Blog of Rights

Rekha
Arulanantham

This Week in Civil Liberties (5/4/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:41pm

What surveillance tool used by law enforcement could lead to nightmarish privacy infringement?

This week, the White House confirmed the existence of what program that has been kept secret by the CIA?

“Liking” on what social network is not protected by the First Amendment, according to a federal judge in Virginia?

Which state wants to replace one private prison contractor with another?

Which state is being sued by an ACLU affiliate for its discriminatory voter ID law?

This Week in Civil Liberties (4/27/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:23pm

What law threatens the Occupy movement’s and other activists’ right to protest?

What bill recently passed by the House did the President threaten to veto because of its privacy problems?

Which court heard arguments this week regarding Arizona’s anti-immigrant bill, S.B. 1070?

In which state does U.S. citizen and ACLU plaintiff Jim Shee carry his passport at all times because the color of his skin makes him look suspicious?

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?

This Week in Civil Liberties (04/13/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:48pm

Which state recently passed the first bill in the nation that bans employers from asking for social media passwords?

Which Michigan agency has ended the practice of sexually abusive searches of women prisoners?

What constitutionally-guaranteed freedom is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops trying to use as an excuse to discriminate?

How many states passed laws that threaten minority and low-income voters' rights?

This Week in Civil Liberties (4/6/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:51pm

What do local law enforcement across the country use to track Americans' location?

Which part of the government doesn't recognize rape as sexual assault?

Which court ruled that you can be strip searched for a traffic violation?

How many members of Congress asked President Obama to protect LGBT employees from discrimination in the workplaces of federal contractors?

Which state refused a mandatory ultrasound bill this week?

This Week in Civil Liberties (3/30/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 7:01pm

In which state did doctors try to force a pregnant woman to have a c-section against her wishes?

What group can no longer be held in solitary confinement in Mississippi?

How many cells compose a person according to Personhood USA's definition?

How many states oppose a national ID card?

Which federal agency illegally gathers intelligence on innocent American Muslims?

Your Body, Your Decisions — This Means You, Moms!
Recently, a mother in South Carolina reached out to the ACLU for help. She was pregnant, and although she had had two prior cesarean surgeries, she wished to attempt a "trial of labor," that is, to give birth naturally, rather than having a scheduled cesarean surgery. The mother's wish made sense in light of her medical history, and according to professional standards set by obstetricians.

This Week in Civil Liberties (3/23/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:39pm

Some employers are asking job applicants for their passwords to which social networking site?

Which court ruled that a law that protects pregnant workers is unenforceable?

Which country is the only one in the world that sentences children to life without parole?

What government agency continues to defend warrantless wiretapping?

How could a shooter claim self-defense after killing an unarmed teenager in Florida?

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.

This Week in Civil Liberties (2/24/12)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:15pm

Which agency doesn’t need a warrant to intercept and store the 1.7 billion emails, phone calls, texts and other electronic communications it collects each day?

Which company is fueling our country’s addiction to incarceration by offering to buy state-owned prisons in return for a promise of a 90 percent occupancy rate?

How can you help fight the NDAA and indefinite military detention without charge or trial?

Racial profiling and mass incarceration disproportionately affect which population?

This Week in Civil Liberties (2/17/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 8:51pm

Which lobbying group wants to redefine religious liberty in order to prevent women from access to birth control?

The ACLU is challenging which law that ratified warrantless wiretapping?

Spoiler Alert: What does the documentary Let’s Talk About Sex talk about?

The House Homeland Security Committee held a hearing to learn more about social media surveillance by which agency?

In which state did the governor sign a bill recognizing the freedom to marry for same-sex couples?

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