In the wake of the stunning assault on the U.S. Capitol building on January 6th, it is inevitable that emotionally-charged reactions by Congress will ensue, as after any major crisis. In particular, there is concern that legislation may move early in this new Congress to try to expand the treatment of “domestic terrorism.” A justified desire to punish those who committed an unprecedented act of violence and vandalism must not lead to a contraction of the civil liberties of peaceful protestors or their right to political dissent.

One of the cornerstone principles of the Western legal tradition is the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Over the last century, the imposition of bail requirements for accused offenders has flipped that presumption on its head, frequently making pre-trial freedom contingent on cash bail amounts well above the ability of an average citizen to pay. This issue brief explores how this came to be and aims to set out principles for states to use in reforming their bail guidelines. The goal is a return to a system that truly serves both justice and public safety.

As both the federal and states’ governments wrestle with what policies to use in addressing the coronavirus outbreak moving into the summer and beyond, one potential solution that has been touted as a key component of getting life here back to something like normal is “contact tracing.” In particular, governments and tech companies alike have become interested in digital solutions to track the spread of the virus in order to better contain it. However, depending upon how it is done, there are a number of concerns with how contact tracing - whether done in person or digitally - interacts with our basic rights to due process and civil liberties.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your representative and senators and ask them to support and cosponsor the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act, H.R. 5675 and S. 3242. Introduced in the Senate by Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and in the House by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Warren Davidson (R-Ohio), this legislation would reform Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and other aspects of surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act (FISA) in order to protect Americans’ civil liberties and rights to due process and to increase transparency and oversight.

On behalf of our activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to oppose the Protecting Against International Terrorism Act, S. 2939. Introduced by Senators Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.), this bill would reauthorize Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and the “roving wiretap” and “lone wolf” provisions under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that are each currently set to expire on March 15, 2020. The bill would renew these surveillance authorities through December 15, 2027 while largely ignoring the constitutional issues raised by how they have been used.

On behalf of the FreedomWorks activist community in Pennsylvania, I urge you to support the amended version of Senate Bill 869, sponsored by state Sen. Mike Folmer (R-Lebanon). The bill reforms the Commonwealth’s civil asset forfeiture laws to provide more protections for innocent property owners.