By Rebecca McCray, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project at 2:40pm
A judge has ruled that Linn State Technical College's mandatory drug-testing policy is patently unconstitutional, and has blocked any further drug testing.
A Justice Department investigation of more than 300 million votes cast between 2002 and 2007 found zero cases of voter impersonation fraud. So why are so many states passing laws to fight it?
State legislatures are ground zero in the fight for civil liberties. Although they may not attract as much attention as debates in Congress or arguments in the Supreme Court, they are the source of unprecedented assaults on our most fundamental rights.
Three troubling trends of the 2011 state legislative session were:
restrictions on accessing abortion;
racial profiling bills targeting Latinos and immigrants; and
measures suppressing the right to vote.
Did your state see a battle on one of these issues? Check out this map to learn more.
By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:04pm
It was hard to miss on TV or online yesterday the spectacle of Democratic Congressman Bobby Rush of Chicago being ejected from the House floor for wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
After taking off his jacket and raising the hood over his head during a speech in tribute to Florida shooting victim Trayvon Martin, the presiding officer instructed the Sergeant-at-Arms to give Rush the boot, ostensibly to enforce the House rules on decorum. Now we all know you can’t wear hats while Congress is in session.
A Florida high school teacher talks about how Florida's new law restricting third parties from registering voters suppresses registration among young people.
With Florida’s primary just days away, all eyes are on the Sunshine State. And in an effort to shine a light on the state’s new regressive voting laws, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights, chaired by Sen. Dick Durbin, is holding a federal field hearing today in Tampa, Florida.
By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 2:43pm
Early on Friday morning, it was announced that the legislative effort in Congress to repeal the discriminatory and unconstitutional Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is now a bipartisan affair.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) became the first Republican cosponsor of the Respect for Marriage Act (H.R. 1116/S. 598), legislation pending in both the House and Senate that would repeal DOMA in its entirety, as well as provide all married couples certainty that regardless of where they travel or move in the country, they will not be treated as strangers under federal law.
Our LGBT Project is so busy, sometimes it's hard for even us to keep up with all the progress they're making. In fact, just today, we got a big win in Arkansas, when the state supreme court struck down Act 1, a law that prohibited unmarried couples from adopting or fostering children. You'll recall we celebrated a similar win in Florida a few months ago.
