King George silences dissent

Yesterday the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights changed its policy on the publication of its reports. All reports and commission documents will no longer be made available on the commission's website if the commission fails to vote in the majority (4-3) to publish. This new policy applies to reports made after January 7 and before January 7, 2005 also.

The great benefit to we the citizens is that reports of the commission will be less accessable to us because we dont need to know things that the Bush administration objects to. These "banned" reports are available by request however.

The banned reports:

• Briefing on Boundaries of Justice: Immigration Policies Post-September 11 (October 2001)

• Briefing on Civil Rights Issues Facing Muslims and Arab Americans in Ohio Post-September 11 (November 2001)

• Briefing on Civil Rights Issues Facing Muslims and Arab Americans in Minnesota Post-September 11 (February 2002)

• Briefing on Civil Rights Issues Facing Muslims and Arab Americans in Wisconsin Post-September 11 (April 2002)

• Briefing on Civil Rights Issues Facing Muslims and Arab Americans in Indiana Post-September 11 (May 2002)

• Briefing on the Consequences of Government Race Data Collection Bans on Civil Rights (May 2002)

• Briefing on Civil Rights Issues Facing Muslims and Arab Americans in North Dakota Post-September 11 (May 2002)

• Haitian Asylum Seekers and U.S. Immigration Policy (June 2002)

• Voting Rights in Florida 2002: Briefing Summary (August 2002)

• Briefing on Tragedy Along the Arizona-Mexico Border: Undocumented Immigrants Face Death in the Desert (August 2002)

• Beyond Percentage Plans: The Challenge of Equal Opportunity in Higher Education (November 2002)

• Crossing Borders: The Administration of Justice and Civil Rights Protections in the Immigration and Asylum Context (January 2003)

• Education Accountability and High-Stakes Testing in the Carolinas (February 2003)

• The Supreme Court Revisits Affirmative Action: Will Grutter and Gratz Mean the End of Bakke? (April 2003)

• The U.S. Department of Education’s Race-Neutral Alternatives in Postsecondary Education: Innovative Approaches to Diversity-Are They Viable Substitutes for Affirmative Action? (May 2003)

• Anniversary Update on Commission Activities Related to September 11 (September 2003)

• Native American Health Care Disparities Briefing Summary (February 2004)

• Is America Ready to Vote? Election Readiness Briefing Paper (July 2004)

• Redefining Rights in America: The Civil Rights Record of the George W. Bush Administration (September 2004)

Luckily I downloaded the Redefining rights in America: report before it was banned. Very few nice things are said about Mafia boss Bush.

More info on U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Commision website
Google web Search
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Technocrati blog search

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I have sent an email to members of congress.

The civil rights commission has decided to ban documents on its website that it finds objectionable. This act of the commission makes its reports less accessable and sets a dangerous precedent on how federal agencies serve the public. Banned documents: http://www.usccr.gov/pubs/notvoted.htm

Please do anything to reform the Republican management to serve OUR interests and not their own.

notified:
Sen Carl Levin
Sen Debbie Stabenow
Rep John Conyers (not my rep)