The Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC), which became Defending Rights and Dissent in 2015, was a civil liberties activist organization focused on defending the right to protest and limiting the government’s right to monitor individuals or groups. It was originally formed to fight the Patriot Act, claiming that its expansions of the government’s surveillance capabilities infringed on First Amendment rights.

Background

The Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC) was founded in 2001 in Northampton, Massachusetts to oppose the PATRIOT Act, a federal law passed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 to expand the government’s surveillance powers. It was founded by Nancy Talanian who believed that the PATRIOT Act would cause widespread “loss of privacy, a chilling of dissent and other First Amendment rights, and the targeting and mistreatment of people on the basis of their race, religion, or ethnic background.” ^{1 2}

BORDC argued that the PATRIOT Act gave the federal government too much power to access individuals’ private information. It gave the government permission to monitor radical political organizations suspected of terrorist leanings which infringed on First Amendment free speech and free association rights. ³

The group advocated for a city council resolution condemning the Patriot Act, and the Northampton city council passed a resolution establishing a “civil liberties safe zone” that would not comply with the PATRIOT Act. BORDC then became a national organization and provided support for local activism against the PATRIOT Act. ⁴ More than 400 local government resolutions and eight statewide resolutions were passed. ⁵

BORDC then expanded its focus to include activism against federal bureaucracies such as the National Security Agency (NSA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Justice (DOJ), seeking to restrict surveillance powers. ⁶

The organization partnered with left-leaning groups such as the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and received support from several left-of-center foundations including the Ford Foundation, George Soros’ Open Society Institute, ⁷ Proteus Fund, Spectemur Agendo, and Warsh Mott Legacy. ⁸

In 2015, the Bill of Rights Defense Committee and the Defending Dissent Foundation merged to become Defending Rights & Dissent (DRAD) ⁹ with common goals to fight government surveillance of individuals and groups and to defend the right to protest. ¹⁰

Leadership

Founder Nancy Talanian was executive director of BORDC until 2008. After leaving BORDC she founded No More Guantanamos ¹¹ in 2009 to support then-President Barack Obama‘s goal of closing the detention camp for captured terrorism suspects at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. ¹²

Sue Udry became executive director of BORDC in 2008 and continues as executive director of Defending Rights & Dissent. Previously she was the grassroots lobbying coordinator for United for Peace and Justice. ¹³

1. “Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC).” Discover the Networks. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/organizations/bill-of-rights-defense-committee-bordc/
2. “Nancy Talanian.” HuffPost. Accessed March 31, 2023. https://www.huffpost.com/author/nancy-talanian
3. “About Defending Rights and Dissent.” Defending Rights & Dissent. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.rightsanddissent.org/about/
4. “About Defending Rights and Dissent.” Defending Rights & Dissent. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.rightsanddissent.org/about/
5. “Our Staff.” No More Guantanamos. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://www.nogitmos.org/about/our-staff
6. “About Defending Rights and Dissent.” Defending Rights & Dissent. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.rightsanddissent.org/about/
7. “Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC).” Discover the Networks. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://www.discoverthenetworks.org/organizations/bill-of-rights-defense-committee-bordc/
8. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer – Bill of Rights Defense Committee. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/full_text_search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=bill+of+rights+defense+committee
9. “About Defending Rights and Dissent.” Defending Rights & Dissent. Accessed March 18, 2023. https://www.rightsanddissent.org/about/
10. “Our Priorities.” Defending Rights & Dissent. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.rightsanddissent.org/about/
11. “Our Staff.” No More Guantanamos. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://www.nogitmos.org/about/our-staff
12. “Contributor Nancy Talanian.” HuffPost. Accessed March 21, 2023. https://www.huffpost.com/author/nancy-talanian
13. LinkedIn – Sue Udry. Accessed March 19, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sue-udry-11052910/