Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights

Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights has fought for 43 years against "government encroachment on our constitutional rights in all its forms. CCDBR began as part of the struggle to disband the House Committee on UnAmerican Activities (HUAC), played a major role in the opposition to Chicago Police "Red Squad" spying in the seventies, and in 2003 helped facilitate the passage of the Chicago City Council Resolution against The Patriot Act".

History

CCDBR was founded in 1960 as the Midwest office of the National Committee Against Repressive Legislation (now re-named the Defending Dissent Foundation.) Its goal, then and now, has been to "organize, educate and work for legislation that will protect our precious First Amendment and due process rights".

CCDBR cut its teeth on the successful struggle to abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC), which was used to smear progressives and destroy their careers. During the Nixon administration, CCDBR took part in the successful campaign to block the repressive "Omnibus Criminal Code." In 1969 we played a key role in organizing the broadly based Alliance to End Repression, which in 1970 filed the famous Red Squad Suit to stop the Chicago police from their century-old activity of spying on and trying to disrupt dissident political activity. By 1981, CCDBR was a proud signatory of the Alliance/ACLU/ consent decree prohibiting such practices.

During the Reagan administration, CCDBR was active in blocking further repressive initiatives such as the attempt to revive HUAC under another name. We also denounced efforts of the FBI to target Afican-American elected officials through bogus "corruption" investigations.

Then we joined a second battle to save the consent decree on police spying. In 1997, the City of Chicago went back to federal court (even as it is now doing re. the Shakman decree) to try to gut the decree. CCDBR, working with the Allinance's attorney, did the legwork in community organizing and education to prevent this; but in January, 2001, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals essentially re-legalized all forms of police spying on dissident activity, short of actual disruption of such activity. Another struggle to wage!

Since 9/11, CCDBR has striven to deal with the avalanche of repressive Orwellian laws and executive orders streaming from the Bush administration and its compliant congressional majorities, not to mention judges willing to abandon the traditional understandings of civil liberties. We have hosted a coalition to call for repeal of the Patriot Act in the Illinois legislature: a follow-up to the successful coalition which we spearheaded to win such a resolution in the Chicago City Council. Likewise, we are seeking to draw attention to the threats to freedoms built into the Homeland Security Act, the "No Child Left Behind Act: (which provides a backdoor for Pentagon recruitment in schools), the "Protect America" Act, the Military Commissions Act, and various executive decisions.

Communist front

Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights is one of the Communist Party USA's most successful creations-playing a major role in the near elimination of police spying against radical organizations.

In the early years Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights' personnel were virtually, all proven members or sympathisers of the Communist Party USA. In later years, supporters of the New American Movement, Democratic Socialists of America and Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism were more prominent.

CCDBR founders

1960 Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights CDBR founders were Boris Brail, Milt Cohen, Richard Criley, Ben Green, Prof. Robert Havighurst, Charles Lippitz, Rev.Victor Obenhaus.

Personnel in 1965

Honorary Chairmen Earl Dickerson Esq, Jessie Binford, Dr A Eustace Haydon, Senator James Monroe

Chairman Prof. Robert Havighurst

Vice-Chairmen Prof. Curtiss MacDougall, Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf

Treasurer Frank Aglin Jr

Executive Director Rev William Baird

Secetary Richard Criley

Board Members

Rev Frederic Ball, Harry Barnard, Leo Berman, Lee Blinick, Boris Brail, Roberta Bruce, Rev Edwin Buehrer, Edward Carey, Perry Cartwright, William Cavanaugh, Joseph Engel, Eugene Feldman, Eleanor Garner , Ben Green, Pearl Hart, Dr Hyman Hirshield, Jessie Hirschl, Leon Katzen, Lafayette Marsh, Milton Norman, Prof Victor Obenhaus, James Pinta, Isadore Pomerantz, Prof Dale Pontius, Jesse Prosten, Rev James Royston, Dr Boris Rubenstein, Prof Malcolm Sharp, Jack Spiegel, Thomas Slater, Prof William Starr, Rev Alva Tompkins, Otto Wander, Rabbi Richard Winograd, Rabbi S. Burr Yampol.

Personnel in 1970

Exec. Director Richard Criley

Honorary chairmen Earl Dickerson, Rabbi Jacob Weinstein

Co-Chairmen Robert Havighurst, Rev. Victor Obenhaus

Vice-chairmen Rev. William Baird, Prof- Curtis D. MacDougall, Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf

Treasurer Frank Aglin, Jr.

Advisory Council

Timuel Black, Rev. Edwin Buehrer, Prof. Carl W. Condit, Rev. Martin Deppe, Joseph Engel, Abe Feinglass, Rev. Gerard G. Grant, Very Rev. Samuel J. Martin, Rabbi Robert J. Marx, Rev. Jules L. Moreau, Al Raby, Rev. Joseph Sattler, Jack Sullivan.

Board of Directors

Rev. Frederic E. Sau, Harry Barnard, Boris Brail, Edward Carey, Milt Cohen, Ernest DeMaio ,Rev.William D. Faw, Richard Galloway, Prof. Charles H. George, Prof. Margaret Y. George, Ben Green, Pearl Hart, Dr. Hyman J. Hirshfield, David C. Jensen, Daniel Kaufman, Rev. S. Hunter Leggitt, Harry Mack, Rev. Daniel J. Malette, Lafayette Marsh, Rev. Francis J. McGrath, Akiro Makino , Ruth Muench, Isadore Pomerantz, Jesse Prosten, Don Rose, Norman Roth, Dr. Boris Rubenstein, Evelyn Salk, Thomas Slater, Walter Soroka, Jack Spiegel, Prof. William Starr, Lynward Stevenson, Edmonia Swanson, Gil Terry, Rev.C. T. Vivian, Otto Wander, Gwendolyn N. Williams, Rabbi Burr Yampol, Dr. Quentin Young .

2009 board

The CCDBR board as of 2009 was;

President: Robert H. Clarke

Vice Presidents: Brenetta Howell Barrett, Mike Giocondo; Treasurer: Don Goldhamer;

Secretary: Anna Nessy Perlberg;

Directors: Timuel Black, Mabel Brail, Luster Jackson, Carol Heise, Milton Herst, Bennett Johnson, Lillian Margolis, William Martin, Nancy Mikelsons, Lewis Myers Jr., Odie Payne III, Ruth Tregay Siegel, Robert Starks, Oscar Worrill

Honoring Frank Wilkinson

CCDBR organized a Celebration of the The Dynamic Life of Frank Wilkinson (1914-2006) on Sunday October 29, 2006.

Honoring Committee

Honorary Co-chairpersons

• Timuel Black

• Pearl Hirshfield (Mrs Hyman J. Hirshfield)

• Donna Wilkinson

Committee

• Aaron Adler & Alice Adler

• Sarah Cooper

• Congressman Danny Davis

• Dr.Peter DeGolia

• Rachel Rosen DeGolia

• Martin Deppe

• Joan Elbert

• Ruth Emerson (Mrs. Thomas Emerson)

• Kit Gage

• Jesus Garcia

• Pat Gleason

• Richard Gutman (attorney for Chicago Red Squad suit)

• Susan Gzesh

• Yolanda Hall

• Carol Heise and Kenan Heise

• Esther Herst

• Ilse Herst

• Mrs. Luster Jackson

• Cliff Kelley

• Rhita Lippitz

• Peggy Lipschutz

• Jose Lopez

• Bea Lumpkin and Frank Lumpkin

• Marilyn McKenna

• Kevin Martin

• Honorable Abner Mikva

• National Lawyers Guild -- Chicago Chapter

• Mary Powers

• Jane Ramsey

• Harold Rogers

• Mark Rogovin

• Bernice Rosen

• Frank Rosen

• Norman Roth

• Salsedo Press

• Emile Schepers

• Alderwoman Helen Shiller

• Elisabeth Solomon

• Studs Terkel

• Sue Udry

• Rev. Don Wheat and Mrs. Anne Wheat

• Josephine Wyatt

• Tim Yeager

• Dr. Quentin Young

Benefactors, Patrons, and Supporters

Benefactors

• Timuel Black

• Robert H. Clarke

• Michael Hanley & Janet Hanley

• Rhita Lippitz

• Billie Rosman in memory of Ben Green & Florence Green

Patrons

• Connie Hall

• Willie L. Hart

• Margaret Lipschutz

• National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression/Chicago Branch

• Lillian Osran

• Anna Nessy Perlberg

• Hazel Rochman & Hyman Rochman in memor of Charles Spencer

• Carl Rosen

• Joan E. Spencer

• John Weber & Elsa Weber

• Janice Weinman

Supporters

• Laura Baden

• Brenetta Howell Barrett

• Chicago Democratic Socialists of America

• Martin Deppe & Peg Deppe

• Joan Elbert

• Fred Hicks

• Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Kane

• Ethel Liten

• Lou Pardo

• Frank Rosen & Bernice Rosen

• Gertrude Rubin

Sister Helen Prejean

The Chicago Committee to Defend the Bill of Rights and the Bill of Rights Foundation presented an evening with anti death penalty campaigner Sister Helen Prejean March 15, 2007.

The event was endorsed by: Timuel Black, Jane Bohman, Locke Bowman, Thomas Breen, Rep. Danny Davis, Tony Fitzpatrick, Aviva Futorian, Bernard Harcourt, Jeffrey Howard, Rabbi Peter S. Knobel, Elizabeth Kooy, Peter Kuttner (IATSE Local 600), Barbara Lannan and John Lannan, Haki Madhubuti, Martin Marty, Lisel Mueller, Sara Paretsky, Father Arturo Perez, Mary Powers, Dick Simpson, Elizabeth Solomon, Thomas Sullivan, Studs Terkel, Scott Turow, Standish E. Willis ; All Saints' Episcopal Church, Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Black Radical Congress, Center on Wrongful Convictions, 8th Day Center for Justice, Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, The Lannan Foundation, the MacArthur Justice Center, Midwest Center for Justice, Murder Victims Families for Human Rights, National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression