The Liberty Coalition is a non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

 that connects politically diverse organizations and promotes transpartisan policies related to civil liberties and basic human rights.

The Liberty Coalition is associated with the Liberty and Privacy Network.

History

The Liberty Coalition was founded in 2005 by Michael D. Ostrolenk, J. Bradley Jansen, and James Plummer.

In January 2006, the Coalition received national media attention upon co-sponsoring former Vice President

Vice president

A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...

 Al Gore

Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

's speech, "Restoring the Rule of Law." Former Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 Congressman Bob Barr

Bob Barr

Robert Laurence "Bob" Barr, Jr. is a former federal prosecutorand a former member of the United States House of Representatives. He represented Georgia's 7th congressional district as a Republican from 1995 to 2003. Barr attained national prominence as one of the leaders of the impeachment of...

 was scheduled to introduce Al Gore

Al Gore

Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

 to emphasize the transpartisan nature of the event, however, technical difficulties made Barr's telecast impossible.

Issue areas

The Liberty Coalition has nine working groups which focus on issues they consider to be important. They include:

• A Federal or National ID
• Financial privacy
  Financial privacy
  Financial Privacy is a blanket term for a multitude of privacy issues:*Financial Institutions ensuring that their customers information remains private to those outside the institution. Issues include the Patriot Act, and other debates of privacy vs...
  
  
• National Security Whistleblowers
• Domestic Spying and Surveillance
  Surveillance
  Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
  
  
• The Department of Defense
  United States Department of Defense
  The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
  
  's recruitment database for teenagers
• Federally supported mass mental health
  Mental health
  Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
  
   screening
• The use of the material witness
  Material witness
  A material witness is a person with information alleged to be material concerning a criminal proceeding. The authority to detain material witnesses dates to the First Judiciary Act of 1789, but the Bail Reform Act of 1984 most recently amended the text of the statute, and it is now codified at...
  
   statute following 9/11
• Medical privacy
  Medical privacy
  The main subject of medical privacy or health privacy is the 'medical record' which historically has been a paper file of the entire medical history of the patient. Various electronic forms of medical records have existed in western countries, but mostly in an unintegrated fashion. This lack of...
  
  
• Constitutional drug policy
• Consumer Privacy

Partner organizations

The Liberty Coalition has numerous partner organizations that span the political spectrum. They are quick to note that the positions they take "should not be taken as an endorsement by any partner organization unless explicitly stated as such."
A few include:

• American Association for Health Freedom
• Americans for Tax Reform
  Americans for Tax Reform
  Americans for Tax Reform is an advocacy group and taxpayer group whose stated goal is "a system in which taxes are simpler, flatter, more visible, and lower than they are today. The government's power to control one's life derives from its power to tax...
  
  
• Bill of Rights Defense Committee
  Bill of Rights Defense Committee
  The Bill of Rights Defense Committee is a national grassroots organization that educates and mobilizes people from all walks of life to defend the Constitution in their local communities all across the country...
  
  
• Center for Cognitive Liberty and Ethics
• Criminal Justice Policy Foundation
• Downsize DC
• First Amendment Foundation
• Defending Dissent Foundation
• Pain Relief Network
• Townhall.com
  Townhall.com
  Townhall.com is a web-based publication primarily dedicated to conservative United States politics. It was previously operated by the Heritage Foundation, but is now owned and operated by Salem Communications...
  
  

External links

• Official site
• National ID Watch, a consumer privacy website sponsored by the Liberty Coalition.