Central New York Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union

Here is a picture from this session at the teach in. Panelists included: Matt Huber (SU), Rita Liberwitz Cornell ILR), Horace Campbell (SU), and SU students Jon Schmidt and Yanira Rodriguez from THE General Body.

Barrie is at a very interesting panel discussion about the corporatization of the university. It's part of a 2 day "Teach In to Act Out" organized by THE GENERAL BODY - the multi-issue/multi-organization student group at Syracuse University (that conducted the sit-in at the administration building last semester). Today is the first day. The NYCLU is tabling both days. For More Info go to http://thegeneralbody.org It's being held

Obituary: Faith Seidenberg, Pioneer in Women’s Rights and Dedicated Activist for Civil Liberties January 22, 2015 The New York Civil Liberties Union mourns the passing of Faith Seidenberg, an attorney and civil rights advocate who worked tirelessly for equality and freedom for all people. Seidenberg is perhaps best known for successfully challenging the 115-year ban on women at East Village institution McSorely’s Old Ale House, a lawsuit which led to legislation in 1970 ba...rring discrimination in public places in New York City based on sex. Seidenberg was a champion for many civil liberties issues, and her work was diverse. She did everything from register Southern voters during the Freedom Summer to successfully advocate on behalf of juveniles held without lawyers in Syracuse. Her work earned her a position on the Executive Board of the American Civil Liberties Union where she founded the Women’s Legal Defense Fund. Faith Seidenberg’s dedication to equality and justice throughout her career is a striking reminder of New York’s rich and robust civil rights history, said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. The NYCLU is forever grateful for the groundwork she laid and will continue to protect and promote the rights and liberties she worked so hard to safeguard. Seidenberg never backed down from a cause or case because it was unpopular. She also successfully sued on behalf of the women’s hockey team at Colgate University, a lawsuit which became a landmark Title IX case. I knew Faith Seidenberg to be a courageous trailblazer and a true individualist, said NYCLU Central Chapter Director Barrie Gewanter. The impact of her legacy in support of the rights of women is lasting and cannot be underestimated.

Senate Torture Report Shows Need for Accountability ACLU Press Release December 9, 2014 - Washington ... The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today released the executive summary and findings of its landmark report on the CIA’s rendition, secret detention, and torture program. The full report was adopted in December 2012 by a bipartisan majority of the committee after nearly five years of investigation. Today’s release comes after long negotiations between the committee and the White House over redactions requested by the CIA. Responding to the report, the American Civil Liberties Union released a detailed plan for full accountability, and ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero had this reaction: "This is a shocking report, and it is impossible to read it without feeling immense outrage that our government engaged in these terrible crimes. This report definitively drags into the light the horrific details of illegal torture, details that both the Bush and Obama administrations have worked hard to sweep under the rug. The government officials who authorized illegal activity need to be held accountable. The administration’s current position doing absolutely nothing is tantamount to issuing tacit pardons. Tacit pardons are worse than formal ones because they undermine the rule of law. The CIA’s wrongful acts violated basic human rights, served as a huge recruiting tool for our enemies, and alienated allies world-wide. Our response to the damning evidence in this report will define us as a nation." This should be the beginning of a process, not the end. The report should shock President Obama and Congress into action, to make sure that torture and cruelty are never used again. The Department of Justice needs to appoint a special prosecutor to hold the architects and perpetrators of the torture program accountable for its design, implementation, and cover-ups. Congress must assert its constitutional role in the system of checks and balances, and oversee the CIA, which in this report sounds more like a rogue paramilitary group than the intelligence gathering agency that it’s supposed to be. The president needs to use the moral authority of his office to formally recognize both the torture program’s victims and those in government who resisted this shameful and illegal policy. Over the course of a decade, ACLU FOIA litigation has resulted in the release of the 100,000 pages of documents relating to the torture policies, which are available in a searchable database. The ACLU’s full recommendations are at: https://www.aclu.org//us-torture-program-blueprint-account