Welcome to the Bill of Rights Defense Committee
Are you concerned that the government's warrantless surveillance, detainee policies, and other post-9/11 laws and policies undermine our basic civil rights and liberties and make our country less safe? Join the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's national network of people who are taking meaningful action to restore protections guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution.
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Recent Threats to Liberties
BORDC resources
In the News
BORDC is currently seeking a new executive director. See additional information on the executive director search.
5 Reasons Why We Must Keep Fighting After Bush Leaves Office
- The damage done to constitutional protections, civil liberties, and human rights is extensive. Repairing the damage will be a long slow process, especially with the new administration focusing on the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- Historically, executive powers are often expanded but rarely reduced. It takes enormous pressure from the people to convince Congress and the President to reinstate the checks and balances required by the Constitution.
- Congress has been complicit in the Bush administration’s constitutional violations. To reverse these policies, implemented in the name of the “war on terror,” we must educate our congressional representatives and hold them accountable to their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution.
- President-Elect Obama has promised to close Guantánamo Bay detention center, but creating a process for trying and releasing the more than 250 remaining prisoners that is constitutional, timely, and safe will be complicated and difficult after years of the Bush administration’s fear-mongering. We must provide vocal support for such efforts to counteract this culture of fear.
- If we don’t fight to undo the damage to civil liberties, human rights, and other constitutional protections now, it will only get worse in the future.
Liberty & Security Transition Recommendations Released
On November 19, a group called the 2009 Liberty & Security Transition Coalition released a comprehensive set of recommendations for the Obama administration on a variety of constitutional issues. More than 25 organizations, including BORDC, and more than 75 individuals, including BORDC board members Flavia Alaya, Kit Gage, and Chip Pitts, collaborated on the recommendations, which are separated by issue focus into 20 chapters. Read and download the recommendations.
The PATRIOT Act and American Business
BORDC has just released a new booklet detailing the ways that the PATRIOT Act and other laws and policies harm American business and how businesses can protect themselves and their clients' privacy from government intrusion. Download The PATRIOT Act and American Business.
People's Campaign for the Constitution Toolkit
BORDC's initiative for the new Congress is the People's Campaign for the Constitution, a nationwide, nonpartisan, grassroots effort to hold Congressional representatives accountable to their oaths to protect and defend the Constitution. Our newly revised and streamlined toolkit for the People's Campaign is now available in printable form and, as always, online.
12/5, Michael Peppard, Commonweal, The Secret Weapon
12/5, Margaret O’Brien Steinfels, Commonweal, Mis-governance
12/4, Tim Otty, Guardian (UK), The answer is easy
12/4, Andrew Kalloch, Harvard Law Record, FBI General Counsel defends new guidelines
12/4, Evan Hill, Law.com, Wiretap Suit May Get Room to Run
12/4, Associated Press, Judge suspends trial in rendition case
Grassroots News:
12/3, Raleigh News & Observer (NC), Roses & Raspberries: Margaret "Peggy" Misch
10/22, Nat Hentoff, Village Voice, Joining the War Over the Constitution
10/14, Frost Illustrated (Fort Wayne, IN), Activist says Patriot Act an assault on Constitution
9/30, Dean Robinson, Frost Illustrated (Fort Wayne, IN), Mayor Henry, protect our civil liberties: The truth about the Patriot Act
8/26, Pamela Powers, Eau Claire (WI) Leader-Telegram, Marchers spread word on free speech, Constitution
8/17, Eisha Mason, California Progress Report, California Becomes First State to Condemn Use of Torture in 'War on Terror'
