The scourge of modern slavery, including human trafficking, continues to tear at our common humanity and to rip the social fabric of communities around the world.
The international community must redouble its efforts to combat modern slavery and human trafficking by fully implementing existing trafficking laws and prosecuting its perpetrators.
We couldn't agree more, which is why the ACLU is battling human trafficking in the United States on a few different fronts.
Over the last five decades, women have broken many barriers in education, business, and government. We need look no further than Congress to see the progress women have made: in 1963, Congress had only 14 women. In contrast, the new 113th Congress seated 97 women, the highest representation of women in United States history. The progress of women is also evident across the workforce. Today, women make up half of all workers in the United States and are increasingly becoming co- or primary breadwinners for their families.
By Richard Muniz, Reproductive Rights Fellow, ACLU of Illinois at 1:59pm
Today, the ACLU and the ACLU of Illinois filed a friend-of-the-court brief in two additional appeals challenging the Affordable Care Act's ("ACA") contraceptive coverage rule. Our brief urges the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals to reject requests by secular, for-profit companies and their owners to block enforcement of the rule. The district court in both cases refused to grant the companies' requests, and they seek to overturn those decisions.
By Brigitte Amiri, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project at 4:20pm
Sheer repetition of an incorrect argument does not make that argument correct. This holds true for the lawsuits challenging the federal contraception rule, which ensures that millions of women will have access to contraception without a co-pay. Those who are trying to eliminate the rule in the courts have now filed almost 45 lawsuits. They can file 100 lawsuits, but it won’t change the legal analysis. As we’ve said before, the contraception rule is constitutional. For the last five decades, courts have held that rules designed to eradicate discrimination – like the contraception rule – cannot be trumped by a business owner’s religious beliefs.
Paul Wood is a minister at the First United Methodist Church in Cheraw, South Carolina. His blog is part of this week’s “Religious Freedom Goes to School” blog series.Share your story about religious freedom in South Carolina’s public schools by reporting potential religious freedom violations to us.
History has a way of repeating itself. Almost five decades ago a court in South Carolina considered a claim that a restaurant owner could refuse to serve African-American customers because integration of the races was against his religious beliefs. The court rejected that claim, and courts went on to do the same when faced with other, similar claims that religion can be used to discriminate.
By Dena Sher, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:51pm
Four years ago last month, then-candidate Barack Obama promised to ensure that religious organizations that receive government funds to provide social services abide by the Constitution and are not allowed to discriminate with government funding. Today, we sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Department of Justice to follow up on that promise.
By Bennett Stein, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 12:51pm
On Sunday, the New York Times published an extensive piece surveying the ways American universities are using their access to students’ information to tailor their college experiences. Universities collect a huge amount of data on their students—course selection and grades, past educational experience and standardized test scores, and other personal information. Austin Peay University analyzes a student’s data and suggests classes in which the student is likely to “succeed.” Arizona State University uses its data to identify students who are “off track” based on course selection and course results. ASU is also experimenting with using information on student swipes of ID cards around campus—at the gym, at the dining hall, at the dorm, at the library, etc.—to understand social ties. (Last week, my colleague Catherine Crump also wrote about universities experimenting with monitoring students’ internet usage to assess mental health.)
For a while, it looked as if Tennessee legislators had come to their senses and backed off the bill popularly known as "Don't Say Gay." Unfortunately, the bill is now roaring forward again, but there may still be a chance of stopping it.
