Nonprofit Organizations and Counterterrorism Measures

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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Groups Challenge Constitutionality of New Telecom Immunity Law

Oct 22, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has challenged the constitutionality of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments of 2008, which grants telecommunication companies retroactive immunity for helping with the government's warrantless surveillance program. EFF argues that the FISA Amendments Act violates the federal government's separation of powers as established in the Constitution. The challenge also says the law deprives telecom customers of their rights without due process of law.

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OMB Watch Comments Opposing Expanded Gov't Investigation Powers Under Safe Streets Act

On Sept. 2, 2008 OMB Watch filed comments on the Department of Justice (DOJ) proposed amendments to 28 C.F.R. 23, which governs programs that receive funding under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Safe Streets Act). We asked DOJ to reject the addition of "domestic and international terrorism, including material support thereof" to the list of activities that could be investigated. Our comments noted, "This is redundant, since terrorism and providing material support for it are crimes, and the current rule already covers criminal activity.

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Judge Says Shuttered Charity Must Be Given Due Process

In the first decision of its kind, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) from designating KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development (KindHearts), a U.S. charity, as a supporter of terrorism without affording the organization basic due process. Treasury shut down the group "pending investigation" in February 2006, but the investigation has never been concluded and the group's assets, including about $1 million, remain frozen.

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Treasury Releases 2007 Terrorist Assets Report

Oct 17, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has recently released the 2007 Terrorist Assets Report to Congress. The report details that $336.2 million of seized assets allegedly related to terrorism is currently being held by Treasury. Of that, $20.7 million originated with foreign terrorÂ¬ist organizations, a category that includes charitable organizations. This number is up from $16.4 million detailed in the 2006 report. It also reports that $315.5 million originated with designated state sponsors of terrorism.

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Charity Sues Government for Freezing Its Assets

Oct 10, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

Kindhearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development sued the federal government in response to the Treasury Department freezing the group's assets in 2006, requesting that the block is lifted while the group challenges the process used in designating organizations as terrorist groups.

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Nonviolent Activists Placed on Terror Lists

Oct 10, 2008 by Amanda Adams*

In Maryland, 53 nonviolent activists, primarily opponents of the death penalty and the Iraq war, were classified as terrorists in 2005 and 2006. Their names and personal information were entered into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects. The Washington Post reports that the surveillance took place over 14 months. "The former state police superintendent who authorized the operation, Thomas E. Hutchins, defended the program in testimony yesterday.

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Telecom Surveillance to Receive Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is seeking retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that cooperated with the National Security Agency's (NSA) warrantless surveillance program, utilizing power granted in the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.

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Department of Justice Finalizes Enhancements of FBI Powers

Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently finalized changes to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) rules that increase the agency's ability to gather information on citizens without having prior suspicion of wrongdoing. The new rules cover the FBI's powers over criminal, national security, and foreign intelligence surveillance and have been criticized by civil liberties advocates and privacy groups.

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Treasury Promotes Private Philanthropy through USAID

Should U.S. charities and foundations be required to turn over funds to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in order to support humanitarian aid and development in areas where designated terrorist groups are operating? The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) is promoting a partnership between USAID and American Charities for Palestine (ACP) as a model for providing assistance and complying with counterterrorism laws. Treasury recently indicated such coordination may become a requirement. This approach has the potential to undermine the independence of grantmakers and nonprofits and to fundamentally alter their relationships with grantees and local communities. It is based on an expansive interpretation of counterterrorism laws that seeks to prohibit vaguely defined "abuse and exploitation" of charities by terrorists.

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The USAID-American Charities for Palestine Pilot: Background and Questions

On Aug. 1, 2008 the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Americans for Charity in Palestine (ACP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing a public-private partnership to channel charitable donations from U.S. individuals and entities to the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Since the announcement the U.S. government has heavily promoted the agreement as a way to direct humanitarian aid to Palestine without violating U.S. counterterrorism laws.

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