Media briefing on state and local efforts opposing NDAA detention today

The Tenth Amendment Center, Demand Progress and the Bill of Rights Defense Committee will hold a joint telephone press conference today featuring six state and local lawmakers who have sponsored legislation pushing back against provisions authorizing indefinite detention without due process written into the National Defense Authorization Act.

Confusion over the sections 1021 and 1022 remains widespread on Capitol Hill and across the country.

“It is clear to me, and I am far from alone in this view, that the detention provisions in the NDAA are vague, overbroad and open to interpretation. That leaves me to trust in the good character and moral clarity of Barak Obama, Rick Santorum or whoever happens to reside at the White House, to protect me and my fellow Americans from abuse of this power. No thanks!” Tenth Amendment Center communications director Mike Maharrey said.

Many state and local lawmakers agree.

In the weeks since the NDAA was enacted, nearly a dozen cities and counties have passed resolutions opposing detention provisions, and measures have been introduced in 11 state legislatures.

“While our nation’s political establishment ignores the constitutional concerns voiced from across the political spectrum, a transpartisan movement has emerged seeking to restore due process and the right to trial. Concerns about NDAA detention provisions transcend political party, ideology, and geography, and these diverse communities are standing up to resist an ongoing bipartisan assault on constitutional rights by federal officials,” BORDC associate director Amy Ferrer said.

What:         A conference call to brief journalists about national momentum across local and state governments to repeal or reverse the NDAA’s detention provisions

When:       TODAY,Tuesday, March 20, at 1 p.m. EST / 10 a.m. PST

Where:      Participants must register online at http://bit.ly/ndaaconf

Who:           

More info: About the National Defense Authorization Act (PDF)

About the Bill of Rights Defense Committee

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC) is a national non-profit grassroots organization formed in 2001 to defend the rule of law and rights and liberties challenged by overbroad national security and counter-terrorism policies. BORDC supports an ideologically, ethnically, geographically, and generationally diverse grassroots movement to protect and restore these principles by encouraging widespread civic participation; educating people about the significance of our rights; and cultivating grassroots networks to convert concern, outrage, and fear into debate and action. For more information, visit http://www.bordc.org or call (413) 582-0110.

About the Tenth Amendment Center

The Tenth Amendment Center is a national think tank that works to preserve and protect the principles of strictly limited government through information, education, and activism. The center serves as a forum for the study and exploration of state and individual sovereignty issues, focusing primarily on the decentralization of federal government power as required by the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment Center, in conjunction with the Rhode Island Liberty Coalition, drafted the Liberty Preservation Act, now spreading across the country at both the state and local level.” For more information, visit http://tenthamendmentcenter.com/about/ or call (213) 935-0553.

About Demand Progress

Demand Progress is a grassroots organization with more than one million members which works to promote civil rights, civil liberties, and progressive government reform. It helped lead the organizing effort in opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act, and has generated more than 200,000 emails to Congress and President Obama in opposition to the indefinite detention provisions of the NDAA. For more information, visit http://demandprogress.org.