The Maine Civil Liberties Union says the FBI is spying on peace activists in the state.

Using a Freedom of Information Act request, the MCLU found that the FBI has a file on the Maine Coalition for Peace and Justice.

As first reported by the Portland Press Herald on Thursday, the file contains, according to the FBI, a single e-mail correspondence recruiting people for a protest in Washington, D.C.

Whether one e-mail represents serious surveillance or normal information gathering in the interest of national security isn’t clear. But the file demonstrates that the FBI is monitoring, on some level, groups that are engaged in nothing more dangerous than peaceful protest.

The Maine Coalition for Peace and Justice is an umbrella organization for dozens of state groups. The organizations have a clear leftward tilt in their politics and include Lewiston’s Many and One Coalition, the Women in Black and Bridges for Peace.

We’ve all seen these groups around. Their members write letters to this page and they generally go about trying to change government policy through education and peaceful protest.

According to the Maine Coalition for Peace and Justice mission statement, the member groups are dedicated to working collectively and nonviolently for social equality, economic justice, direct democracy and regenerative environmental policies.

These aren’t violent extremists. Many of them are old-school liberals trying to work within the system to change minds.

It is deeply troubling, in light of revelations about questionable wiretaps of U.S. citizens by the federal government, extralegal detentions and renditions, and the mistreatment of foreign prisoners, to learn that our neighbors are being targeted for exercising their rights.

“Revelation of FBI surveillance of Mainers is evidence of an alarming assault on our most basic liberties,” Rep. Tom Allen said in a statement after reading the Press Herald story. “The right to disagree with the decisions our elected officials make and to speak freely and openly in opposition is one of the fundamental rights guaranteed to all Americans by the Constitution. I am, today, writing to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to request release of all files the FBI has amassed on Maine peace groups and an investigation of the extent of federal government surveillance of Maine organizations.”

We echo Allen’s call for full disclosure. If the federal government feels threatened by peace activists in Maine, there’s no limit to whom they will keep tabs on.

It’s too easy to say, “I haven’t done anything wrong, and I have nothing to hide so I don’t care if the government watches every move I make.”

In the 1960s and 1970s, the government abused its power by spying on its political opponents. President Nixon created his enemies list. Journalists, actors and activists were all targeted. The purpose of the list was to punish political opponents using the power of the federal government, including IRS audits, lawsuits and prosecution.

When the awesome power of the government is turned on individuals for their politics, not because they pose a threat, it jeopardizes all our civil liberties.

Agree with the Maine Coalition for Peace and Justice or not, it doesn’t matter. Its members have a right to speak their minds without worry of government retaliation. Given the demands of tracking down and capturing real terrorists, the government shouldn’t be wasting its resources spying on peace activists.

The attorney general should comply with Rep. Allen’s request and release its files on Maine groups. How big an issue is the FBI surveillance of protest groups? We have no idea. But it’s time we all find out.