asked 
to give approval for the surveillance but that an assistant attorney general 
assigned to the state police approved it. However, Raquel Guillory, a 
spokeswoman for Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler, said the state police never 
requested the agency's opinion on the matter.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security declined to comment, as 
a matter of policy.

The Maryland operation has drawn scrutiny from several corners of Capitol 
Hill. Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich, who chairs a subcommittee of the House Committee 
on Oversight and Government Reform, said last week that he would investigate 
the surveillance.

The Ohio Democrat and former presidential candidate is known for his antiwar 
activism, his legislation to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick 
Cheney, and his efforts to create a federal Department of Peace. He said he 
wants his subcommittee on domestic policy to determine the extent of the spying 
and who ordered it.

"Most people would be upset to know that police were spying on lawful 
citizens and infiltrating peaceful organizations, rather than chasing down real 
criminals," Kucinich said. "At a minimum, such police spying is clearly a waste of 
taxpayer dollars and a diversion from the mission of protecting and serving 
the people."

Cummings, a member of the subcommittee, wrote Kucinich yesterday to express 
his support.

"At a time when people across the United States believe their civil rights 
are being violated and question the credibility of our justice system, it is 
imperative that we make clear that this behavior will not be tolerated," the 
Baltimore Democrat wrote. Cummings said he has also asked O'Malley to review the 
matter.

According to the ACLU, which released 43 pages of state police summaries and 
computer logs, at least two undercover agents spent 288 hours monitoring and 
recording peaceful protest activities. During that time, agents infiltrated the 
Baltimore Pledge of Resistance, a peace group; the Baltimore Coalition 
Against the Death Penalty; and the Committee to Save Vernon Evans, a death row 
inmate.

The ACLU said that nothing in the documents indicated criminal activity or 
intent by the protesters. Police also entered the names of activists in a law 
enforcement database of people suspected of being terrorists or drug 
traffickers, the documents show.

Maria Allwine, a member of Baltimore Pledge of Resistance, said that she 
hopes congressional action will pressure state officials to release other 
information, including why the spying was ordered, and result in safeguards to prevent 
such surveillance. She said lawmakers should examine laws governing the 
release of public information, noting that her group has been trying to obtain 
answers through formal requests since 2006.

laura.smitherman at baltsun.com
matthew.brown at baltsun.com 


   
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