ACLU: Sibel Edmonds v. Department of Justice: A Patriot Silenced, ...

[cascadiance]

... Fighting to Keep America Safe

ACLU just released a press release to push the Supreme Court to hear Sibel Edmonds' case in the coming weeks. I'm seeing on other posts here on the site that she's been on CSPAN talking with the ACLU folks on her case. Hopefully that gets repeated later too sot hat more of us can see it.

Anyway from just about an hour ago here's the announcement:

http://www.aclu.org/court/court.cfm?ID=19163&c=317

Sibel Edmonds v. Department of Justice: A Patriot Silenced, Fighting to Keep America Safe
September 26, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RLEASE
CONTACT: [email protected]

By ACLU Associate Legal Director Ann Beeson

WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lower court's dismissal of the case of Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI translator who was fired in retaliation for reporting security breaches and possible espionage within the Bureau. Lower courts dismissed the case when former Attorney General John Ashcroft invoked the rarely used "state secrets" privilege.

Sibel Edmonds, a Turkish-American woman, was hired as a translator by the FBI shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 because of her knowledge of Middle Eastern languages. Judge Reggie Walton in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed Edmonds retaliation case, citing the government's “states secrets privilege.” The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling, and on August 4, 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Edmonds' case.

The Supreme Court created the so-called state secrets privilege more than 50 years ago but has not considered it since. The privilege, when properly invoked, permits the government to block the release in litigation of any material that, if disclosed, would cause harm to national security. The need for clarification of the doctrine is acute because the government is increasingly using the privilege to cover up its own wrongdoing and to keep legitimate cases out of court.

History has shown that the government has relied on the state secrets privilege to cover up its own negligence. In the 1953 Supreme Court case that was the basis for today's state secrets privilege doctrine, United States v. Reynolds , the government claimed that disclosing a military flight accident report would jeopardize secret military equipment and harm national security. Nearly 50 years later, in 2004, the truth came out - the accident report contained no state secrets, but instead confirmed that the cause of the crash was faulty maintenance of the B-29 fleet.

...

Folks, we're down to the final weeks. Help spread the word. Go to the following site and pick up some bumper stickers, mugs, etc. to help your fellow citizens know that they should demand that this court case be heard by the Supremes! Sibel being heard by the Supremes is ESSENTIAL to help us get a lot of criminals on Capitol Hill to answer to justice!

I know we've been busy this last month or so with the two hurricanes, the various peace rallies, the supreme court nominations, etc., but that just means we need to work that much harder to help this very important issue get heard by the American public! We need to work NOW!

http://www.cafepress.com/sibel

[wiggs]

1. Big

The Sibel episode is a big test for our nation....whether or not we want to keep our heads in the sand or have a transparent democracy.

[lakeguy]

2. it's amazing the lengths bushco will go to cover up their crimes...

oh wait a minute, i guess it's really not. must be the beer talkin!

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Go baby, go baby, Gooooooo!

[hiley]

4. Must be

heard!

[hiley]

5. Sibel Edmonds on CSPAN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4891034

[goforit]

6. May fitzgerald represent her.

[BamaBecky]

7. Thank You Calipendence! Supporting articles here:

We need a million man march on Washington for Sibel's case too!

To educate other people about her case, the following two articles are excellent:

the first article at the Baltimore Chronicle


and the second article at the Baltimore Chronicle

and here is another one I just found:

Inspector General Rebukes F.B.I. over
Espionage Case and Firing of Whistle-Blower

the New York Times link

By Eric Lichtblau
The New York Times

Saturday 15 January 2005

Washington - The F.B.I. has failed to aggressively investigate accusations of espionage against a translator at the bureau and fired the translator's co-worker in large part for bringing the accusations, the Justice Department's inspector general concluded on Friday.

In a long-awaited report that the Justice Department sought for months to keep classified, the inspector general issued a sharp rebuke to the F.B.I. over its handling of claims of espionage and ineptitude made by Sibel Edmonds, a bureau translator who was fired in 2002 after superiors deemed her conduct "disruptive."

Ms. Edmonds, who translated material in Turkish, Persian and Azerbaijani, had complained about slipshod translations and management problems in the bureau's translation section and raised accusations of possible espionage against a fellow linguist.

snip

In general, Mr. Fine's investigation found that many of Ms. Edmonds's accusations "were supported, that the F.B.I. did not take them seriously enough and that her allegations were, in fact, the most significant factor in the F.B.I.'s decision to terminate her services."

snip

Ms. Edmonds, for her part, said she viewed the inspector general's report as "an absolute vindication."

After all the delays in getting this story out, I wasn't expecting a lot," she said in an interview. "This report is certainly more than I expected, and I'm actually pretty pleased."

snip

Senators Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, a Democrat, and Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, a Republican, who have been two of the F.B.I.'s toughest critics, said the report underscored their broader concerns about the bureau's treatment of dissenters, particularly on critical matters involving terrorism and espionage.

"This report confirms that the F.B.I. failed to treat this case as seriously as the situation demanded," Mr. Leahy said. "It is unacceptable, and it deeply concerns us, that in the wake of the Robert Hanssen spy case, and in the months following Sept. 11, the F.B.I. failed to vigorously investigate these grave allegations."

She and Cindy have been on the front lines (here in America)!

[slay]

8. All we seek is THE TRUTH - why is our government so afraid?

Because they should be.

[tanyev]

9. Because they can't handle the truth.

[slay]

10. Yeah.. Republicans and truth DO NOT go together

It's like oil and vinegar baby! :evilgrin:

[cantstandbush]

11. If only we could combine the truth from Cindy and Sibel....

What a great movement could be established, with the DSM Conyers brigade marching along.

[Amonester]

12. Kick

:kick:

[struggle4progress]

16. kick

[Roland99]

13. The only thing this administration fears is the truth itself!

[cascadiance]

14. Well, if the Supreme Court hears Anna Nicole Smith's case and NOT Sibel's

I think I'll officially and totally flip out!

Looks like they wasted no time to publicize Smith's appeal and get that out in the open! From a link off of CNN's main headlines!



http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/27/playboy.suit.ap/index.html

:puke:

[ecdab]

15. The time has come for governments

to starting fearing their people more than they fears the truth. Heh, it fun to talk like a revolutionary - the thing is, I'm serious.