The ACLU works to ensure that civil liberties are respected, even in times of national emergency. The following audio recordings are from ACLU staff and leaders talking about where they were on September 11, 2001, and also include commentaries about the state of civil liberties directly after the terrorist attacks and where, five years later, we are as a nation.
More About 9/11: Five Years Later
Nadine Strossen is the President of the ACLU. She was in Washington D.C. on Sept. 11, 2001, for an ACLU gathering to discuss civil liberties.
> Traveling on Sept. 10, 2001
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> The ACLU goes into action
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> President Bush’s speech
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Anthony Romero became the executive director of the ACLU one week before the terrorist attacks. Under his leadership the ACLU has won a victory against the Bush Administration’s illegal NSA spying program and has sought truth and accountability in the torture of detainees in U.S. custody.
> The ACLU goes into action
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> How the ACLU has responded
podcast | stream or download (mp3) >> Art Eisenberg is the NYCLU’s legal director. Since the attacks, the NYCLU has worked to ensure protest rights and also challenged the random search policy in the New York City transit system.
> Immediate implications
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> Subway search challenge
podcast | stream or download (mp3) >> Patricia Perry is the mother of John Perry who was a lawyer for the NYPD and a member of the Nassau County NYCLU Chapter board. John was at police headquarters to hand in his resignation on September 11, 2001. When he learned of the attacks, he went to help those trapped in the World Trade Center and he lost his life in doing so.
> John W. Perry remembered
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> State of civil liberties today
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Steve Shapiro is the ACLU’s legal director. Since September 11, 2001, the ACLU has won a victory against the Bush Administration’s illegal NSA spying program and has sought truth and accountability in the torture and of detainees in U.S. custody.
> The ACLU goes into action
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> How the ACLU responded
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> Courts support the people
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Donna Lieberman is the executive director of the NYCLU. Since September 11, 2001, the NYCLU has worked to ensure protest rights and also challenged the random search policy in the New York City transit system.
> How the NYCLU responded
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> NYCLU and free speech
podcast | stream or download (mp3) >>Shin Inouye works in the media relations department in the Washington D.C. Legislative office.
> Memories from Washington D.C.
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> State of Washington D.C. today
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> The past guides the future
podcast | stream or download (mp3) >>Sheryl Douglas is a longtime staff member of the ACLU. She is an activist at heart, lobbying for the workers union in Albany and serves as a coordinator at the voting polls on election days. Her son begins his fourth tour of duty in Iraq this week.
> Military and civil liberties
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