CCDBR's priorities for Presidential action

The following are actions which CCDBR urges President Obama to take, solely on presidential authority, to restore respect for the Constitution, international treaty obligations, and civil liberties. We also hope the President will work with Congress to amend/repeal offensive legislations, including sections of the Patriot Act, Military Commissions Act, and FISA Amendments Act.
These are not listed in any particular order of priority.

1. Rescind recently issued new FBI guidelines, re-establish the Levi guidelines -- this should be on Atty. Gen. Holder's agenda

2. Close the School of the Americas (WHINSEC)

3. Order the Justice Department not to defend the Arar case

4. Close Guantanamo
Provide transparent review of cases, federal court trials, and repatriations
open up information on all other detention centers around world, including captives sent into foreign torture centers
President Obama is closing Gitmo and other CIA centers elsewhere in world, but Bagram in Afghanistan is kept open, even being enlarged, under Defense Procedures for handling cases still under review.
5. Renounce the "combatant" detention powers claimed by Bush or any measures compromising habeas corpus rights
6. End the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy of antigay discrimination in military; end abuse of women in military
there was an explicit campaign promise to end this policy
7. Issue a memo establishing a maximum disclosure FOIA principle; revoke Bush order on Presidential Records; end classification abuses
President Obama has ordered a much more open government stance on FOIA requests and classification; BUT has maintained assertion of "state secrecy" to block litigation on torture cases
8. Issue an executive order ending extraordinary renditions.
A general cessation has been ordered, but details remain somewhat murky, in part because of confirmation hearing statements by CIA chief Panetta.
9. Establish a single standard for interrogations that applies to CIA as well as military and FBI
President Obama has ordered exactly this, but has also mentioned there will be future "review." Also, there has been no action on the annex to the Army interrogation manual which appears to permit torture other than waterboarding.
10. Order a formal Justice Dept. review of Bush legal policies and decisions re. interrogation/detentions; investigate and prosecute officials who violated U.S. and international law
In a very positive move, Obama ordered effective nullification of Bush-era memos permitting torture; and the Atty. General has announced further investigation of these memos, including possible publication of hitherto secret ones.
11. Stop warrantless eavesdropping
The "secrecy doctrine" seems likely to be invoked to block cases in this area, but that remains to be seen.
12. Sign pending human rights treaties; e.g., International Criminal Court
13. End secrecy claims blocking suits in federal courts
E.g., ACLU suits against telecoms and Boeing Company
See above under Point 7: upholding of secrecy claims
14. Protect the rights of immigrants, including ending raids and abuses in prison system such as ICE detention centers
15. Actively use federal law enforcement resources to protect civil rights where violated by state/local authorities
16. Restore our right to travel, including ending the abusive enforcement of the Trading With the Enemy Act