REPORT CARD
Doenges, Judy
What's Your Beef? RETURN TO THE JUNGLE: HOW THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION IS IMPERILING THE NATION'S MEAT AND POULTRY INSPECTION PROGRAM by Kathleen Hughes Center for Study of Responsive Law,...
...Otherwise they better shut down the show...
...the operation was, in fact, a "fishing expedition," a ferreting out of "possible corruption...
...For now, though, meat-eaters face some risks...
...Did the FBI violate the constitutional rights of its targets in the Abscam investigation...
...As one inspector said, "The way I see it, they [ U S DA officials] have to make a decision: Do they want meat inspectors or don't they...
...Local campaigns should try to obtain lists of sympathetic residents from national peace groups...
...The proposal should be written with the aid of a lawyer, the authors stress, to guard against possible misinterpretation once it is approved...
...the lists can be used in door-to-door petition drives...
...The original targets of Abscam were members of organized crime, who were to be trapped by a phony fencing ring...
...Any community can turn itself into a nuclear-free zone through organization, hard work, creativity, and spirit...
...The lower quality of food has meant greater profits for the industry...
...The politicians they singled out were not necessarily corrupt...
...Here, the FBI's conduct was found lacking...
...An FBI charter needs to be written into law, the A C L U suggests, so the public's rights will be protected...
...But after a few months of operation, the "sting" was expanded to encompass possible political corruption in New Jersey, and, later, possible venality in Congress...
...The report also focuses on the attempts of some rebel inspectors to hold safety standards at previous levels, in defiance of their supervisors in the Department of Agriculture...
...Hughes details the gross health and safety violations now existing in cattle, swine, and poultry plants...
...Box 524, Ashland, O R 97520...
...But Kathleen Hughes provides vivid specifics, and concludes that a bad situation will get worse if the Reagan Administration has its way...
...The middlemen, who thought they were working for wealthy Arab sheiks, stood to make a profit by snaring as many targets as possible...
...An attorney can guarantee that petitions comply with guidelines governing initiatives or propositions...
...It takes only one concerned person or organization to initiate a nuclear-free zone campaign and put the idea before the city council or the voters themselves...
...If they do, they better make some changes around here...
...The A C L U asserts that the FBI must perceive a definite "pattern" of criminal activity before launching such an investigation...
...Abscam was reviewed by the A C L U "with a basic civil liberties concern . . . namely, whether proper safeguards existed to ensure that there is reliable and sufficient evidence of criminal activity before a person becomes the target of an undercover operation...
...just wasting the taxpayers' dollars...
...At this point, Berman notes, the investigation became "qualitatively different" from the usual sting operation...
...No one has ever doubted that serious health and safety violations exist in meat packing plants...
...An early analysis of community sentiment is essential, they say, and an important consideration in interpreting the reaction is whether a nuclear-related industry already has a foothold in the area...
...The Lessons of Abscam offers proposals for reining in the spies...
...In light of President Reagan's recent relaxation of FBI rules, these recommendations are all the more urgent, if perhaps more difficult to enact...
...Support for the concept can be found among churches, universities, and small businesses...
...Secrecy shields the meat industry, and consumers are no longer alerted to potential health hazards...
...RETURN TO THE JUNGLE: HOW THE REAGAN ADMINISTRATION IS IMPERILING THE NATION'S MEAT AND POULTRY INSPECTION PROGRAM by Kathleen Hughes Center for Study of Responsive Law, P.O...
...The Ashland organizers also caution that opponents will raise the specter of lost jobs in a nuclear-free zone, so be prepared...
...Studying the Scam THE LESSONS OF ABSCAM by Jerry J . Berman The American Civil Liberties Union, 132 West 43rd Street, New York, N Y 10036...
...As it is now, we're a fraud...
...The Bureau's tactics even violated its own guidelines, which required a reasonable indication of criminal activity before an "intrusive encounter" like Abscam could be set up...
...The Administration, Hughes says, is largely to blame...
...According to Return to the Jungle, Administration officials have all but eviscerated the Food Safety Inspection Service and the Program Review Branch of the Department of Agriculture, the agencies charged with inspecting meat packing plants across the country...
...6.50...
...It appears likely, according to this study by the legislative counsel of the A C L U . By tracing the course of Abscam through Senate records and court transcripts, Jerry Berman has shed light on the slovenly—and perhaps illegal—behavior of the Bureau during the Abscam affair...
...Since Ronald Reagan took office, health and safety standards have been lowered, plant inspections have become less frequent, and few replacements have been hired to fill inspectors' jobs that fall vacant...
...Box 19367, Washington, D C 20036...
...That's the message the authors, a group of individuals who succeeded in Ashland, Oregon, are trying to get out...
...The Ashland activists put their faith in their community's good sense and concern...
...Says another, "Pressure is on from the industry in many facets of the inspections to pass things that should not be passed...
...One FSIS inspector says, "If we tried to impose the same level of quality we did two years ago, we would not get to first base...
...1.50...
...Instead of waiting for guilty individuals to approach it, the FBI hired intermediaries to approach members of Congress...
...Legislation could prevent the FBI from placing anyone under surveillance without positive proof of ongoing criminal activity—and if proof exists, a judicial warrant still would have to be obtained...
...5.00...
...Once backers are found, they can endorse the campaign, donate time or a day's income, plan fund-raising events, or participate in demonstrations and debates...
...Zoning Out HOW TO MAKE YOUR COMMUNITY A NUCLEAR-FREE ZONE by members of Citizen Action for Lasting Security Prints of Peace House, P.O...
...The role of the media is also discussed in this report, and the authors have included copies of Oregon newspaper articles, advertisements, and a brochure from the Ashland fight...
...Such a pattern was not in evidence when Abscam was conceived, the report states...
...they won, and others may find the same success...
...You might want to give up eating meat after reading this informative study, which borrows its title from The Jungle, Upton Sinclair's turn-of-the-century account of Chicago's packing houses...
...The authors suggest that the size of the organization remain manageable, and that participants boast strong ties to the community...
...it took the FBI's bribes to make them so...
...A leader of the rebellion, Carl Telleen, testified before a Congressional committee last summer, and his whistleblowing has emboldened other inspectors to speak out...
Vol. 47 • May 1983 • No. 5
