[NYTr] ACLU Demands FBI Rewrite Spying Rules in Light of Coretta Scott King File

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

[The King family statement appears below.-NYTr]


American Civil Liberties Union - Aug 31, 2007
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/31530prs20070831.html


ACLU Demands FBI Rewrite Spying Guidelines in Light of Reports 
of Spying on Civil Rights Leader Coretta Scott King (8/31/2007)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: media at dcaclu.org

WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today issued a call to
change FBI spying guidelines after documents were released revealing
that the FBI spied on Coretta Scott King, after the death of her
husband Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in an attempt to stem the
civil rights movement. After the government was criticized for spying
on Dr. King, the FBI was prohibited from spying on Americans. But in
2002 former Attorney General John Ashcroft changed the guidelines to
permit the FBI to spy on individuals in public places.

The ACLU has issued two reports condemning FBI spying: the first in
2002 specifically about Dr. Martin Luther King, and another published
this year titled “History Repeated: The Dangers of Domestic Spying by
Federal Law Enforcement,” both by ACLU Legislative Counsel Marvin
Johnson.

The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, director of
the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:

“The government’s spying on Coretta Scott King is despicable, but it
unfortunately isn’t a surprise. When government agencies are given free
rein to spy on Americans, they will inevitably use their power to
suppress free speech for political reasons instead of averting real
threats. We can’t trust the government to have this much power over our
lives, and the FBI’s guidelines for spying must be rewritten with our
freedom in mind. Political thought and freedom of speech can’t flourish
with the government hovering over us.”

The 2007 ACLU report “History Repeated: The Dangers of Domestic Spying
By Law Enforcement” can be found online at:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spying/29902pub20070529.html

The 2002 ACLU report “The Dangers of Domestic Spying by Federal Law
Enforcement: A Case Study on FBI Surveillance of Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr.” can be found online at:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/17039pub20020317.html

                         ***

PR Newswire -Aug 31, 2007
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/08-31-2007/0004655044&EDATE=


King Family Statement

ATLANTA, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Martin Luther King
III and Elder Bernice A. King issued the following statement regarding
the release of FBI materials related to Coretta Scott King:

"While we are still grieving the passing of our mother, it is
unfortunate that the FBI chose to publicly release illegal surveillance
undertaken by the federal government of our family, especially because
our parents were always striving to elevate the quality of human life by
eliminating what they identified as the triple evils of poverty, racism,
and war, which still plague our world. For the sake of this and future
generations we will continue to focus on eliminating these social
injustices and we would hope that the nation will do so as well."

SOURCE The King Family