Free Speech Blog Posts

Public Free Speech Under Attack

suzanne_ito — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:33:00 -0500

This morning in a federal court building in Denver, Colorado, lawyers for two Bush administration operatives argued for legal protection of a policy to silence the public at taxpayer-funded public meetings.

Lawyers representing the Bush administration “volunteers” argued that there was not an obviously established right to have an opposing opinion in a taxpayer-funded meeting and therefore the court should not allow the case against them to even be presented.

Supreme Court Briefing 2009–10 Term

suzanne_ito — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:57:00 -0500

ACLU lawyers met with the press who cover the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. recently to provide an overview of important cases during the 2009-10 term of the high court.

Watch ACLU Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro discuss United States v. Stevens, a case with broad First Amendment concerns.

Breast Cancer, Patenting Human Genes, and Your Civil Liberties

suzanne_ito — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 20:01:00 -0400

On Tuesday evening, Joanna Rudnick joined the ACLU at Tribeca Cinemas to screen her award-winning documentary film, In the Family, and discuss the patenting of human genes, a practice that has serious implications for women like Joanna who have a genetic predisposition to breast and ovarian cancer. You can see photos from the event here.

The ACLU and Religion: Don't Believe Everything You Read On the Internet

suzanne_ito — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:59:00 -0400

A malicious and factually inaccurate e-mail accusing the ACLU of not standing solidly on the side of religious liberty – an e-mail that was first circulated six years ago – has once again reared its ugly head and popped up in the e-mail inboxes of people across the country. In an effort to set the record straight, below are two myths the e-mail passes off as truth, followed by the facts which effectively debunk the e-mail’s claims.

MYTH: The ACLU has filed a lawsuit to have all cross-shaped headstones removed from federal cemeteries.

The Court and the Cross

suzanne_ito — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:08:00 -0400

(Originally posted on ACSBlog.)

Giving the First Amendment a Beating at the G-20

suzanne_ito — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:01:00 -0400

(Originally posted in Jurist.)

Law enforcement officials have, over the past decade, used gatherings of national and international leaders as license to suspend civil liberties. During the recent G-20 Summit, Pittsburgh proved to be no exception. The city was transformed into a police state where our most cherished freedoms, especially the freedom to dissent, were subject to the martial law-type tactics I witnessed behind the Iron Curtain.

While world leaders were quietly secluded behind closed doors, 8-foot-high steel and mesh fences lined most downtown streets. Six thousand police and National Guard troops manned checkpoints, roamed the streets in armored humvees, and were visible everywhere in large groups. In this militarized ghost town, neither common folk nor demonstrators ever got close to the dignitaries.

First Hearing Held in the Breast Cancer Gene Patents Challenge

suzanne_ito — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:28:00 -0400

Fittingly, on the eve of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, plaintiffs had their first hearing in federal court yesterday in their challenge to the breast cancer gene patents. The government's granting of exclusive rights to the BRCA1 and 2 human genes and Myriad Genetics' aggressive enforcement of its patent rights means that some women cannot access genetic testing to find out if they are at increased risk for hereditary breast or ovarian cancer, and that no one can get a second opinion on their test results.

Finishing Beloved

Stephen Narain — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:55:00 -0400

We’re in the midst of Banned Books Week, a national celebration of the right to read. Created in 1982, Banned Books Week aims to raise awareness about challenges to the inclusion of books in libraries, bookstores, and school curricula across the country.

The ACLU, from its landmark 1933 defense of James Joyce’s Ulysses, has long been involved in the fight against the censorship of books. Unfortunately, challenges to free expression are hardly a problem of the past.

Fighting for Free Speech at the G20 in Pittsburgh

suzanne_ito — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:59:00 -0400

After the ACLU of Pennsylvania successfully sued last week to force the city of Pittsburgh to allow several groups to hold demonstrations around the G20 Summit, it seemed that free speech would prevail in the Steel City.

Unfortunately, this has not proven to be the case. Following the court ruling, the Pittsburgh police department has engaged in a pattern of harassment of G20 demonstrators, singling out the Seeds of Peace Collective, one of several groups providing food support to the protestors.

2009 Supreme Court Term Preview

suzanne_ito — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:01:00 -0400

This morning in Washington, D.C., we are hosting our annual Supreme Court breakfast, in which attorneys discuss cases that the ACLU will or may be arguing in the upcoming term. This year's breakfast will have three speakers: ACLU Legal Director Steve Shapiro; Jameel Jaffer, Director of the ACLU National Security Project; and Peter Eliasberg, Managing Attorney at the ACLU of Southern California.

Steve kicks off the breakfast with an overview of the upcoming term and the civil liberties issues at stake.