MCLU Awards Roger Baldwin Award to James “Doug” Cowie
Portland Man Leads Fight to Protect Mainers’ Privacy Rights

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Portland- At an Annual Membership Meeting last week, the Maine Civil Liberties Union awarded its Roger Baldwin Award to James “Doug” Cowie of Portland.  The award, named after one of the founders of the American Civil Liberties Union, is awarded each year for outstanding local activism to defend and advance civil liberties in Maine. 

“Doug Cowie has led the way on making real change to protect the privacy rights of Mainers,” said Shenna Bellows, Maine Civil Liberties Union Executive Director.  “He has been instrumental in bringing statewide attention to the issue of NSA surveillance.”

In response to revelations in the spring of this year that the National Security Agency was conducting warrantless surveillance of American phone customers, Mr. Cowie led a customer complaint at the Public Utilities Commission.  The complaint pressured the PUC to open an investigation into whether Verizon Maine was turning over the records of its phone customers to the federal government without their knowledge or permission, which may have been a breach of state privacy laws. 

In response to the request, Verizon stated that it had not handed over customer records to the government, nor allowed the government access to its phone machines in order to collect customer data.  The PUC asked that an official of Verizon to swear under oath to the truth of those assertions; before it had the chance to do so the United States Department of Justice sued both the PUC and Verizon to close down the request and stop any future investigations into the issue.

Mr. Cowie’s complaint, which eventually included 21 complainants and 40 interested parties, brought statewide attention to the matter of NSA surveillance in Maine.  In support of Cowie’s efforts, 375 Mainers signed a letter to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urging him to withdraw the DOJ lawsuit and let the PUC do its job to protect the rights of Mainers.   Cowie’s filings also became the model for similar complaints in dozens of states across the nation.  Today, the Department of Justice seeks to consolidate its lawsuits involving 26 states into one case to be heard in California.  Mr. Cowie and his fellow defendants, represented by the MCLU, seek to keep their case in Maine.

“Doug’s knowledge of the ins and outs of filing a customer complaint at the PUC has been indispensable throughout this process,” said Bellows. “We are so thankful that he had the drive to convert his expertise to action.”

The MCLU applauds Mr. Cowie for bringing early state and national attention to illegal NSA surveillance.  Mr. Cowie and the MCLU will continue to fight to hold the government and telecomm companies accountable for breaking the law and violating Mainers’ privacy rights.