Liberty (advocacy group) September 2001, Shami Chakrabarti joined Liberty. After working as in-house counsel, she was appointed director of Liberty in 2003. As director, she began campaigning against what the pressure group saw as the "excessive" anti-terrorist measures that followed the 11 September 2001 attacks in the United States, such as the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 (ATCSA). Liberty became increasingly high-profile, with Chakrabarti making regular appearances in the media. She was described in "The Times" newspaper as "the most effective public affairs lobbyist of the past 20 years". Since the 2015 UK general election, Liberty has spearheaded the campaign to save
Shami Chakrabarti on 31 March 2016. Martha Spurrier was announced as her successor to the post of director. In June 2008, Andy Burnham, the British Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, made what Chakrabarti claimed were "insinuations" in an interview in "Progress" magazine at Shadow Home Secretary David Davis's resignation over the 42-day detention for terror suspects. Davis, a Conservative MP, was said by Burnham to have had "late-night, hand-wringing, heart-melting phone calls with Shami Chakrabarti." Chakrabarti received an apology from Burnham for his "innuendo and attempted character assassination". On 18 April 2009, it was reported in "The Times" and