Civil Rights Links on the Central Oregon Web Log

The links on this page are made available to provide you with additional resources of information so that you can be fully informed as a citizen.

The American Civil Liberties Union is one of the most important organizations in the United States working to protect civil liberties.

The American Library Association is very concerned with requirements of the Patriot Act and is taking action to protect the interests of the reading public.

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee "encourages communities to take an active role in an ongoing national debate about the USA PATRIOT Act and other antiterrorism measures that threaten civil liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights."

The Cato Institute is one of the better known libertarian organizations. While it takes many stands that progressives disagree with, the institute's position on civil rights is frequently in agreement with that of progressives.

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) is a non-profit legal and educational organization dedicated to protecting and advancing the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The Center for Democracy and Technology "works to promote democratic values and constitutional liberties in the digital age. With expertise in law, technology, and policy, CDT seeks practical solutions to enhance free expression and privacy in global communications technologies. CDT is dedicated to building consensus among all parties interested in the future of the Internet and other new communications media." This web site has a special section on the Patriot Act

The Constitution Society is a private non-profit organization dedicated to research and public education on the principles of constitutional republican government. It publishes documentation, engages in litigation, and organizes local citizens groups to work for reform. Its web site aims to eventually provide almost everything one needs to accurately decide what is and is not constitutional in most situations, and what applicable constitutions require one to do. It is for constitutional decision support. The web site has an excellent collection of links to activist web sites covering the entire political spectrum from left to right.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center "is a public interest research center in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging civil liberties issues and to protect privacy, the First Amendment, and constitutional values."

Elaine Cassel publishes Civil Liberties Watch. It is also part of the Twin Cities Babelogues Community

Explore Freedom is an excellent site for source documents and links to other sites related to civil liberties.

Extreme Ashcroft is sponsored by "the folks behind www.jimhightower.com -- concerned citizens and activists from a range of causes, places, and opinions who agree on one thing - it's time for Ashcroft to go. Extreme incompetence + extreme views = The wrong guy for the job

The Ashcroft Watch is a regular column by Nat Hentoff and published in The Progressive. Hentoff's columns are featured on line at the Village Voice

The Federation of American Scientists is concerned with actions affecting our civil rights. This web site publishes recent Executive Orders that we should be concerned with. It also maintains the Project on Government Secrecy to challenge excessive government secrecy and to promote public oversight.

The First Amendment Center "works to preserve and protect First Amendment freedoms through information and education. The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of free-expression issues, including freedom of speech, of the press and of religion, the right to assemble and petition the government."

The First Amendment Foundation is a non-profit foundation that initiates educational programs on vanguard First Amendment constitutional rights issues, giving priority to:

exposing encroachment by government agencies on the rights of free expression including defending the right of political dissent of individuals and organizations;
and
sharing educational materials to audiences unfamiliar with or inattentive to the threats to the First Amendment.

See The Attack on Civil Liberties, a special collection of articles by the Village Voice. Also check articles by Nat Hentoff in this on-line edition of the great New York paper.

Read the U.S. Bill of Rights on the federal government archives web site. You can also use links on this page to the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

The Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law." This web site has an extensive list of links to related web sites.

The Legal Information Institute (LII) is a research and electronic publishing activity of the Cornell Law School. The Institute publishes electronic versions of core materials in numerous areas of the law both online and packaged for download -- ranging from the Constitution to the Uniform Commercial Code. It maintains this Internet site and its many resources.

The National Lawyers Guild is an association dedicated to the need for basic change in the structure of our political and economic system. We seek to unite the lawyers, law students, legal workers and jailhouse lawyers of America in an organization that shall function as an effective political and social force in the service of the people, to the end that human rights shall be regarded as more sacred than property interests.

The National Women's Law Center has a mission "to protect and advance the progress of women and girls at work, in school, and in virtually every aspect of their lives."

The Partnership for Civil Justice Legal Defense and Education Fund was founded by Carl Messineo and Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, experienced civil rights attorneys practicing in Washington, D.C. The Fund provides and supports exclusively charitable and educational activities that secure and advance civil rights under the law, and that work towards the elimination of discrimination and prejudice.

Partners in Protest (PIP) is a partnership formed by two organizer-activists to champion the First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom of expression, assembly, and association, and to facilitate contexts in which dissenters may express, associate, assemble, speak, organize, and strategize about topics of concern to them.

Save Our Civil Liberties has created a web portal that will serve as a repository of information and materials for groups and individuals working on, affected by, or otherwise interested in the civil liberties organizing in the aftermath of Miami.