September 18, 2003: "One Nation Under Surveillance" event on Saturday, Sept 20 at ACLU Meeting in Nashville

"One Nation Under Surveillance" is the topic of the ACLU-TN Annual Membership Meeting scheduled for Saturday, September 20, 2003 in Nashville. Barry Hargrove, ACLU's 9-11 Field Organizer, will discuss ACLU's lawsuit challenging the USA PATRIOT Act and kick-off the campaign to organize communities to speak out against the USA PATRIOT Act.

The meeting will take place from 2:30 - 4:00 p.m. at the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University, 401 21st Avenue South, Room 204.

With great haste and secrecy and in the name of the "war on terrorism," Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act two years ago. The law gave sweeping powers to the Executive Branch that undermine the constitutional guarantees of the Bill of Rights. In July 2003, National ACLU filed the first lawsuit challenging the USA PATRIOT Act, focusing on a provision that expands the power of the FBI to obtain records of innocent people in the United States, including citizens and permanent residents.

National ACLU filed the first legal challenge to the USA PATRIOT Act, taking aim at Section 215 which vastly expands the power of FBI agents to secretly obtain records and personal belongings of innocent people in the United States, including citizens and permanent residents. Bridge Refugee and Sponsorship Services (Bridge), based in Knoxville, Tennessee is one of the six plaintiffs in the case.

According to ACLU-TN Executive Director Hedy Weinberg, "In addition to this important litigation challenging the Administration's egregious policies, ACLU also is promoting public education and legislative initiatives to defend our constitutional guarantees. More than 157 American communities in 27 states have adopted pro-civil liberties resolutions and laws rejecting federal policies that threaten our basic constitutional rights."

"We are excited by Barry's visit to Tennessee where he will kick-off the Tennessee campaign to organize communities to promote similar resolutions and to speak out against these encroachments of our freedoms. Our goal is to build coalitions across the state to promote the belief that we can be both safe and free," said Weinberg.

For additional information, please call the ACLU-TN Office at 615-320-7142.