Securing Our Rights Sessions

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PLENARY SESSION I
Dec. 1, 2011 from 9:30 - 11:00 AM PST

Privacy in Perspective: Implications of Government Surveillance on Human Rights and Civil Liberties (livestream)

Pervasive warrantless suspicionless surveillance betrays the public trust and undermines the fabric of our U.S. Democratic Republic. This panel will explore the perspectives of those who are victims of government surveillance and those who work on the behalf of civil liberties and privacy as allies to restore individual freedoms, which are essential to human dignity. Surveillance can go far beyond the question of guilt or innocence to create a modern “scarlet letter” of suspicion toward an individual targeted by government surveillance. Suspicion of wrong doing without the benefit of an opportunity to face an accuser or offer a defense in a court of law against charges can erode trust among family, friends, colleagues, and the general public. Government transparency, accountability and oversight are the guards of individual liberty and freedom. This panel will explore the history of government surveillance, its potential for abuse, and the need to establish transparency, accountability and oversight of government programs that promote warrantless suspicionless surveillance.

Speakers: Angela F. Chan, Asian Law Caucus; Jim Dempsey, Center for Democracy and Technology; Mike German, ACLU Washington Legislative Office; Julia Shearson, Council on American-Islamic Relations - Cleveland and Lillie Coney, Electronic Privacy Information Center (Moderator)

SESSION A WORKSHOPS
Dec. 1, 2011 from 11:30 - 1:00 PM PST

Planning Effective Know Your Rights Presentations

This session will train advocates, organizers and impacted communities on the essential elements of Know Your Rights presentations. In addition, it will provide practical steps that communities can take before, during and after an enforcement action, whether it be the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, or the police. The presenters will focus on how to best present information so that communities can be prepared to effectively respond to enforcement actions resulting in detention, potential removal, or harassment by law enforcement agencies. There will also be a short discussion on how privacy rights can be intertwined with Know Your Rights presentations.

Speakers: Fahd Ahmed, DRUM – Desis Rising Up and Moving and Paromita Shah, National Immigration Project

Privacy vs. Security: Bringing Human Rights Home (livestream)

Panelists will engage session participants in a discussion about local, state and federal government policies and practices that pit national security efforts against individual rights. The session will explore opportunities for advocacy before local human rights commissions, federal oversight bodies such as the Offices of Inspector General at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security and international human rights mechanisms. The panelists invite participation from those that have framed their work as dealing with human rights issues or appealed to independent oversight bodies—and those who are interested in using a human rights framework to support their advocacy and organizing efforts.

Speakers: Jamil Dakwar, ACLU; Summer Hararah, Asian Law Caucus; Shirin Sinnar, Stanford Law School and Margaret Huang, Rights Working Group (Moderator)

FOIA Case Studies: Using the Freedom of Information Act to Push for Policy Change

This session will cover how the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been used as an advocacy tool to push forward policy change. Specifically, panelists will discuss FOIA requests made in the areas of FBI surveillance, border profiling and international philanthropy.

Speakers: Julia H. Mass, ACLU of Northern California; Mark Rumold, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Nura Maznavi, Muslim Advocates

Challenging Law Enforcement Surveillance – Federal and Local Initiatives

The ACLU's Mike German (Washington Legislative Office), John Crew (Northern California affiliate), and Nusrat J. Choudhury (ACLU's National Security Project) will discuss ACLU initiatives and coalition efforts to challenge law enforcement and intelligence surveillance programs at the federal and local levels.

Speakers: Nusrat J. Choudhury, ACLU Foundation; John Crew, ACLU of Northern California and Mike German, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

Immigration Enforcement 101 for Privacy Rights Advocates

Immigration enforcement is no longer the sole purview of the federal government. In order to reach record-level deportations, the Department of Homeland Security is increasingly relying upon and leveraging the resources of their local law enforcement partners. To what extent is this dramatic expansion understood by the local actors themselves? In what ways is this cooperation manifested? What is the unknown connection to a dramatic expansion of database with ensuing privacy concerns?

Speakers: Carl Bergquist, Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles; Sameera Hafiz, Rights Working Group; Jennie Pasquarella, ACLU of Southern California and Jazmin Segura, Services, Immigrants Rights and Education Network

SESSION B WORKSHOPS
Dec. 1, 2011 from 2:00 - 3:15 PM PST

Freedom of Information Act "How To" Guide: Filing and Using This Open Government Tool for Advocacy

The Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") has been an integral tool for successful grassroots campaigns across the country. Using FOIA to demand open government and accountability, activists have exposed that the government is spying on them and their organizations, that the Secure Communities initiative is really an FBI brainchild, and that the Department of Justice is using factually incorrect and bigoted counter-terrorism trainings on Islam. This "how to" workshop will guide participants through how to formulate and file a Freedom of Information Act Request, how to appeal a denial or partial release, and how to use the released information to build a strong movement.

Speakers: Jessica Karp, National Day Laborer Organizing Network; Jennie Pasquerella, ACLU of Southern California; Mark Rumold, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Veena Dubal, Asian Law Caucus (Moderator)

Taking Back Our Communities, Taking Back Our Lives

Panel on Affected Individuals and Communities: An opportunity for different communities and advocates to share experiences, challenges and community responses on the impact of surveillance, immigration enforcement and domestic terrorism policies.

Speakers: Yasir Afifi, Community Member; Kevin Keenan, ACLU of San Diego; Julia Shearson, Council on American-Islamic Relations – Cleveland; Nadia Tonova, National Network for Arab American Communities and Cynthia Buiza, ACLU of San Diego (Moderator)

Getting Our Message Out . . . and Right: A Communications Skills Building Workshop

This interactive workshop will be led by advocates with expertise in messaging the issues of national security, privacy, and immigrant rights from a pro-rights and racial justice perspective.

Speakers: Julia H. Mass, ACLU of Northern California; Rainey Reitman, Electronic Frontier Foundation; Rinku Sen, The Applied Research Center and Anita Sinha, Advancement Project (Moderator)

Intelligence Goes Local – Mapping the Domestic Security Matrix at the Local Level: Case Studies (Livestream)

The post-9/11 domestic security infrastructure is marked by extreme secrecy and a lack of public oversight. This seemingly ever-expanding network of local, state, and federal agents is marked by “pre-emptive” policing & prosecutions, demographic and crime mapping, suspicious activity reporting, intelligence gathering & sharing, and infiltration by informants and under-cover agents. This workshop will review the basic architecture of the domestic security infrastructure and share lessons from local efforts to understand and expose domestic surveillance practices at the state and regional level. We will share examples of communities making progress in shining sunlight on the system and organizing resistance. The moderator will facilitate a group discussion on investigation and organizing strategies that hold promise.

Speakers: Sahar F. Aziz, Texas Wesleyan School of Law; Thomas Cincotta, National Lawyers Guild and Azadeh Shahshahani, ACLU of Georgia

PLENARY SESSION II
Dec. 1, 2011 from 3:30 - 5:00 PM PST

Beyond Shaking Hands: Building Genuine Alliances and Partnerships (Livestream)

The information sharing infrastructure relies on alliances between disparate entities and actors across the country. Only by building our own alliances across impacted communities as well as with other unlikely partners can we build greater power to challenge the systems and real life consequences of the growing surveillance state. We can no longer work isolated within our own communities, targeting only DHS or the FBI. The information sharing era pushes us to go beyond our silos. This plenary will explore what it takes to build and maintain relationships amongst directly impacted communities and attempt to tackle the challenges we face in building alliances.

Speakers: Jim Harper, Cato Institute; Laura Rivas, National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; Dawud Walid, Council on America-Islamic Relations – Michigan; and Linda Sarsour, National Network for Arab American Communities (Moderator)

GROUP ACTIVITY
Dec. 2, 2011 from 9:00 - 10:00 AM PST

Connecting Through Creativity: A Fun, Interactive Activity with Prizes

Wondering how you can apply what you learned yesterday to your work? Want to expand your perspective on your work by sharing with a participant from a different sector? Have creative ideas about these intersections? This session will open the morning with an interactive activity that will get you moving and invite you to connect with those working in different fields, share your ideas and think of creative ways to apply what you learn at this convening to your work. *Prizes will be awarded*

Facilitators: Sian ÓFaoláin, Rights Working Group and Aadika Singh, Rights Working Group

PLENARY SESSION III
Dec. 2, 2011 from 10:00 - 11:30 AM PST

Using Local Power to Fight Federal Policies (Livestream)

Activists who are working on local responses to policies driven by federal agencies will discuss tactics, lessons learned, and emerging opportunities. Participants are invited to join the conversation with recommendations about how to best connect various efforts and expand on recent victories.

Speakers: LaResse Harvey, A Better Way Foundation; Nadia Kayyali, Coalition for a Safe San Francisco & National Lawyers' Guild; Hamid Khan, Community Organizer; Veena Dubal, Asian Law Caucus (Moderator) and George Friday, Bill of Rights Defense Committee (Moderator)

SESSION C WORKSHOPS
Dec. 2, 2011 from 11:45 - 1:00 PM PST

Social Media and Surveillance of Activists: Should We Be Concerned? A Live Debate (Livestream)

In this smack-down session, we will settle the question once and for all: should activists Facebook and YouTube away their privacy? Social media websites might be great organizing tools but are they just providing an easy way to do surveillance on our communities? In recent political movements around the world, it seems as though social media plays an important role in mobilizing people and informing others about communities in crisis. The lines between the human rights defender, the citizen activist, and the journalist are blurring. A world of ubiquitous video and other social media raises new opportunities to reveal evidence and stories, challenge propaganda, and galvanize publics. But are we unwittingly helping governments watch us? Each of our impassioned panelists will argue their positions on the role of social media in activism and whether we should be concerned about the way it is being used to keep tabs on us. We'll debate whether there is such a thing as "privacy" in social media and whether there could be such a thing as "best practices" to protect it.

Speakers: Will Coley, Aquifer Media; Sameera Hafiz, Rights Working Group; Bryan Nunez, Witness and Shakeel Syed, Islamic Shura Council

Fences, Guns and Drones: Challenges and Opportunities of Redefining the Border Security Framework

An opportunity for diverse advocates and experts to share experiences, challenges and perspectives on U.S. border security policies, the militarization of the border, the Constitution free zone concept, the experiences of immigrant and border communities and the concept of border security and its relationship to post 9/11 information sharing systems.

Speakers: Cynthia Buiza, ACLU of San Diego; Thomas Cincotta, National Lawyers Guild; Andrea Guerrero, Equality Alliance of San Diego County and Pramila Jayapal, OneAmerica

Government Surveillance Through Data Collection: Databases, Biometrics, and DNA

The government is collecting more and more biometric data on Americans and foreigners every day. Currently, the FBI's fingerprint database contains almost 100 million records – equivalent to about 1/3 the US population -- while its CODIS DNA database contains almost 10 million profiles. As FBI and DHS roll out facial recognition and iris and palm print collection capabilities and combine these biometrics with geolocation tracking, it will become trivially easy to track people wherever they go. This panel will discuss the current state of biometrics and DNA collection and how that data collection impacts privacy, especially for immigrant communities. Panelists will explain the technology behind biometrics and DNA collection and will discuss what is possible now and in the future. Panelists will also talk about specific programs already in place at the Department of Homeland Security, the State Department, and the FBI, information sharing among the agencies, and the specific privacy laws and practices that govern federal data collection.

Speakers: Christopher Calabrese, ACLU Washington Legislative Office; Sujatha Jesudason, Generations Ahead; Jeff Jonas, IBM Entity Analytics and Jennifer Lynch, Electronic Frontier Foundation (Moderator)

COINTELPRO 2.0

The FBI abuses of investigative powers witnessed over the past decade are rooted in practices that began 40 years ago with COINTELPRO. Explore with workshop leaders the roots of COINTELPRO 2.0 and examine options to stop the FBI’s assault on the First and Fourth Amendments.

Speakers: Shahid Buttar, Bill of Rights Defense Committee; Walter Riley and George Friday, Bill of Rights Defense Committee (Moderator)

SESSION D WORKSHOPS
Dec. 2, 2011 from 2:45 - 4:00 PM PST

Stealing Human Capital: The Profit Motive (Livestream)

This session will expose the profit motive behind the laws and policies responsible for the systematic oppression of people of color, of the poor and of other marginalized or vulnerable communities in the United States. The speakers will highlight not only the private and corporate interests driving the expansion of our carceral and surveillance state today, but also the long history of human exploitation for corporate gain since the founding of our nation. Participants will learn about the individual actors, corporate, and governmental mechanisms that perpetuate this profiteering, and have an opportunity to engage in a collaborative discussion about how to fight back.

Speakers: Lisa Graves, Center for Media and Democracy; Kung Li and Emily Tucker, Detention Watch Network

Seizing the Moment: How to Maximize Media Opportunities Through Local Print and Broadcast Outlets

Whether responding to a crisis or pitching a feature story about an ongoing social justice issue, this workshop is designed to make sure that you are maximizing opportunities to get your story covered by both print and broadcast media and ensure you get your message across. The workshop will include a discussion of how news is defined in traditional media outlets so that pitches can be framed and targeted in a way that can lead to coverage. It will also include tips on pitching story ideas, communicating with television and print editors and producers, writing press releases and media advisories and messaging.

Speaker: Keith Rushing, Rights Working Group

inSecure Communities and the Next Generation Identification Initiative: A Bigger, Faster, and More Dangerous Big Brother

This session will describe the relationship between Secure Communities and the Next Generation Identification Initiative, a massive biometric data collection project headed by the FBI. It will give an overview of local S-Comm campaigns to date, highlight privacy concerns raised by NGI, and discuss the FBI as a new target in the S-Comm Campaign.

Speakers: Michelle Fei, Immigrant Defense Project; Bridget Kessler, Mayer Brown LLP; Jennifer Lynch, Electronic Frontier Foundation and Jessica Karp, National Day Laborer Organizing Network (Moderator)

Working With Communities to Break the Fear About Speaking Out

Speakers in this workshop will work with advocates, organizers and impacted community members on how to break fear and encourage impacted community members to speak out when the government has violated their rights. Our movement’s power is dependent on empowering communities to tell their stories and report traumatic experiences. Join this workshop to learn and share your experiences of how to best empower impacted individuals and community members to share their stories in a safe space that moves communities to claim their rights and demand justice!

Speakers: Summer Hararah, Asian Law Caucus and Azadeh Shahshahani, ACLU of Georgia

CAUCUSES
Dec. 2, 2011 from 4:45 - 5:30 PM EST

We encourage participants to use this time to set up informal discussions on a topic of importance to you that you will lead. Rooms are available for participants to gather and network. Interested individuals should sign up for a room at the Registration Table.

MORE INFORMATION: CONVENING  l  AGENDA  l  SPEAKER BIOS  l  LISTEN TO AUDIO RECORDINGS