NYT: Concerns at A.C.L.U. Over Document Shredding

[DeepModem Mom]

Concerns at A.C.L.U. Over Document Shredding
By STEPHANIE STROM
Published: June 5, 2005


The American Civil Liberties Union has been shredding some documents over the repeated objections of its records manager and in conflict with its longstanding policies on the preservation and disposal of records.

The matter has fueled a dispute at the organization over internal operations, one of several such debates over the last couple of years, and has reignited questions over whether the A.C.L.U.'s own practices are consistent with its public positions.

The organization has generally advocated for strong policies on record retention and benefited from them, most recently obtaining and publicizing documents from the government about prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The debate over the use of shredders is reminiscent of one late last year over the organization's efforts to collect a wide variety of data on its donors, even as it criticizes corporations and government agencies for accumulating personal data as a violation of privacy rights.

Janet Linde, who oversaw the A.C.L.U.'s archives for over a decade until she resigned last month, raised concerns in e-mail messages and memorandums for over two years that officials' use of shredders in their offices made a mockery of the organization's policy to supervise document destruction and created potential legal risks....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/05/national/05aclu.html


IMPORTANT EDIT: I thought this story appeared on page-one today. It did not. Sorry, my bad!

[mbperrin]

1. OOps!! No story here, Supremes done ruled that shredding

anything anytime is A-Ok, in fact, it's what your MOM would want you to do!! Now Arthur Andersen are heroes and obedient children, instead of slimy, soul-stealing slugs from the Twilight Zone! (apologies to all real slugs, those who are slimy, and soul-stealers, as well as the actual Twilight Zone!)

[tx_dem41]

4. That's not what the unanimous decision found of course.

It found that the instructions to the jury were vague (which they were). It did NOT find that shredding of documents was okay.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Interesting to note that within one day we're seeing articles

attempting to discredit both Amnesty International and the ACLU, immediately after they have published information on the _Bush administration's mistreatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and at Guantanamo Bay (soon to be realeased photos of Abu Ghraib, and the Koran defilement by guards).

[Spazito]

3. Yep, that was my immediate reaction as well....

it is so obvious I don't think it works anymore.

[Melodybe]

5. THIS IS ON THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NYT!!!!

NO WORD OF THE DSM! No word of Arther Anderson, No word of Iraq, but the ACLU possibly doing something bad is front page news, FUCK THOSE MOTHER FUCKERS!

If you had any doubt that the NYT's is one of our media enemies, you are living in fantasy land.

[DeepModem Mom]

7. SO SORRY -- This story was not on page one. My bad.

[EST]

6. My thoughts, exactly.

The alternative could be a massive infiltration of the ACLU, itself, with the sleepers now awakening. (Shudder) I prefer the planted fairy tales solution - it fits the m.o. of the ruling (w)unta, and the infiltration notion is not easy to contemplate.

[Judi Lynn]

8. Yep, not easy to contemplate, but stranger things have surely happened!

That thought occurred to me, too.

Of course you remember the organized program to start feeding young right-wing ideologues into journalism, law, education, etc. started a couple of decades ago, when most people had no idea it was going on at all.

Look how far we've come.

[K-W]

9. This doesnt sound right to me.

Is there any evidence that anything has been shredded that shouldnt have been?

Not every piece of paper that gets produced in an office needs to be archived.

[SoCalDem]

10. I shred EVERYTHING that has our name/address or personal info

especially when I planned to toss it..It's not safe to throw stuff out that can identify you..

Can you imagine the storge difficulties of large organizations that NEVER threw any paper away??

Not every document is the Dead Sea Scrolls:)

[DBoon]

11. I should hope the ACLU shred some things!!

Like any record of my donations that have my credit card number and expiration date on them.

All organizations should shred some things past a point. The ACLU is a private organization