Working to make the promise of the Bill of Rights a reality.
Welcome to Defending Rights & Dissent
Join the grassroots movement to fulfill the promise of the Bill of Rights for everyone. Together, we can make police and intelligence agencies accountable to we the people whom they serve. It’s time to convert your concern and outrage into political action. Let’s do this.
Dissent NewsWire
Immigration Advocates Warn of Physical and Mental Harm to Hunger Strikers in El Paso Detention Facility
The “El Paso 9” have been subjected to brutal force-feedings, mistreatment and retaliatory actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and private contractors following their hunger strike, which began in late December 2018.
39 Groups Present 8 More Reasons to Retire Section 215
We have an opportunity to stop intelligence agencies from collecting our phone, email and other records in bulk when Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act sunsets at the end of 2019.
Police Department Report-Your-Neighbor Apps Proliferate Without Oversight or Community Input
Remember the good ol’ days when just Big Brother kept tabs on what you did and where you went?
17 Years, 41 Military Operations, 19 Countries. It’s Time to Repeal the 2001 AUMF
Three days after the 9/11 attacks, Congress gave the President the authority to wage war against the perpetrators of the attack and the countries that harbored them.
Statement on President Trump’s Proposed Denial of Research Funds
President Trump’s pledge to issue an executive order that would deny federal research funds to colleges and universities that do not “support free speech” is a dangerous solution to a largely nonexistent problem.
Statement on the US Government’s Latest Jailing of Chelsea Manning
Manning is a whistleblower, a truth teller, and a hero. Yet, for making the American people aware of crimes committed by their government in their name the US government has repeatedly persecuted her.
Two New DHS Domestic Spying Scandals Revealed
Both Immigrations and Custom Enforcement (ICE) and Custom and Border Patrol (CBP) are engaged in monitoring and tracking First Amendment protected activity.Monitoring of political speech is inherently chilling. It is also outside the jurisdiction of both ICE and CBP.
El Paso Hunger Strike Enters it’s 10th Week
The hunger strike in the El Paso Service Processing Center has entered it’s tenth week. The strike continues despite cruel abuse of the protesters, and even after two of the #ElPaso9 hunger strikers were deported last Thursday.
Why Democrats Should Not Reauthorize Section 215
More than five years have passed since the public became aware of the damning extent of mass surveillance that is conducted against innocent people in the United States pursuant to Section 215. Despite broad public outrage and several Congressional attempts to meaningfully reform Section 215, mass surveillance of innocent people continues.
Breaking: The NSA is no longer using the phone metadata program. It’s time for Congress to end it once and for all.
For years we’ve said that the NSA’s mass surveillance program that collects our phone metadata under Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act is unconstitutional, unnecessary, and should be ended. Now it seems that the NSA agrees with us (at least on those last two points).