Sometimes, it’s good when nothing happens.

 Recently, you urged Congress not to establish a new, permanent system of indefinite detention
-- imprisoning people without charges and without trial -- and while our work is not over, your advocacy is having a major impact.

Thanks largely to your efforts, it was reported last week that President Obama will not seek legislation or issue an executive order on indefinite detention that would have made it more permanent and harder to end. For more information, read this Washington Post article that ran last week.

Members of Congress and their staff told me specifically that they did not want the Administration to seek legislation on indefinite detention because they were hearing from their constituents that such a system is un-American.

 It’s not the end of this issue by a long shot. The U.S. is still holding people without charge at Guantánamo Bay, and it’s critical that once the prison camp is closed, the Administration does not continue to indefinitely imprison detainees for terrorism crimes elsewhere. The ACLU has filed a lawsuit seeking more information about indefinite detention at Bagram Air Force Base which could become the new Guantánamo -- except with more prisoners, in harsher conditions, and no access to lawyers.

 With your help, the ACLU will continue to fight -- in Congress and the courts -- for a complete end to indefinite detention. And we’ll be counting on your continued leadership on this and other important issues -- including reforming the Patriot Act and demanding accountability for torture -- in order to restore an America we can be proud of again.

Thanks for all you are doing to pave the way for progress.

Sincerely,

Anthony D. Romero Executive Director American Civil Liberties Union

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