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Rekha
Arulanantham
09/21/2012
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (9/21/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:05pm

What excuse did an Indiana public school use in order to fire a teacher for becoming pregnant through IVF treatment?

What device packed with private information like emails, photos and call history can be seized and searched without a court order? (Hint: It might be in your pocket or purse right now.)

Why do Americans know so little about the Constitution they claim to revere?

How do debt collectors and prosecutors use the criminal justice system to financially exploit vulnerable Americans?

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09/07/2012
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (9/7/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:12pm

What smartphone manufacturer places persistent, unique identifiers in its smartphones that concern privacy experts?

The governor of which state could sign a bill this year to end the practice of shackling pregnant prisoners?

The Apple App Store’s “private censorship” of applications is criticized as infringing what First Amendment right?

Which Arizona law’s “show me your papers” provision will increase instances of racial profiling of Latinos?

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08/31/2012
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (8/31/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:02pm

What agreement, being negotiated in secret, is a threat to free speech and intellectual property?

What does a rape victim think about politicians’ views on “legitimate rape” and a woman’s right to choose?

Which social networking company is appealing a court decision in order to protect one of its user’s right to free speech?

What new lie-detection technology could turn into a privacy nightmare?

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08/17/2012
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (8/17/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 2:16pm

The ACLU is challenging a discriminatory single-sex education program in which state?

Which social networking site reversed its rejection of ads on marijuana legalization after the ACLU of Northern California and Electronic Frontier Foundation raised concerns for free speech?

By what percent has the average length of prison sentences in the U.S. increased since 1990?

At which Boston airport have TSA officers reported that TSA management’s "behavioral detection program" leads to racial profiling?

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07/06/2012
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (7/6/12)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 2:02pm

True or false: Aggressive collection of legal financial obligations creates a two-tiered system of justice in which the poorest defendants are punished more harshly than those with means.

Which court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act means that the contraceptive coverage rule – which ensures access to affordable birth control for millions of women across the country – is still in place?

In which state will a megabill have an impact on 100 percent of abortion providers, according to a new ACLU infographic?

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06/22/2012
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (6/22/12)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:37pm

Which legislative body convened the first-ever hearing on the dangers of long-term solitary confinement?

Which standardized testing group announced a new, fairer lactation policy for nursing moms?

In which state are gay and lesbian parents banned from adopting their partners’ kids?

Which government agency found that a Texas school violated a student’s civil rights under Title IX when it failed to investigate the sexual assault she reported?

Which religious lobbying group is holding a “fortnight for freedom” because it wants to use religious liberty as a license to discriminate?

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05/29/2012
On the Agenda

On the Agenda: Week of May 28-June 1

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 3:21pm

We’re not too busy this week, with the House and Senate in recess until Wednesday, but we are planning for a couple events in June.

The Paycheck Fairness Act is expected to come to the Senate floor for a vote next week - possibly as early as June 4 or 5. Last week, we participated in a #Equal Pay Tweet chat, and our own Deb Vagins spoke at a press conference to stress the importance of this legislation. You can ask your senator to support the Paycheck Fairness Act before next week’s vote by clicking here.

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05/07/2012
Voter ID

On the Agenda: Week of May 7-13, 2012

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 1:38pm

Congress is back, so we’re looking at a busy schedule this week.

As we mentioned last week, this Wednesday the House Armed Services Committee will mark up this year’s National Defense Authorization Act. We’re keeping a close eye on NDAA amendments, which could affect several diverse civil liberties issues, including LGBT rights, indefinite detention, reproductive rights, and military sexual trauma.

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04/20/2012
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (04/20/12)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 9:20pm

Which state saved no taxpayer money by implementing a law that requires drug testing of all of applicants for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)?

What company fired an employee for using medical marijuana in accordance with state law?

In what decision did the Supreme Court rule that defendant cannot rely upon statistical evidence of systemic racial bias to prove his death sentence unconstitutional?

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03/02/2012
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (3/2/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:52pm

How can you better protect your privacy from Google data collection?

Which legal architect of the torture program advised the Senate not to block the use of NDAA indefinite detention provisions?

In which state did a principal make anti-LGBT remarks to public school students?

This week the ACLU was in court to challenge anti-immigrant laws in which states?

Google's New Privacy Settings Go Into Effect
This week, Google put in place a new privacy policy across the vast majority of Google products and platforms. As we told you when they announced the new policy back in January, the new policy makes clear that Google will, for the first time, combine the personal data you share with any one of its products or sites across almost all of its products and sites (everything but Google Chrome, Google Books, and Google Wallet) in order to obtain a more comprehensive picture of you. And short of signing out of your Google account, there is no opting out.

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