ACLU of Santa Cruz County, CA

Utilizing the federal Freedom of Information Act, the ACLU of Northern California (the affiliate under which this chapter is chartered) has sought information through the courts regarding the monitoring of University of California at Santa Cruz student groups. The groups were engaged in anti-war activities, and the lawsuit seeks to learn specifics of the monitoring of the groups accomplished by the Pentagon.

The documents sought include all documents maintained by the Department of Defense on the groups, including records in the Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) report system and database.

“With mounting public concern over the government’s expanded domestic surveillance activities, it is critical that the Department of Defense act quickly and disclose all information it has collected on these student organizations and their members,” said Dorothy Ehrlich, Executive Director of the ACLU of Northern California.

Read the full story on the website of the national ACLU organization, at http://www.aclu.org/safefree/spying/24416prs20060307.html.