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THE CHICAGO COMMITTEE TO DEFEND THE BILL OF RIGHTS (CCDBR) |
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THE CHICAGO COMMITTEE TO DEFEND THE BILL OF RIGHTS (CCDBR) |
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF CCDBR
CCDBR was founded in 1960 as the Midwest office of the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (now re-named the Defending Dissent Foundation.) Its goal, then and now, has been to organize, educate and work for legislation that will protect our precious First Amendment and due process rights.
CCDBR cut its teeth on the successful struggle to abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), which was used to smear progressives and destroy their careers. During the Nixon administration, CCDBR took part in the successful campaign to block the repressive "Omnibus Criminal Code." In 1969 we played a key role in organizing the broadly based Alliance to End Repression, which in 1970 filed the famous Red Squad Suit to stop the Chicago police from their century-old activity of spying on and trying to disrupt dissident political activity. By 1981, CCDBR was a proud signatory of the Alliance/ACLU/ consent decree prohibiting such practices.
During the Reagan administration, CCDBR was active in blocking further repressive initiatives such as the attempt to revive HUAC under another name. We also denounced efforts of the FBI to target Afican-American elected officials through bogus "corruption" investigations.
Through the years, CCDBR has worked on numerous projects involving workers' rights to organize, problems of criminal justice, immigrants' rights, and separation of church and state. Likewise, we have opposed periodic efforts to criminalize flag-burning and other symbolic forms of protest.
From the mid-1990's, CCDBR joined the important battle, still highly relevant though sadly unsuccessful, to defeat the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Through our efforts, several members of the Illinois congressional delegation were induced to vote "no" on the bill, but it was passed and signed by Clinton in 1996. Under this law, we began to see the deportation of non-citizens on the basis of "secret evidence" which neither the accused parties nor their lawyers were permitted to see. To fight tghe results of this legislation, CCDBR joined others to form the National Coalition to Protect Political Freedom, based in Washington, D.C.
Then we joined a second battle to save the consent decree on police spying. In 1997, the City of Chicago went back to federal court (even as it is now doing re. the Shakman decree) to try to gut the decree. CCDBR, working with the Allinance's attorney, did the legwork in community organizing and education to prevent this; but in January, 2001, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals essentially re-legalized all forms of police spying on dissident activity, short of actual disruption of such activity. Another struggle to wage!
Since 9/11, CCDBR has striven to deal with the avalanche of repressive Orwellian laws and executive orders streaming from the Bush administration and its compliant congressional majorities, not to mention judges willing to abandon the traditional understandings of civil liberties. We have hosted a coalition to call for repeal of the Patriot Act in the Illinois legislature: a follow-up to the successful coalition which we spearheaded to win such a resolution in the Chicago City Council. Likewise, we are seeking to draw attention to the threats to freedoms built into the Homeland Security Act, the "No Child Left Behind Act: (which provides a backdoor for Pentagon recruitment in schools), the "Protect America" Act, the Military Commissions Act, and various executive decisions.
Our promising new school prgram, "Acting Free," in conjunction with Chicago's famed Pegasus Theater, will see its first production at Pegasus April 28, 2008.
CCDBR's leadership team is prepared to focus on the full range of threats to our liberties, from street abuse and torture by Chicago police (thus our active participation in support of the "Burge litigation" and settlements) , to the frightening claims of nearly total power made by the Bush White House in pursuit of the endless "war on terror."
QUESTIONS? call us at (312) 939-0675
The Bill of Rights Foundation (BORF) is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit foundation that supports the struggle against all activities that threaten the freedoms guaranteed in our Bill of Rights. BORF is a major source of support for CCDBR.