The Douglas County chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union defends the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution of the United States of America.

We focus on local issues in Lawrence and Douglas County, Kansas. Come join us for our upcoming meeting on Internet surveillance.

Successful Forum: Government and Corporate Surveillance on the Internet

On April 9th The Douglas County Chapter of the ACLU held another in a series of forums on various aspects of civil liberties. Titled Government and Corporate Surveillance on the Internet, it dealt with new challenges to 1st and 4th amendment rights on the internet. Blogs, tracking e-mail, internet privacy and freedom of speech and press in cyberspace were issues discussed by: Rick Musser, Professor of Journalism at KU, Dennis Anderson, Managing Editor-Lawrence Journal World and Bill Raney, Attorney and President of the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri. Dan Winter, Executive Director of the KsWMo ACLU was the moderator who led the panel discussion and took questions from an enthusiastic audience.

If you have ideas for topics for upcoming forums, please contact us.

Douglas County ACLU committees are currently investigating the following issues.

ACLU Questions Legality of Bush Surveillance Program

In response to the president’s executive order authorizing phone taps without court orders, the ACLU has urged the attorney general to appoint special counsel to investigate. The ACLU has placed a series of advertisements in the New York Times comparing the actions of George W. Bush to those of Richard Nixon.

Take action now: contact Senators Brownback and Roberts, or use the ACLU call for action page.

Learn more about the surveillance program, the Patriot Act, and privacy issues at the ACLU Safe and Free campaign pages

Upcoming Meetings