Yesterday the LA Times reported that the California Governor's Office of Homeland Security (OHS) had been
tracking and monitoring protest activity, in violation of state privacy protections. Today, the Times reports that the Office of Homeland Security
will release all its intelligence reports (redacted for sensitive information) to the press.
Even if the reports are released, there are several questions that need to be answered:
(1) What other activities has the OHS been involved in that threaten civil liberties. The state National Guard was caught spying on a mothers' day anti war protest in March. An investigation by State Senator Joe Dunn turned up information that indicated additional inappropriate or illegal activities by the agency. What more has gone on at OHS?
(2) The LAT indicates that state Attorney General Lockyer learned about this two months ago. After it was revealed thre years ago that the AG's
Califoria Anti-Terrorism Center (CATIC) was also tracking protests in the state, Lockyer has been clear that such activity is
unacceptable and illegal. What did his office do proactively to warn OHS about their legal obligations prior to the tracking of the protests? Why was it not made public earlier? What happened to the public's right to know?
(3) Governor Schwarzenegger says he will release the information to the press, but not the public. This would violate the California Public Records Act provisions that documents made public to some must be made public to all.
The surveillance issue is a national issue that is playing out locally all over the country. While most attention has been focused on the NSA and federal abuses, we also need to hold our state and local officials accountable as well.