Legal
Colorado ACLU Cases

Legal Department Docket, 2002-Present

Case Name: FOIA requests to FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force
Case Number:
ACLU Case Number: 2004-06

Description: On December 2, 2004, the Colorado ACLU invoked the Freedom of Information Act on behalf of 16 organizations and 10 individuals, seeking information from the FBI about the JTTF files on their peaceful political activity. The FOIA request was part of a nation-wide ACLU campaign to uncover the full extent of FBI political surveillance. The national ACLU and at least a half-dozen additional state ACLU affiliates filed similar requests for FBI documents the same day. The Colorado ACLU and other state affiliates filed additional FOIA requests in 2005.

Issues: Freedom of speech; freedom of association; right of privacy; police practices; open government

ACLU of Colorado Attorney: Mark Silverstein

Links to Selected Documents:

“Presenting documentary evidence of FBI political spying, ACLU files FOIA request on behalf of 16 organizations and 10 individuals,” ACLU News Release, December 2, 2004

ACLU of Colorado’s request for records from the Denver FBI and JTTF, December 2, 2004

Who are the ACLU’s clients, and why do they believe they are in the FBI files?

“ACLU Launches Nationwide Effort to Expose Illegal FBI Spying on Political and Religious Groups,” News Release, December 2, 2004

“New documents confirm: FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force targets peaceful activists for harassment, political surveillance,” ACLU News Release, May 18, 2005

“New documents confirm that FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force treats peaceful protest as potential terrorism,” ACLU News Release, August 2, 2005

"New documents confirm that FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force wastes resources and threatens First Amendment rights by targeting peaceful protest activity as 'domestic terrorism,'" ACLU News Release, December 8, 2005

Sample JTTF files obtained under Freedom of Information Act

Additional information on the Joint Terrorism Task Force