RWG staff and members speak about the growing connections between surveillance, national security, immigration enforcement, privacy, and civil liberties in this new video from 20KFilms, created for the American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom (ALA-OIF) Privacy Revolution campaign and Choose Privacy Week in May 2012. The ALA explains: “The featured speakers ask important questions about the impact of the growing surveillance state on national security, civil liberties and privacy rights.

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The Connecticut House of Representatives passed a bill earlier this week that strengthens state protections against racial profiling. The bill, if signed into law, would  enhance elements of an existing law that mandates data collection on the race and ethnicity of those stopped by police, which was ignored by many police departments in the state. 

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On May 9th, Mayor Ed Lee of San Francisco signed into law the Safe San Francisco Civil Rights Ordinance, which governs issues of transparacy, accountability, and civil rights in collaborations between local police and the FBI, particularly through the city's Join Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). The JTTF was created in 2007 between the FBI and local police, and allowed surveillance beyond the scope of what California and San Francisco laws allow. For example, the JTTF could conduct surveillance on individuals without suspicion of criminal activity. 

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Rights Working Group is launching new teams, and you’re invited to join!

Rights Working Group (RWG)

Rights Working Group (RWG) formed in the aftermath of September 11th to promote and protect the human rights of all people in the United States. A coalition of more than 330 local, state and national organizations, RWG works collaboratively to advocate for the civil liberties and human rights of everyone regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, citizenship or immigration status.

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