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Evidence Once Again Shows Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Don’t Work (04/23/2008)
Washington, DC – The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will hold a hearing today titled "Domestic Abstinence-Only Programs: Assessing the Evidence." The ACLU applauds Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) for bringing new attention to this deeply troubling policy and the committee’s willingness to examine the public health policy implications of abstinence-only programs. We look forward to the testimony of scientists, clinicians, researchers and youth activists who will report on the failures of abstinence-only education programs.

FBI Practices Need Strict Oversight, ACLU Says (04/23/2008)
Washington, DC – As FBI Director Robert Mueller appeared before Congress today, the American Civil Liberties Union urged the House Judiciary Committee to ask him the “hard questions.”

Social Security Delays of Disability Claims Violate Due Process Rights (04/23/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union commends the House Ways and Means Committee for holding a hearing today on the backlog of Social Security disability claims. The ACLU has submitted a written statement to the committee.

ACLU Demands Immediate Release Of Inspector General Report On FBI's Role In Illegal Interrogations (04/22/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request today with the Departments of Justice and Defense for the release of a report on a long-running investigation of the FBI's role in the unlawful interrogations of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay. The Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) launched the investigation after internal government documents - uncovered by an ACLU lawsuit - revealed that FBI agents stationed at Guantánamo Bay expressed concern after witnessing military interrogators' use of brutal interrogation techniques.

Botetourt County Promises to Repeal Ordinance Placing Time Limits on Campaign Signs (04/22/2008)
Botetourt County, VA - Botetourt County Administrator Gerald Burgess has informed the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia that a local ordinance prohibiting the posting of campaign signs on private property more than 60 days in advance of an election will be repealed in the near future and will not be enforced in the interim.

Court Agrees Public Schools Cannot Hand Out Bibles to Students (04/22/2008)
NEW ORLEANS - Today, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana ruled against a public school in Tangipahoa Parish that handed out Bibles to 5th-graders, saying the school infringed students' religious freedom. On May 9, 2007, the principal at Loranger Middle School invited the Gideon group into the school to distribute Bibles. Students were pulled out of class, brought outside of the principal's office and put in a line to receive Bibles.

Prison Litigation Reform Act Must be Fixed, Law denies justice to victims (04/22/2008)
Washington, DC – The House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security is scheduled to examine reform of the Prison Litigation Reform Act (PLRA), which was originally passed by Congress in 1996 as a way to stem the tide against what were thought to be frivolous lawsuits by prisoners. Since that time, the law has been used repeatedly to deny justice to victims of rape, assault, religious rights violations and other serious abuses.

ACLU Applauds Boulder Valley School District's Decision To Limit Searches Of Students' Cell Phone Text Messages (04/21/2008)
A spokesperson for the ACLU of Colorado announced today that it welcomes a decision of the Boulder Valley School District ("BVSD") to limit searches of students' cell phone text messages, an issue the ACLU raised in a letter made public in October, 2007. In that letter, the ACLU asserted that non-consensual searches of text messages violate a Colorado criminal statute designed to protect the privacy of telephone and electronic communications.

ACLU Tells Peace Corps To Stop Barring People With HIV From Serving As Volunteers (04/21/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the Peace Corps today demanding that it change its policy of barring people with HIV from serving as volunteers. The ACLU sent the letter on behalf of a Denver volunteer who was sent home from his post in the Ukraine and terminated after he tested positive for HIV.

Court To Hear Arguments Today In Case Testing Material Support Statute (04/18/2008)
NEW YORK - A federal court will hear arguments today in a case that tests a material support statute that the American Civil Liberties Union and the New York Civil Liberties Union call unconstitutional. Zeinab Taleb-Jedi, an American citizen, faces up to 15 years in prison for her alleged support of a group that has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. government. In November 2007, the ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, arguing that the law criminalizing material support to alleged terrorist organizations is unconstitutional because it punishes political association with blacklisted organizations without requiring the government to show a person intends to engage in or support any criminal activity.

ACLU of Maryland Launches "Real ID, Real Exposed" Campaign on College Campuses; Video Details Danger of Identity Theft (04/17/2008)
BALTIMORE - As part of a growing national movement in opposition to implementation of the federal Real ID Act by the states, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland has launched a campaign to educate young people and all Marylanders about why Real ID should be rejected. The "Real ID, Real Exposed" campaign features a video on YouTube, posters, postcards, website, and Myspace page designed to raise the profile of Real ID in Maryland and help organize the increasing number of people and organizations who oppose this misguided law.

ACLU Says Fusion Centers Remain Problematic (04/17/2008)
Washington, DC – As a Senate subcommittee met today to get a “progress report” on fusion centers, the American Civil Liberties Union once again voiced its concerns with the intelligence-gathering institutions. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and Integration heard testimony from government and intelligence officials on a recent report issued by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding the centers. Though several recent reports have confirmed fusion centers’ growing role in law enforcement and revealed their expanding ties to private industry, including relationships with massive data-brokering companies, no third parties were set to testify. The ACLU released a report last year outlining serious concerns with fusion centers.

ACLU Sues Pentagon To Uncover Records Of Deaths At Guantánamo (04/17/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today to force the Department of Defense to release all records relating to deaths, suicide attempts and homicide attempts at the U.S. naval base at Guantánamo Bay since 2002. The ACLU's lawsuit follows a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for those documents, including records relating to four specific detainee deaths that the government categorized as suicides. To date, the Defense Department has failed to comply with the ACLU's FOIA request.

ACLU: Keep the Internet Open and Innovative (04/17/2008)
Washington, DC –The ACLU submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today calling for open access to the internet. Its activists plan to participate in today’s FCC public hearing on Internet freedom and net neutrality in Palo Alto.

Virginia Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Same-Sex Couple's Interstate Custody Dispute (04/17/2008)
Richmond, VA - The Virginia Supreme Court this morning heard arguments in a long-running custody dispute over a child born during the Vermont civil union of two women. The Lambda Legal Defense Fund, the ACLU of Virginia, and Equality Virginia represented Janet Miller-Jenkins, the non-biological mother, who has asked Virginia to honor a Vermont court's ruling, which awarded her visitation rights after the civil union was dissolved.

Documents Obtained By ACLU Describe Charges Of Murder And Torture Of Prisoners In U.S. Custody (04/16/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union obtained documents today from the Department of Defense confirming the military’s use of unlawful interrogation methods on detainees held in U.S. custody in Afghanistan. The documents from the military’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID), obtained as a result of the ACLU’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, include the first on-the-ground reports of torture in Gardez, Afghanistan to be publicly released.

Jury Still Out on Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (04/16/2008)
WASHINGTON – Today, the Border, Maritime and Global Counterterrorism Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing regarding the repeatedly delayed implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). WHTI would require all travelers, including American citizens, to have a passport or other “appropriate security documentation” to enter or re-enter the United States from countries within the Western Hemisphere, including Canada and Mexico.

MCLU Disappointed in Legal Status Compromise (04/16/2008)
AUGUSTA - The Maine Civil Liberties Union today expressed disappointment in the enactment of LD 2039. The final bill requires the Secretary of State to enact regulations requiring driver's license applicants to demonstrate a "legal presence" in order to obtain a license.

Supreme Court Upholds Lethal Injection in Kentucky (04/16/2008)
NEW YORK – The ACLU expressed disappointment with today's 7-2 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court upholding the three drug lethal injection method of capital punishment used in Kentucky and other states.

ACLU Challenges National Security Letters In Congress And Court (04/15/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging National Security Letter (NSL) statutes on two fronts today, testifying before Congress and filing a lawsuit in federal court in its fight to end the government’s abuse of NSL powers. NSLs, secretly issued by the government, are used to obtain access to personal customer records from Internet Service Providers, financial institutions and credit reporting agencies. Recipients of the NSLs are generally forbidden, or “gagged,” from disclosing that they have received the letters. The ACLU and representatives from the Department of Justice will testify before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at a hearing on a bill introduced by the committee’s chairman, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), entitled “The National Security Letters Reform Act of 2007.”