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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Justice Department Gets Involved in Life for Relief Case

Dec 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

The Detroit Free Press reports that the Justice Department might become involved in a case between Life for Relief and Development and Comerica Bank. The organization decided to sue Comerica Bank for violating their civil rights in threatening to close the charity's bank accounts. The suite challenges a section of the Patriot Act that allows financial institutions to share information about suspected money laundering or terrorist activity. The Justice Department might now step in to defend the contested part of the Patriot Act.

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Exiled Iranian Group Unjustly Labeled

Dec 15, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

The European Court of Justice reversed a European Union (EU) decision that in 2002 froze the funds of People's Holy Warriors, an exiled Iranian opposition group. The court ruling was based on the decision that the EU had not provided sufficient reasons to freeze the organization’s assets and did not provide a fair hearing. This decision could be encouraging for the groups whose assets are frozen in the United States. The New York Times covered this story.

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Holy Land Foundation

Dec 12, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

A notable New York Times article covers new action that is being taken to challenge the Treasury Department's process for designating charities as supporters of terrorism. The Treasury Department has designated five U.S. Muslim charities as terrorist supporters seizing millions of dollars in assets, including the largest Holy Land Foundation. On Monday Holy Land sued seeking dismissal of over half of the charges against them. This decision to sue was based on the ruling last month in a Federal District Court in Los Angeles.

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Court Says Parts of Executive Order Used to Shut Down Charities are Unconstitutional

A Nov. 27 decision by a federal district court in Los Angeles found that two portions of Executive Order 13224 (EO), used to designate organizations as supporters of terrorism, are unconstitutional. The case was filed by the Humanitarian Law Project (HLP) and other nonprofits that want to provide support for "lawful, nonviolent activities" of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and Tamil Tigers (LTTE), which have both been designated as terrorist organizations.

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ACLU Seeks Congressional Hearings on Monitoring of Antiwar Groups

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently released more documents highlighting government surveillance of antiwar organizations. As information on the scope of the Pentagon's Threat and Local Observation Notice (TALON) database continues to accumulate, the ACLU has requested a congressional investigation into this use of counterterrorism resources for surveillance of nonviolent domestic organizations.

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Federal Court Strikes Down Parts of EO Used to Shut Down Charities

Nov 29, 2006 by Kay Guinane

In a victory for nonprofits a federal district court in Los Angeles has ruled key portions of the Executive Order used to designate organizations as supporters of terrorism are unconstitutionally vague. The case was brought by the Humanitarian Law Project, which wants to provide support for "lawful, nonviolent activities" of the Kurdistan Workers Party and Tamil Tigers, which have been designated as terrorist organizations.

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Life For Relief and Development Sues Bank

Nov 27, 2006 by Amanda Adams*

As reported, Comerica Bank told the charity Life For Relief and Development that it planned to terminate their accounts on November 15. The group was granted an extension, but now the charity has filed a lawsuit against the bank charging that their civil liberties have been violated by planning to close its accounts.

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Nonprofits Call for Release of Frozen Funds for Humanitarian Efforts

In a letter sent Nov. 6, a group of charities and nonprofit sector leaders asked the Treasury Department to release frozen funds belonging to charities designated as supporters of terrorism "to trustworthy aid agencies that can ensure the funds are used for their intended charitable purposes." According to the letter, the request "takes no position on whether these designations were appropriate. Instead, [the authors'] concern is with ensuring that charitable funds are put to good use."

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Authority and Process of Office of Foreign Assets Control to Release Frozen Charitable Funds

This memorandum describes federal laws and regulations governing Treasury Department treatment of funds of organizations designated as supporters of terrorism, including procedures that allow Treasury to authorize release of funds for charitable purposes.

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Databases Monitor Activity of Peace Activists, Public Opinion

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has revealed more evidence of Pentagon spying on nonprofits that oppose the war in Iraq. Meanwhile, new Homeland Security Department programs that will monitor public opinion, emails and blogs raise further concerns about the free speech rights of nonprofits and the civil liberties of Americans.

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