shashi menon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: FW: Gov going after protesters
From: "shashi menon" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CC:
Date: Wed, 11 Feb 2004 11:46:09 -0500 (EST)
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> ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822 name=Gov going after protesters
Subject: Gov going after protesters
Date: Mon, 9 Feb 2004 11:53:40 -0800
From: "Tshaka Barrows" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
> >Saturday February 7, 2004 7:16 PM >Guardian (U.K.) >BY RYAN J. FOLEY >Associated Press Writer > >DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in >decades, a federal judge has ordered a university to turn over records about >a gathering of anti-war activists. > >In addition to the subpoena of Drake University, subpoenas were served this >past week on four of the activists who attended a Nov. 15 forum at the >school, ordering them to appear before a grand jury Tuesday, the protesters >said. > >Federal prosecutors refuse to comment on the subpoenas. > >In addition to records about who attended the forum, the subpoena orders the >university to divulge all records relating to the local chapter of the >National Lawyers Guild, a New York-based legal activist organization that >sponsored the forum. > >The group, once targeted for alleged ties to communism in the 1950s, >announced Friday it will ask a federal court to quash the subpoena on >Monday. > >``The law is clear that the use of the grand jury to investigate protected >political activities or to intimidate protesters exceeds its authority,'' >guild President Michael Ayers said in a statement. > >Representatives of the Lawyer's Guild and the American Civil Liberties Union >said they had not heard of such a subpoena being served on any U.S. >university in decades. > >Those served subpoenas include the leader of the Catholic Peace Ministry, >the former coordinator of the Iowa Peace Network, a member of the Catholic >Worker House, and an anti-war activist who visited Iraq in 2002. > >They say the subpoenas are intended to stifle dissent. > >``This is exactly what people feared would happen,'' said Brian Terrell of >the peace ministry, one of those subpoenaed. ``The civil liberties of >everyone in this country are in danger. How we handle that here in Iowa is >very important on how things are going to happen in this country from now >on.'' > >The forum, titled ``Stop the Occupation! Bring the Iowa Guard Home!'' came >the day before 12 protesters were arrested at an anti-war rally at Iowa >National Guard headquarters in Johnston. Organizers say the forum included >nonviolence training for people planning to demonstrate. > >The targets of the subpoenas believe investigators are trying to link them >to an incident that occurred during the rally. A Grinnell College librarian >was charged with misdemeanor assault on a peace officer; she has pleaded >innocent, saying she simply went limp and resisted arrest. > >``The best approach is not to speculate and see what we learn on Tuesday'' >when the four testify, said Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa Civil >Liberties Union, which is representing one of the protesters. > >Mark Smith, a lobbyist for the Washington-based American Association of >University Professors, said he had not heard of any similar case of a U.S. >university being subpoenaed for such records. > >He said the case brings back fears of the ``red squads'' of the 1950s and >campus clampdowns on Vietnam War protesters. > >According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press, the Drake subpoena >asks for records of the request for a meeting room, ``all documents >indicating the purpose and intended participants in the meeting, and all >documents or recordings which would identify persons that actually attended >the meeting.'' > >It also asks for campus security records ``reflecting any observations made >of the Nov. 15, 2003, meeting, including any records of persons in charge or >control of the meeting, and any records of attendees of the meeting.'' > >Several officials of Drake, a private university with about 5,000 students, >refused to comment Friday, including school spokeswoman Andrea McDonough. >She referred questions to a lawyer representing the school, Steve Serck, who >also would not comment. > >A source with knowledge of the investigation said a judge had issued a gag >order forbidding school officials from discussing the subpoena. > >^--- >>Feds Win Right to War Protesters' Records
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