from: William Hughes

On March 9, 2009, Ms. Cynthia Boersma, the Legislative Director of the ACLU in Maryland, discussed the status of legislation pending in the General Assembly to curb the widespread practice of “police spying” on peace and social justice activists in violation of their First Amendment Rights. The ACLU is supporting the “Freedom of Association and Assembly Protection Act of 2009.” It’s HB 182 and SB 256. Ms. Boersma expressed her concerns about the legislation being pushed by Governor Martin O’Malley. She said it is a “weaker” Bill than the one the ACLU is advocating. Ms. Boersma added that O’Malley’s Bill contains many “loopholes and exceptions for police conduct” that would authorize much of the spying that took place and that was “condemned” in the report prepared by former Attorney General of Maryland, Stephen H. Sachs. The interview with Ms. Boersma took place in Annapolis, MD. For some background on the police spying scandal in Maryland, go to:

http://www.aclu-md.org/Index%20content/NoSpying/Unanswered_Questions.pdf

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-md.spying10feb10,0,3768912.story

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/01/AR2008100102223.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301993.html

http://mlis.state.md.us/2009rs/billfile/HB0182.htm

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-police-spying0217,0,907231.story

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-mdspying,0,1252076.storygallery