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ACLU Report Exposes Unjust Detention Of Youth (05/12/2008)
BOSTON – A widespread practice in Massachusetts of locking up youth accused of minor offenses and who pose little or no danger to their communities is unfair, threatens public safety and wastes public money, according to a report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Massachusetts.

ACLU Skeptical of Senate Report on “Homegrown” Terrorism (05/08/2008)
Washington, DC – After Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a report on Islamic homegrown terrorism today, the American Civil Liberties Union strongly urged Congress to use caution when moving forward on related legislation, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (S. 1959). The report, "Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorism Threat," is based on findings from hearings held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The ACLU and nearly twenty other groups sent a memo to the committee outlining concerns with the report, most notably the free speech implications of labeling the internet as a "weapon" and the unfair singling out of one religious group as possible "extremists."

Disability Backlogs Violate Due Process Rights (05/08/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union was encouraged by today’s Senate Finance Committee hearing on service delivery problems with the Social Security Administration (SSA) field offices. The SSA has struggled in processing disability claims in reasonable timeframes and the ACLU has concerns that a mandatory employment verification system would capsize the already overburdened agency.

ACLU Announces Winners Of Third Annual Stand Up For Freedom Contest (05/07/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the winners of its third annual Stand Up for Freedom Contest. Launched July 4^th, 2007, the contest challenged people between the ages of 17 and 29 to produce a video public service announcement (PSA) or podcast detailing one of today's pressing civil liberties issues.

ACLU Lauds House Judiciary Committee on Torture Investigation (05/07/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union lauds the House Judiciary Committee and especially its chairman John Conyers (D-MI) and subcommittee chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) for compelling former members of the Bush administration to appear before the committee as part of an investigation of the authorization of illegal torture of prisoners in US custody by the highest public officials in the executive branch.

FBI Withdraws Unconstitutional National Security Letter After ACLU And EFF Challenge (05/07/2008)
SAN FRANCISCO - The FBI has withdrawn an unconstitutional national security letter (NSL) issued to the Internet Archive after a legal challenge from the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI withdrew the NSL and agreed to the unsealing of the case, finally allowing the Archive's founder to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand.

ACLU Applauds House Judiciary Subcommittee Hearing on Administration Authorization of Torture (05/06/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union was pleased to see the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties hold today’s hearing to examine the executive branch’s role in authorizing harsh interrogation methods. The ACLU calls on Congress to conduct a systematic, top-to-bottom investigation to explore whether crimes have been committed and how high up the authorization originated.

ACLU Commends Net Neutrality Hearing (05/06/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union commends Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet for holding a hearing today on the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 (H.R. 5353), legislation designed to keep the Internet free for open discourse.

Employment Verification Would Create a ‘No Work List’ in the U.S. (05/06/2008)
WASHINGTON – As the House Ways & Means subcommittee on Social Security met today to debate employment eligibility verification systems, the American Civil Liberties Union sounds its call for Congress not to erect barriers for Americans who seek employment. The hearing is to examine the impact that employment verification systems would have on the Social Security Administration (SSA), an already overburdened governmental agency.

White House Continues to Push Ineffective Student Drug Testing Agenda (05/06/2008)
WASHINGTON – The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy is conducting the latest in a series of regional summits designed to convince local educators to begin drug testing students randomly and without cause – a policy unsupported by the available science and opposed by leading experts in adolescent health, including the Academy of Pediatrics, National Education Association, the Association of Addiction Professionals and the National Association of Social Workers.

ACLU Welcomes Immigration Detention Medical Treatment Legislation (05/05/2008)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union applauds Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) for introducing H.R. 5950, the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008. This legislation requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop procedures to ensure adequate medical care for all detainees held by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The legislation also requires ICE to report detainee deaths to the DHS and Department of Justice Offices of Inspector General.

NARF AND ACLU Ask Federal Court To Stop Disenfranchisement Of Alaska Natives Who Need Language Assistance (05/05/2008)
ANCHORAGE — On behalf of four Alaska Natives and four tribal governments, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion in federal court today ordering state and local elections officials to provide effective oral language assistance and voting materials to citizens who speak Yup'ik, the primary language of a majority of voters in the Bethel region of Alaska. The motion comes in a lawsuit filed in 2007 charging state and local elections officials with ongoing violations of the federal Voting Rights Act.

Innocent North Carolina Man Exonerated After 14 Years On Death Row (05/02/2008)
KENANSVILLE, NC – An innocent man who spent 14 years on North Carolina's death row after being wrongfully convicted for a 1987 murder will be released from prison today. Jones has been represented by American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project lawyers Cassandra Stubbs and Brian Stull, along with North Carolina attorney Ernest "Buddy" Connor.

Fourth Annual ACLU Congress On Civil Liberties In Puerto Rico Begins Today (05/01/2008)
MIRAMAR, PR – Victims of some of the worst cases of police brutality in United States history will join the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Puerto Rico to address issues of police brutality and racial discrimination at the Fourth Annual Congress on Civil Liberties in Puerto Rico beginning today.

New Report Confirms Unprecedented Expansion Of Government Spying (05/01/2008)
NEW YORK – A newly released Justice Department report shows an unprecedented expansion of the government's use of secret warrants for domestic spying. According to the report, the number of secret warrants approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) more than doubled in the past seven years. The court approved 2,370 requests last year, compared to 1,012 in 2000.

ACLU Commends Senator Feingold for Hearing on Secret Law (04/30/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded a Senate subcommittee for holding a hearing on the Bush administration’s use of secrecy to institute government policy. During the hearing, entitled “Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government,” the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and its chairman, Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), heard testimony from legal experts and open government advocates. The hearing focused on the administration’s broad interpretation of the law as it relates to government secrecy and counterterrorism policies – including a legal opinion written by former Justice Department Official John Yoo on the use of torture in interrogations. That memo was made public through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by the ACLU.

ACLU Skeptical About Latest DHS Watch List Band-Aid (04/30/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed skepticism about the announcement yesterday by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of a new program intended to remedy the nation’s disastrous watch list system.

Newly Unredacted Report Confirms Psychologists Supported Illegal Interrogations In Iraq and Afghanistan (04/30/2008)
NEW YORK — The American Civil Liberties Union announced today the release of newly unredacted documents from the Defense Department's internal investigations into charges of detainee abuse. Uncensored documents from the Church Report, obtained as a result of the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, include new details exposing the role of psychologists in military interrogations. The documents also uncover new information about the failure of military medical personnel to report abuses at Abu Ghraib, the military's use of unlawful interrogation methods subsequent to a directive that was ostensibly meant to end such practices, and detainee deaths in Afghanistan and Iraq.

ACLU Takes On High School Principal For Discriminating Against Male Couple (04/29/2008)
MEMPHIS – A public high school principal who posted the names of two boys on a list of students believed to be couples, revealing their relationship to their parents as well as other students and teachers, violated the students' constitutional right to freedom of association, the American Civil Liberties Union charged today. In a letter to school board officials in Memphis, Tennessee, the ACLU demanded today that the school reprimand the principal and take steps to ensure such actions never happen again.

ACLU Testifies before Senate against Real ID (04/29/2008)
WASHINGTON – Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office testified today about the privacy and security concerns with creating a federal identity document every American will need in order to fly on commercial airlines, enter government buildings, or open a bank account. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia held an oversight hearing on the Real ID Act and the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, examining the federal government’s capacity to implement the new identification systems.