FBI acknowledges files on US rights groups News
FBI acknowledges files on US rights groups

[JURIST] In the wake of a lawsuit from groups including the ACLU [advocacy website] and Greenpeace [advocacy website], the US Department of Justice [official website] has admitted that the FBI [official website] has thousands of pages of records on file from scrutinizing US civil rights, environmental and other advocacy groups. The groups want the documents released and contend the files were compiled by FBI counterterrorism agents. Though the FBI has not said specifically what the files contain, it has identified 1,173 pages on the ACLU and 2,383 pages about Greenpeace, and it says it needs months to review the documents, according to a court filing. Several documents already released indicate that FBI agents acting for the counterterrorism division monitored websites [Washington Post report] urging protests at the 2004 Republican and Democratic convention in New York and Boston. ACLU executive director Anthony Romero [ACLU profile] said he knows "for an absolute fact that we have not been involved in anything related to promoting terrorism." Government spokesmen declined to comment on the ongoing case. AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Laws of Burgos put into effect

The Spanish Crown put the Laws of Burgos into effect on December 27, 1512. These laws governed the relationship of Spanish settlers with the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. The laws established the encomienda system of labor, promoted conversion to Catholicism, and safeguarded the indigenous peoples from physical abuse.  However, historians argue that the laws were ineffective at protecting the rights of the indigenous population. Learn more from the Library of Congress.

Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public bar smashing

On December 27, 1900, militant Prohibitionist Carrie Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar, at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kansas. Nation argued that destroying bars was an acceptable means of battling the liquor trade since the Kansas Constitution prohibited alcohol. Learn more about Carrie Nation.

World Bank created

On December 27, 1944, the World Bank was created during the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, USA. Learn more about the history of the World Bank.