Democracy Now! June 25, 2002

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Program Title:
Democracy Now! June 25, 2002
Series Title:
PRA Archive #: 
PZ0450.192
Description: 

EXPOSE REVEALS THE FBI CAMPAIGNED TO FIRE THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESIDENT, CONSPIRED WITH THE CIA TO "ELIMINATE" LIBERAL PROFESSORS, AND HELPED RONALD REAGAN WIN HIS FIRST POLITICAL OFFICE

9:00-9:01 Billboard: San Francisco Chronicle expose reveals the FBI campaigned to fire the University of California President, conspired with the CIA to "eliminate" liberal professors, and helped Ronald Reagan win his first political office; and, the FBI is monitoring our reading habits with or without evidence of terrorism or spying; and, a Latino gang member turned peace-maker battles "death sentence" deportation; and, the Supreme Court rules judges can't impose death penalty, invalidating the laws of 5 states and possibly freeing hundreds from death row. 9:01-9:06 Headlines: SUPREME COURT RULES JUDGES CAN'T IMPOSE DEATH PENALTY, INVALIDATING THE LAWS OF 5 STATES AND POSSIBLY FREEING HUNDREDS FROM DEATH ROW The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a jury, not a judge, must determine whether a defendant will get the death penalty. The decision invalidates the death penalty laws of five states and casts doubt on the laws of four others. The ruling could ultimately take more people off death row than any other ruling by the court in three decades. Guest: John Stookey, defense attorney, Osborn Maledon. Stookey is co-counsel for Thomas Stuart Ring, the death-row inmate whose case just won a favorable decision before the Supreme Court, invalidating death-sentencing procedures in five states. Contact: Www.osbornmaledon.com/attorneys/stookey-pr.html 9:06-9:07 One Minute Music Break 9:07-9:20 THE FBI IS MONITORING OUR READING HABITS WITH OR WITHOUT EVIDENCE OF TERRORISM OR SPYING For the first time since the Cold War, the FBI is visiting public libraries to keep tabs on the reading habits of people the government considers dangerous. An obscure section of the USA Patriot Act gave the FBI authority to search library and bookstore records during investigations of international terrorism. The act was passed virtually without hearings or debate, and allowed many new federal surveillance techniques, including clandestine searches of homes and expanded monitoring of telephones and the Internet. But unlike other search warrants, the FBI does not need to show that the target of its investigation is actually involved in terrorism or spying. Targets can include U.S. citizens. Nearly everything about the procedure is secret. The court that authorizes the searches meets in secret; the search warrants carried by the agents cannot mention the underlying investigation; and librarians and booksellers are prohibited, under threat of prosecution, from revealing an FBI visit to anyone, including the patron whose records were seized. We're joined right now by Deborah Caldwell Stone, deputy director of the American Library Association's Office of Intellectual Freedom. The American Library Association adopted guidelines in January advising the nation's librarians to "avoid creating unnecessary records." Guest: Deborah Caldwell Stone, Deputy Director, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom Contact: www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/Guest: Leigh Estabrook, director, Library Research Center at the University of Illinois. The Library Research Center conducted a nationwide survey of 1,020 public libraries in January and February and found that 8.3 percent of them had been asked by federal or local law enforcement officers for information about patrons. 9:20-9:21 One Minute Music Break 9:21-9:40 A SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE EXPOSE REVEALS THE FBI CAMPAIGNED TO FIRE THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESIDENT, CONSPIRED WITH THE CIA TO "ELIMINATE" LIBERAL PROFESSORS, AND HELPED RONALD REAGAN WIN HIS FIRST POLITICAL OFFICE An explosive new series of reports in the San Francisco Chronicle has revealed the FBI conducted a series of covert operations in Berkeley in the 1950s and 60s. The FBI campaigned to fire the University of California President Clark Kerr, conspired with the head of the CIA to pressure the Board of Regents to "eliminate" liberal professors, secretly gave Governor Ronald Reagan's administration intelligence reports it could use against groups engaged in dissent, and planted news articles that falsely cast the Free Speech Movement as a communist plot. The Free Speech Movement staged the nation's first major college sit-ins of the 1960s. It was a nonviolent protest movement against a university rule banning political activity on campus. The Chronicle report was the work of a reporter who waged a 17-year legal campaign to obtain FBI records from the period. The FBI's activities changed the course of history not only for California, but for the nation and the world. The current President of the University of California, Richard Atkinson, says the FBI operation helped propel Ronald Reagan's 1966 campaign for governor, which focused largely on protests at UC Berkeley. That was the first political office Reagan held. After he became the US president, he expanded the FBI's domestic intelligence powers. The FBI was caught spying on more than a hundred domestic groups that opposed Reagan's foreign policy. Now, California senior Senator Dianne Feinstein is outraged by the revelations and has written a letter to FBI Chief Robert Mueller demanding to know whether the bureau is currently involved in unlawful activities at the University of California. She also wants to know what he is doing to ensure it doesn't happen again. Guest: Seth Rosenfeld, reporter, San Francisco Chronicle. Rosenfeld is the reporter who filed the original FOIA request 17 years ago. Contact: www.sfgate.com/campus 9:40-9:41 One Minute Music Break 9:41-9:58 LATINO GANG MEMBER TURNED PEACE-MAKER BATTLES "DEATH SENTENCE" DEPORTATION Attorney General John Ashcroft asked the Supreme Court Friday to permit secret deportation hearings for people arrested after Sept. 11. He claimed national security will be compromised by disclosing information about the detainees. Ashcroft was responding to a lower court's ruling that the Justice Department cannot exclude the public, the press and family members from attending hearings for "special interest" detainees. The latest Justice Department statement claims only 74 of the original 1200 Sept. 11 detainees remain in federal custody. Most were charged only with immigration violations. Many have already been deported. But Muslims and Arabs are not the only ones who are facing the crackdown on immigrants. Just yesterday, Los Angeles community leader Alex Sanchez headed to court to try to prevent a deportation order based on his undocumented status. The gang-member turned peace organizer says a deportation order would be tantamount to an execution order. El Salvador is ranked as one of the most brutal and violent countries in the world. Right-wing death squads are once again on the rise. Many current and former gang members deported to El Salvador have been killed in recent years. Five members of Sanchez's organization, Homies Unidos have been deported to El Salvador since 1999. All five have been murdered. Guest: Alex Sanchez, program director, Homies Unidos. Homies Unidos is a non-profit gang violence prevention and intervention organization with projects in San Salvador, El Salvador and Los Angeles, California. The organization was founded in 1996 in San Salvador and formally began organizing in the United States in 1997. Contact: www.homiesunidos.org/Guest: Allen Diamante, Lawyer for Alex Sanchez Guest: Suzannah Maclay, Senior Staff Attorney, Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project, in Florence Arizona. 9:58-9:59 Outro and Credits Music: 6: COMIN' IN FROM THE COLD Bob Marley and the Wailers 20: WINTER IN AMERICA Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson Midnight Band: First Minute of A New Day (Rumal-Gia Records) 40: WIND Rochelle Garniez & the Fortunate Few Serenade City (Real Cool Records (PO Box 606 Prince Street Station, NY 10012) End: WHOSE WORLD IS THIS - Jim Page

Date Recorded on: 
June 25, 2002
Date Broadcast on: 
June 25, 2002
Item duration: 
59 min.
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Distributor: 
WPFW; Amy Goodman, host. June 25 , 2002
Rights Summary: 
RESTRICTED. Permissions, licensing requests, Curriculum Initiative, Campus Campaign and all other inquiries should be directed to: Mark Torres, Archives Director, 800-735-0230, Mark@PacificaRadioArchives.org
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