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• > The War on Dissent: A Town Hall
• > Free speech, Iran & the Taliban

PHILADELPHIA - The ACLU of Pennsylvania, along with 19 other groups, will be sponsoring “The War on Dissent: A Town Hall” on Wednesday, Nov. 10, at 6:30 p.m. at Friends Center, 1501 Cherry St. in Center City.

The town hall began as a response to revelations that the state Office of Homeland Security circulated anti-terrorism bulletins to law enforcement and others that tracked a variety of peaceful groups. In addition to the anti-terrorism bulletins, panelists will also discuss the rise in surveillance and harassment of activists, including the dangers of fusion centers (mechanisms created to share federal, state and local intelligence), the use of the PATRIOT Act’s “material support” statute to go after activists, and the risks of privatizing intelligence-gathering. The panel will be moderated by activist and attorney Michael Coard, and includes:

• Michael German, former FBI agent and national ACLU Policy Counsel;
• Paul Hetznecker, criminal defense/civil rights attorney;
• Mary Catherine Roper, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU of Pennsylvania
• Jess Sundin, a target of the recent FBI raids on activists in the Midwest

Other co-sponsoring groups, many of whom appeared in the anti-terrorism bulletins, include American Friends Service Committee, Brandywine Peace Community, Council on American-Islamic Relations of Pennsylvania (CAIR-PA), Delaware Riverkeeper Network, First Amendment Network, Granny Peace Brigade - Philadelphia, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Kensington Welfare Rights Union, MOVE, National Lawyers Guild – Philadelphia Chapter, Neighborhood Networks, Penn ACTION, Philadelphia International Action Center, Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign, Protecting Our Waters, The Shalom Center, Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom-Philadelphia Branch, Workers World Party, and X-offenders for Community Empowerment. More information is available at www.aclupa.org or by contacting the ACLU at aclupa@aclupa.org or 215-592-1513 x122.

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Photo from slightlynorth on Flickr.