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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.”

ACLU Encouraged By Bipartisan Support of Shield Bill (04/15/2008)
Washington, DC - After reports that the three major presidential candidates expressed support for The Free Flow of Information Act, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Senate leadership to use that momentum to bring H.R. 2102, the House-passed version of the bill, to the floor for a vote. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) all signaled their support for a federal shield bill yesterday, with Senator McCain announcing his backing in a speech and Senators Clinton and Obama adding their names as co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill.

ACLU Encouraged By Bipartisan Support of Shield Bill (04/15/2008)
Washington, DC - After reports that the three major presidential candidates expressed support for The Free Flow of Information Act, the American Civil Liberties Union asked the Senate leadership to use that momentum to bring H.R. 2102, the House-passed version of the bill, to the floor for a vote. Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barack Obama (D-IL) all signaled their support for a federal shield bill yesterday, with Senator McCain announcing his backing in a speech and Senators Clinton and Obama adding their names as co-sponsors of the Senate version of the bill.

Berryville Revises Demonstration Ordinance Under Pressure from ACLU and VOP (04/15/2008)
Berryville, VA – Less than a month after the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia and the Virginia Organizing Project threatened to file a lawsuit, the Town Council of Berryville has repealed its old demonstration and parade ordinance and passed a new one.

Bush Admits To Knowledge of Torture Authorization by Top Advisers (04/12/2008)
WASHINGTON – In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA’s use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, “I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.” Bush also defended the use of waterboarding.

American Civil Liberties Union Of Minnesota Applauds Governor Pawlenty For Signing "Massage Therapist" Bill (04/11/2008)
St. Paul, Minn - Governor Pawlenty signed H.F. 3708 into law today. Among the provision of this bill are changes for complementary and alternative health care practitioners. Specifically, this law deals with when alternative health care providers can engage in a private sexual relationship with former clients.

Idaho Joins the Ranks of the Anti-Real ID States (04/11/2008)
WASHINGTON – This week, Idaho Governor Butch Otter signed into law legislation that prohibits the Idaho Department of Transportation from complying with the Real ID Act of 2005, a federal law requiring the states to implement a national identification card. The bill landed on the governor’s desk after receiving overwhelming bipartisan support in both the Idaho House and Senate, not receiving a single vote against passage. Idaho now joins Georgia, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Washington as states that have passed laws prohibiting compliance with Real ID.

American Civil Liberties Union Of Minnesota To Collect Racial Profiling Data (04/10/2008)
Saint Paul, Minn - The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota announced today that it is launching a new complaint collection form on their website to collect racial and immigration profiling data.

News Report Reveals White House Approved Torture Techniques (04/10/2008)
WASHINGTON DC – ABC News reported that in dozens of top-secret White House meetings, the most senior Bush administration officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney, discussed and approved specific torture techniques for use on detainees. According to this report, Cheney, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Attorney General John Ashcroft sanctioned these tactics. In light of this revelation, the American Civil Liberties Union is calling on Congress to appoint a special counsel to investigate these charges.