Blog of Rights

Steve
Gosset
Steve Gosset is manager of media relations. He joined the ACLU from Columbia Law School, where he served as press officer. He has also worked at CBS News as a writer, editor and producer for radio and TV. Steve also served as a reporter at The Record in Hackensack, N.J., The Journal-News in West Nyack, NY, and a reporter and editor for United Press International in Albany, N.Y.
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"Y'all Will Not Walk My Halls and Spread HIV."

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 10:09am

For 25 years, the ACLU has been a forceful advocate to end discrimination against prisoners living with HIV. We've worked to end their segregation from the rest of the prison population and ensure they are afforded access to vital services and programs.

ACLU Lens: ACLU Tells Supreme Court Warrantless Blood Tests of DWI Suspects Not Justified

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 3:33pm

The ACLU told the U.S. Supreme Court today that warrantless blood tests of drunken driving suspects should not be allowed, especially when a search warrant could be obtained in a timely fashion.

The ACLU represents Tyler McNeely, the respondent in the case, Missouri v. McNeely. He was pulled over in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 2010 on suspicion of drunk driving. After refusing a field sobriety test, he was taken to a local hospital where blood was forcibly drawn to obtain a sample to test his blood-alcohol content. The arresting officer did not obtain a warrant prior to the blood draw. Two Missouri courts later ruled the blood evidence could not be used against McNeely.

The Lovings: A Couple That Changed History

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 2:46pm

Mildred and Richard Loving never set out to have their marriage become the subject of one of the most famous civil rights cases of the last century.

Government Steps Up to Block Voter Suppression in South Carolina

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 11:50am

There were eight states this year that passed some version of a law requiring photo identification for all voters. South Carolina was one of them, but hopefully not for long.

The Department of Justice on Friday blocked South Carolina’s law, which it said would have disproportionately affected thousands of minority voters.

Getting Joe Arpaio in Sync with the Constitution and Away from Racial Profiling

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 2:29pm

The rule of law and how Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio runs his office are often mutually exclusive.

ACLU Lens: "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Ends Tomorrow, But Not Its Sorry Legacy for Discharged Service Members

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 2:18pm

You can play "Taps" tomorrow for the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prevented gay service members from serving openly.

The policy itself will be consigned to the dustbin of history when its repeal takes effect Tuesday. However, its legacy will still be felt by service members honorably discharged during the 18 years DADT was in place.

Richard Collins was one of them. Collins was a decorated Air Force staff sergeant, who was spotted kissing his boyfriend off-base and not in uniform. Collins, who served for nine years, was honorably discharged. But a Pentagon policy dictated that service members booted out of the military for "homosexuality," only receive half of the separation pay they would be entitled to.

"I'll Take the ACLU for $600, Alex"

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 12:51pm

The ACLU loves Double Jeopardy. Really.

A quick explanation is in order. We're not talking about the prohibition in the Fifth Amendment against double jeopardy—being tried again for the same crime after being acquitted. Trust us, we're down with that. Have been. Always will be.

The version we're more enamored with can be seen five nights a week on the second round of Jeopardy, the venerable game show that featured the ACLU as a category on Friday.

The FBI's War against Dr. King Revisited

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 10:17am

Over the course of two decades, the FBI went to war against Dr. Martin Luther King, even though the civil rights leader never knew he was under attack.

As Dr. King’s political power, stature and influence grew, the FBI, under the direction of J. Edgar Hoover, grew increasingly obsessed with King. In turn, they used various tactics in the ‘50s and ‘60s to try and discredit him, such as mounting a full-court press to portray him as a Communist provocateur, attempting to disrupt tributes after Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and repeatedly bugging his hotel rooms.

ACLU Lens: DHS Shift on Deportation Policy a First Step toward Reform, but Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 10:20am

In an unexpected move, the Obama administration Thursday said it would review deportation cases against 300,000 undocumented immigrants who haven't committed any crimes and pose no threat to national security.

From now on, each case will be looked at individually, and the government will use "prosecutorial discretion" in deciding which cases to pursue. In other words, common sense and fairness may finally be a part of the deportation equation.

ACLU Lens: Obama Plan to Fight Violent Extremism a Step in the Right Direction, But…

By Steve Gosset, ACLU at 5:48pm

The Obama administration today released its strategy to prevent violent extremism, which outlines a broad initiative involving federal, state, and local agencies.

Hina Shamsi, Director of the ACLU National Security Project, called the strategy a “step in the right direction.”

“However, its true test will be the level of transparency the government provides into who it is monitoring and why, and whether law enforcement activities comply with the Constitution and our laws.”

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