February 10, 2004
Feds start backing down on anti-war subpoenas.
On Saturday, we posted about the federal investigation of an anti-war conference held at Drake University in Iowa. Feds subpoenaed four activists involved in the conference, and ordered the university to produce all records relating to the conference, including the names of the attendees. All of this was related to charges of trespassing on federal property (a military installation).
Thanks to a tip from Kos, we now know that subpoenas against two of the activists have been withdrawn. There is no word about the subpoenas against the other activists or the one against Drake University. Given all the attention that the case is getting — including stories by the NY Times and LA Times, and Sen. Tom Harkin's letter asking attorney general John Ashcroft to explain what his prosecutors are doing in Iowa — we wouldn't be surprised to see the feds back down altogether.
Update: The government has backed down completely: All of the subpoenas have been quashed, and the gag order that was placed on Drake University has been lifted. It's apparent to us that the public attention to what Ashcroft's Justice Dept. is behind the government's change of heart here.
For more details, see the National Lawyers Guild's press release on the Iowa subpoenas, which TalkLeft has posted here.
Posted by Magpie at February 10, 2004 03:25 PM | TrackBackThanks so much for posting about this. Your previous reference was probably a drop in a dry riverbed of indifference, but that's all anyone else could do.
Posted by: James R MacLean on February 10, 2004 05:48 PMIt will be good if a reversal occurs. This story blew my mind. I saw it first on Jim Hightower's weblog, and wrote a story about it on my site.
Posted by: Copeland on February 10, 2004 06:47 PMUnfortunately there is another set of subpoenas going out as we speak to health organizations. John Ashcroft is trying to get medical records of people having late term abortions. For current info please go to the American Leftist site: they have a hyperlink there to the chicago subpoenas story.
Its about the fourth story down from the top on their site.
Posted by: michael the wanderer on February 11, 2004 01:05 AM