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2008
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March 31, 2008:
British Author Sebastian Horsley Refused Entry to U.S.
 PEN American Center is appealing to the Departments of Homeland Security and State to review the exclusion of British author Sebastian Horsley from the United States, calling the decision of Customs officials to bar him from entering the country on grounds of “moral turpitude” a “dangerous precedent that could be extended to bar scores of literary figures from a number of countries.”
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February 1, 2008:
James Risen Subpoenaed over Source for Book
 PEN American Center today expressed concern over reports that Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist has been issued a subpoena in an effort to compel him to reveal confidential sources for information published in his 2006 book State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration. >> More
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2007
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October 31, 2007:
PEN Urges Senators to Insist on Clear Rejection of Abusive Interrogations
Disturbed by the reluctance of attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey to speak clearly and forcefully against torture and other forms of cruel and inhumane treatment during his confirmation hearings in the U.S. Senate, PEN is urging senators to demand clarifications and insist that approval of his nomination be contingent on a repudiation of illegal, abusive interrogations.
>> More
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October 23, 2007:
House Foreign Affairs Committee Unanimously Passes Global Online Freedom Act
PEN American Center today praised the House Foreign Affairs Committee's unanimous vote in favor of the Global Online Freedom Act of 2007, and urged Congress to move swiftly to
enact a bill it says is essential to ensure American internet service
providers do not assist regimes that suppress free expression on the internet and persecute cyber-dissidents. >> More
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October 17, 2007:
House Passes Historic Federal Shield Law: Bill Protects Public’s Right to Know
PEN American Center reacted with elation to yesterday’s bipartisan 398-21 vote in the House of Representatives in favor of the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007, calling the House’s action an essential clarification of the right of journalists to protect confidential sources and an overwhelming affirmation of our country’s bedrock commitment to freedom of the press. >> More
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September 25, 2007: PEN Applauds Introduction of NSL Reform Act
The Campaign for Reader Privacy, a coalition of organizations representing librarians, booksellers, publishers, and authors, cheered the introduction today of legislation to safeguard the privacy of ordinary Americans and curb the FBI’s abuse of the National Security Letter power granted under the USA Patriot Act. >> More
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June 22, 2007:
PEN American Center Urges Rejection of Academic Boycotts
PEN has released a statement of principle opposing academic and cultural boycotts, saying such actions threaten the internationally guaranteed right to freedom of expression. >> More
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April 11, 2007:
Campaign for Reader Privacy Welcomes Testimony by 'Gagged' Librarian
Following dramatic testimony from a Connecticut librarian who successfully challenged an abusive FBI National Security Letter (NSL), the Campaign called on Congress to restore the safeguards for reader privacy that were eliminated by the USA Patriot Act. >> More
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February 28, 2007:
PEN, Co-Plaintiffs File New Challenge to “Ideological Exclusion”
Responding to the United States government’s most recent explanation for denying a visa to Tariq Ramadan, PEN American Center has joined with the American Academy of Religion, the American Association of University Professors, and the ACLE in filing a new motion in federal court to strike down a Patriot Act provision that allows the government to refuse entry to foreign scholars because of their political views. >> More
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2006
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November 30, 2006:
Free Speech Groups Urge Court to Reject FCC Censorship
New standards adopted by the Federal Communications Commission to censor “indecency” on the airwaves are overly vague and unconstitutional, a coalition of 20 free speech organizations, community broadcasters, filmmakers, performers and writers argued in a legal brief filed today. >> More
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October 3, 2006:
PEN delivers press freedom petition to Congress
Ron Chernow brought PEN’s concerns over surveillance and threats against the press to Washington last week, opening a National Press Club program that revealed how far government is reaching into the lives and work of journalists, writers, and librarians. >> More
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September 26, 2006:
United States closes door again on Tariq Ramadan
The U.S. government has again blocked Tariq Ramadan from visiting the United States, this time after being ordered by a Federal District Judge to act on a visa application the Swiss-born Oxford University professor submitted last September. >> More
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September 21, 2006:
PEN sounds alarm on threats against press in the U.S.
Troubled by recent attacks on newspapers and reporters for breaking stories on controversial antiterrorism programs, more than 1,100 PEN Members and supporters have signed a petition expressing concern over the climate for press freedom in the United States. >> More
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September 14, 2006:
Program to celebrate First Amendment champions
Eight individuals who have taken risky, at times harrowing stands on behalf of the First Amendment in recent months will discuss their experiences at an upcoming program in Washington, DC. >> More
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June 23, 2006:
PEN praises ruling in lawsuit challenging visa denials
PEN hailed a ruling challenging the U.S. government’s refusal to issue a visa to a prominent Muslim scholar, calling the court’s order to process Professor Tariq Ramadan’s visa application “a clear and articulate affirmation of the First Amendment rights of Americans. >> More
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January 25, 2006:
Campaign for Reader Privacy Sends Open Letter to Congress
PEN joined organizations representing booksellers, librarians, publishers, and writers today in delivering a letter to members of the House and Senate urging them not to re-authorize the sections of the USA PATRIOT Act that are due to expire on Feb. 3 without adding additional safeguards for the privacy of bookstore and library records. >> More
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January 25, 2006:
PEN Goes to Court to Challenge Patriot Act Exclusions of Foreign Scholars
PEN has joined in filing a lawsuit challenging a Patriot Act provision that can be used to bar prominent writers and scholars who are critical of U.S. policies from visiting the United States. >> More
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2005
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December 23, 2005:
Patriot Act reauthorization blocked
Senate approved the U.S. House of Representative's last-minute changes to the Patriot Act reauthorization bill, reducing the Patriot Act extension from six months to five weeks. >> More
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November 10, 2005:
PEN Goes to Court for Documents on Visa Denials
PEN filed a lawsuit today to compel the Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security and the CIA to release documents on whether the United States bars prominent international figures from visiting the United States because of their political views. >> More
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October 14, 2005:
PEN Writes to Senate Appropriations Committee
We are writing to you and your colleagues on the Defense Appropriations conference committee to urge you to ensure that the Senate amendment prohibiting the torture of prisoners in U.S. military custody remains in the final military spending bill. >> More
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June 16, 2005:
House passes Freedom to Read Amendment
Yesterday the House passed Rep. Bernie Sanders's (I-VT) Freedom to Read Amendment to the Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) Appropriations Bill by a vote of 238-187. >> More
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April 4, 2005:
Librarian Who Fought FBI Search to Receive 2005 PEN/Newman’s Own Award
PEN named Joan Airoldi, a librarian and library director in rural Washington State who challenged an FBI effort to search patron records, as the recipient of this year’s prestigious PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award. >> More
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March 9, 2005:
Freedom to Read Protection Act Reintroduced in Washington
PEN cheered the reintroduction of the Freedom to Read Protection Act, promising to mobilize readers and book lovers all over the country to press for the restoration by the end of 2005 of privacy safeguards stripped by the USA PATRIOT Act.
>> More
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January 4, 2005:
PEN urges Senate to examine Gonzales's record on torture policies
PEN asked members of the Senate Judiciary Committee today to use this Thursday's hearings on the nomination of Alberto Gonzales as an opportunity to reassert United States commitment to an international ban on torture. >> More
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2004
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December 15, 2004:
Treasury Department Changes Regulations
OFAC issued new regulations today which explicitly permit Americans to engage in "all transactions necessary and ordinarily incident to the publishing and marketing of manuscripts, books, journals, and newspapers in paper or electronic format." >> More
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October 26, 2004:
Nobel Peace Prize winner joins battle for free speech
Shirin Ebadi, the Iranian human rights activist who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, has filed suit against the U.S. Treasury Department. >> More
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September 29, 2004:
PEN presents signatures to Congress in support of amending Patriot Act
Organizations representing booksellers, librarians, publishers and authors went to Capitol Hill today to seek an amendment to Section 215 of the Patriot Act to restore due process and confidentiality to bookstore and library records. >> More
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September 27, 2004:
PEN, publishers file suit to overturn information restrictions
PEN joined publishing groups in filing suit in a challenge to regulations governing the publication of informational materials from countries subject to U.S. trade embargo. >> More
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September 19, 2003:
PEN protests Ashcroft comments on librarians, urges repeal of Patriot Act
PEN protests in the strongest possible terms the recent speech deriding the concerns that librarians, booksellers, and other organizations have expressed over Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act. >> More
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July 8, 2004:
PEN to intensify Reader Privacy efforts after controversial House vote
PEN vowed to continue the drive to restore reader privacy protections after an effort to halt the funding that allows the government to conduct searches of bookstore and library records under Section 215 of the USA Patriot Act fell just one vote short of passing in the House today. >> More
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May 3, 2004:
PEN calls on President to abandon Patriot Act politics
PEN is calling on President Bush to lead an open, bipartisan evaluation of individual provisions of the Act that are scheduled to sunset in 2005. >> More
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April 5, 2004:
First Amendment problems remain in wake of latest OFAC pronouncement
A letter sent by the director of OFAC to the IEEE leaves many questions unanswered with respect to Treasury Department regulations governing the publication of informational materials from countries subject to U.S. trade embargo. >> More
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March 4, 2004:
PEN protests Treasury Department regulations that interfere with publishing
PEN requests an immediate review of OFAC regulations that could be interpreted to bar or restrict in any way the publication of literature-and indeed any information and informational materials-originating in countries subject to U.S. trade embargo. >> More
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February 17, 2004:
Book, library groups launch Patriot Act petition campaign
PEN joined booksellers and librarians and writers to launch a nationwide effort to obtain one million signatures in support of legislation to amend Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act. >> More
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News Archive
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A collection of PEN press releases about the Core Freedoms campaign.
Please contact us if you have any questions.
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