NYT: Concerns Arise at A.C.L.U. Over Document Shredding

NY Times ^ | 6/4/05 | Stephanie Strom

[NormsRevenge]

The American Civil Liberties Union has been shredding some documents over the repeated objections of its records manager and in conflict with its longstanding policies on the preservation and disposal of records.

The matter has fueled a dispute at the organization over internal operations, one of several such debates over the last couple of years, and has reignited questions over whether the A.C.L.U.'s own practices are consistent with its public positions.

The organization has generally advocated for strong policies on record retention and benefited from them, most recently obtaining and publicizing documents from the government about prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.

The debate over the use of shredders is reminiscent of one late last year over the organization's efforts to collect a wide variety of data on its donors, even as it criticizes corporations and government agencies for accumulating personal data as a violation of privacy rights.

Janet Linde, who oversaw the A.C.L.U.'s archives for over a decade until she resigned last month, raised concerns in e-mail messages and memorandums for over two years that officials' use of shredders in their offices made a mockery of the organization's policy to supervise document destruction and created potential legal risks.

"It has been shown in many legal cases over the years, including the Enron case, that if a company has an established and documented shredding program they will not be liable if documents at issue in a lawsuit are found to have been destroyed," Ms. Linde wrote in a 2003 memo. "If, however, the means for unauthorized shredding is present in the office we cannot say that we have made a good faith effort to monitor and document our records disposal process."

Ms. Linde said she was disturbed that her correspondence had become public and declined to comment further.

--snip--

[HisKingdomWillAbolishSinDeath]

Hypocrisy at the ACLU. Shocking, I tell you, shocking.

[SpaceBar]

The very documents they are shredding should be the ones requested by tax investigators for the ACLU to maintain its not for profit tax-exempt status.

[highlander_UW]

So what sorts of documents are they shredding?

[concerned about politics]

The American Civil Liberties Union has been shredding some documents over the repeated objections of its records manager and in conflict with its longstanding policies on the preservation and disposal of records.

Maybe Homeland Security has finally figured them out. They're not friends of the U.S., that's for sure!

[Political Junkie Too]

So what sorts of documents are they shredding?

Incriminating ones?

-PJ

[concerned about politics]

So what sorts of documents are they shredding?

Illegal campaign contributions to Hillary?
Terrorist ties?
Oil for Food money?
The ACLU isn't America friendly. They're as Communist as it gets!

[LibFreeOrDie]

Not that I'm suspicious of the NYT or anything... but why would the NYT make their comrades in the ACLU look bad?

[hineybona]

Those records need to be seized NOW! How can we here at FR do that ..? I'm serious ..ACLU would be the first to start a war to get documents..Why don't we ?

[concerned about politics]

That encounter came several months after the New York attorney general's office had begun an inquiry into security breaches on the A.C.L.U.'s Web site that had resulted in leaks of information about donors and members. The organization is sensitive to such leaks, given past government scrutiny of its membership.

Hmmmmm. Donors and members we're not suppose to know about. The ACLU is Communist. Hmmmmm.

[NormsRevenge]

I hear ya.

Drudge had a teaser up earlier and then this article popped up a little later linked to the NYT.

[Lancey Howard]

Athiest scumbag hypocrites BUMP!

[hineybona]

So ..can they be forced to hand over any documents? HOW ?

[oolatec]

Could we file an FOIA? It's their favorite weapon. It'd be nice to use it against them... :)

[hineybona]

I don't know..Im just asking..Who on here would know..I'm serious ..We should move to snag these bastards in their own trap..This could be bad for them if some action is filed.

[mmercier]

It only matters if the "right wing extremists" shred documents: then forensic labs will be making a monumental jigsaw puzzle for all the world to see, live on a dozen msm broadcasts... Little katie will breathlessly await developments in nitwitcity and keep us all "updated".

Anything the commiepedopervmaggott fringe disposes of is gone for good, and never really existed to begin with.

I quit the ACLU in 1978, when I was in the ninth grade...
Don't ask.

The ACLU are communist pigs on their best days. And "we" used to call others the "pigs" back just a few years before those days.