Holding Phone Companies Accountable
On May 25, 2006, the ACLU of Southern California, ACLU of Northern California and the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties filed separate suits against Verizon and AT&T for sharing customers' phone records with the NSA. Both cases are assigned to Judge Vaughn Walker of the Northern District of California, who is now the judge in the nationwide multidistrict litigation against the phone companies. Affiliates' motions to remand the case from federal court back to state court have been denied.
Demanding the Truth About Spying on Peaceful Protestors
The ACLU filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests for documents relating to the Pentagon's program of spying on peace groups. These confirmed targets are organizations whose names have appeared in Pentagon Threat and Local Observation Notices (TALON) documents:
- Students for Peace and Justice
- Campus Anti-War Network
- Physicians for Social Responsibility
- University of California's Santa Cruz Students Against War's Counter-Recruitment Working Group
- Berkeley Stop the War Coalition
These organizations have joined the ACLU in filing Freedom of Information Act requests for documents on surveillance of group activities.
- Islamic Shura Council of Southern California
- Several area mosques
- In defense of animals