72 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
72 lines
3.6 KiB
Plaintext
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 26, 1989
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APPEAL FILED IN TEENAGER v. FBI CASE
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Attorneys for Todd Patterson today filed a brief in the
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United States Court of Appeals in Philadelphia urging the appeals
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court to reinstate the claims of the North Haledon teenager
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against the Federal Bureau of Investigation for tampering with
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his mail to foreign governments.
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The case was dismissed in February by United States
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District Judge Alfred Wolin after he had reviewed secret FBI
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documents which he said satisfied him that the FBI had not
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violated the teenager's rights by monitoring his communications
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and establishing name-indexed files in Newark, New York, and
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Washington.
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The appeals brief, filed on behalf of the American Civil
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Liberties Union by Professor Frank Askin and the Rutgers Law
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School Constitutional Litigation Clinic, objected strenuously to
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the use of secret evidence to decide the case. After quoting
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from Franz Kafka's classic novel of bureaucratic tyranny, "The
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Trial," the brief asserted: "Such Kafkaesque adjudication has no
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place in our adversarial system of justice which guarantees due
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process of law."
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The appeals brief challenges the constitutional authority
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of government agencies both to routinely intercept Americans'
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mail to foreign governments and to maintain permanent records on
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such correspondents once they are determined to be innocent
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information seekers.
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Todd began his international correspondence as a precocious
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11-year old in order to prepare his own personal world
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encyclopedia. Soon thereafter an FBI agent visited the house.
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When he inquired about the possible existence of a permanent file
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at the age of 15, Todd was informed by the FBI that his records
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were classified for reasons of national security.
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Todd's primary claim arises under the federal Privacy
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Act, which proscribes government monitoring of citizen activity
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protected by the First Amendment of the United States
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Constitution. The appeals brief summarizes Todd's claims as
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folows:
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"The Privacy Act, adopted in the post-Watergate era,
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implements the spirit of the First Amendment and judicial
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decisions restricting governmental investigations of protected
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speech and expression by forbidding federal agencies, including
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the FBI, from either colecting or maintaining information on
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citizens' exercise of First Amendment rights unless clearly
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needed to effectuate law-enforcement needs. Section (e)(7) of
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the Privacy Act, which is at the heart of this litigation, was
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directed in large part at the practice, common in the J. Edgar
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Hoover era, of FBI spying on government opponents and critics and
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persons suspected of having unorthodox political views.
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"Even if the government can justify monitoring mail between
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United States citizens and allegedly hostile foreign governments,
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there is no apparent justification under the Privacy Act for
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maintaining name-indexed files on such correspondents once it is
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determined that the communications were entirely innocent.
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"Furthermore, the District Court assumed without any
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evidence that it is indeed necessary for the purpose of national
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security to routinely monitor such foreign correspondence despite
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the obvious chilling effect it has on protected communication."
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
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Professor Frank Askin or Lorraine E. Stanley,
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Esq.
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Rutgers Law School Elizabeth J. Miller, Esq.
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Constitutional Litigation Clinic ACLU-NJ
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(201) 648-5687 (201) 642-2086
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