Thousands Gather in D.C. to Demand Due Process Rights

For Immediate Release
June 26, 2007

NEWARK, N.J. -- Dozens of members and supporters of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey today traveled to Washington, D.C. for a Day of Action to Restore Law and Justice. They are joining with thousands of Americans from across the country to attend a rally and then call on Congress to restore habeas corpus, fix the Military Commissions Act, end torture and rendition, and restore our constitutional rights.

"New Jerseyans can no longer stand idly by while our constitutional rights and freedoms are stripped away," said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Deborah Jacobs. "We are taking our fight straight to Capitol Hill to hold New Jersey's representatives in Congress accountable and demand that they restore due process, defend the Constitution and protect what makes us Americans."

The ACLU has chartered buses to take participants to Washington, D.C. In New Jersey, buses left from Elizabeth and Princeton, transporting people from all over the state.

Today's action represents an overwhelming grassroots repudiation of the Military Commissions Act -- an act that denies detainees the right of habeas corpus, allows testimony coerced via torture to be used as evidence against them, ignores the Geneva Conventions and gives the president the power to declare anyone an "unlawful enemy combatant" and to detain them indefinitely.

What You Can Do

On the day after the June 26 rally in Washington, D.C., the ACLU and other social justice organizations will be organizing a national call-in day to Congress.

To reach your representatives on the June 27 national call-in, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (24 hours) and ask the operator to connect you.

Call both of your senators and your representative, and tell the person who answers the phone that you urge Senator or Representative to:

• Restore habeas corpus and due process for all human beings.
• Support the Restoring the Constitution Act of (S. 576 in the Senate and HR 1415 in the House)
• End torture and secret prisons.
• Stop so-called "extraordinary rendition" flights where people are secretly kidnapped and sent to countries that torture. (Support HR 1352 in the House)
• Close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and provide all detainees with access to lawyers and speedy trials. (Support S. 1249 and 1469 in the Senate, and HR 2212 in the House)
• Investigate wrongdoing and ensure those who broke the law are held accountable. Activists from all 50 states will deliver tens of thousands of signatures to Congress, urging for rights to be restored.

June 26 marks the first time in the ACLU's 87-year history that the organization has convened a national event of this type.

For more information on the Day of Action, visit http://www.juneaction.org