Blog of Rights

Suzanne
Ito

Supreme Court Clears Hurdle to DNA Test for Condemned Inmate

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 3:03pm

Yesterday, the Supreme Court found that Texas death row inmate Hank Skinner has the right to pursue testing of DNA evidence that could prove his innocence. Among the outstanding items that still have not been DNA tested: at least three possible murder weapons and a rape kit. SCOTUSblog reported yesterday:

ACLU Lens: New Executive Order Institutionalizes Indefinite Detention at Guantánamo

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 12:17pm

Yesterday, President Obama issued an executive order that institutionalizes the ongoing indefinite detention of detainees in U.S. custody at Guantánamo Bay. As ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero told the Washington Post, "It is virtually impossible to imagine how one closes Guantánamo in light of this executive order."

Furthermore, the Obama Administration reversed its January 2009 decision to stop bringing new military commission charges against Guantánamo detainees and announced that new trials will resume shortly. According to media reports, Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who is suspected of planning the attack on the USS Cole in 2000, is likely to be among the first detainees charged in new commission proceedings. The ACLU's Denny LeBoeuf blogged recently of al-Nashiri's treatment:

Government "Should Not Be Meddling" With Women's Health Care Decisions

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 12:01pm

Last week, legislation that would place onerous new restrictions on women's access to abortion in Wyoming failed in the state senate. Two Republican representatives, Lisa Shepperson and Sue Wallis, who both opposed the measure in the House, said from the chamber floor:

Shepperson: When I go to the doctor, it is the most private thing you can imagine. I want myself, I want my husband, and I want my doctor there. And I don't want any government.

Wallis: What this bill does is say that, as a woman, that I'm not smart enough to know the decision that I'm making, that somehow the state is required in this particular decision where they are required in no other medical decision.

Tuesday night, Rachel Maddow had Shepperson and Wallis on as guests, and asked whether they had an opinion on the anti-abortion bills that passed the House of Representatives last month that defunds Planned Parenthood and Title X family planning programs. Other extreme measures pending in the House also take aim at women’s health. Shepperson said:

Stand with Planned Parenthood, and Stop the Assault on Women's Health

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 5:58pm

On February 18, the House passed an amendment offered by Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) that would eliminate all federal funding to Planned Parenthood because the organization uses non-federal dollars to provide women with abortion care. If that makes little sense to you, you're in good company. In USA Today yesterday, DeWayne Wickham called this attack on Planned Parenthood "foolish," and today's Boston Globe warned Congress: "Don't Politicize Women's Health."

Maryland Suspends Facebook Password Policy for Job Interviews

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 4:19pm

Last week, we told you about the case of Maryland corrections officer Robert Collins, who was required to give his Facebook login info during a recertification interview for his job. The ACLU of Maryland sent a letter to Public Safety Secretary Gary Maynard informing him that demanding Officer Collins' Facebook password was a gross breach of privacy and raised significant legal concerns under the Federal Stored Communications Act and Maryland state law.

Obama DOJ Announces It Will Not Defend DOMA Cases in Court

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 1:41pm

This afternoon, the Department of Justice announced that it would not defend the constitutionality of Section Three of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court.

"Donald Rumsfeld Is Above the Law and Jose Padilla Is Beneath It"

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 5:06pm

In the case of Jose Padilla, nothing moves swiftly. He was arrested in March 2002, held without charge for two years in a South Carolina military brig without access to a lawyer, and was tortured to the point that brig authorities described his behavior (or lack thereof) as "like a piece of furniture." The Bush administration sought to justify his detention and subjecting him to harsh interrogation methods in part by claiming Padilla was plotting with al-Qaeda to detonate a radiological “dirty bomb” in a U.S. city, but no evidence of such a plot has been presented in court. A maze of several legal proceedings, including one trip to the Supreme Court and back again to lower courts, landed Padilla where he is today.

ACLU Lens: Hearing Next Week in Twitter Wikileaks Case

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 4:17pm

Late yesterday, a court unsealed three motions filed by the ACLU and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) last month on behalf of Birgitta Jonsdottir, the Icelandic parliamentarian whose Twitter account records were targeted by the government in connection with its investigation related to WikiLeaks.

We filed these motions in late January, but because they were initially placed under seal by the court, we couldn't tell anyone about them until the court unsealed them last night. One of the motions seeks to overturn a federal court order requiring Twitter to turn over the private records of some of its users on the grounds that the order is overbroad and violates our client's constitutional rights. The second motion seeks to unseal court records concerning government attempts to collect our client's private records from Twitter and other companies. The third motion asked the court to unseal the original two motions and the hearing.

Surveillance Cameras in Chicago: Extensive, Pervasive and Unregulated

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 2:14pm

Yesterday, the ACLU of Illinois released a new report detailing the threats to privacy Chicagoans face under the watchful eyes of that city's growing surveillance camera system. The report is the first large-scale, independent study of the city's integrated surveillance system — a system former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff deemed the most "extensive and integrated" in the nation.

Victory! North Carolina Settles ACLU/Amazon Privacy Case

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 11:57am

We're thrilled to announce a win for privacy! The North Carolina Department of Revenue (NCDOR) has agreed to stop asking for personally identifiable customer information in combination with details about the titles of customers' purchases from Internet retailers. The agreement came in the settlement of a lawsuit originally brought by Amazon.com to stop NCDOR from collecting such information. The ACLU and its affiliates in North Carolina and Washington state (where Amazon is headquartered) intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of several Amazon customers whose private information was at stake.

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