Florida

10/11/2011
Florida

Trading Privacy for Benefits

By Rachel Myers, ACLU at 12:38pm

The New York Times has this story about the dramatic increase in the number of states considering legislation that would mandate drug testing for poor people who rely on public assistance. The ACLU of Florida filed a lawsuit in September challenging Florida’s law — one of the most egregious we’ve seen — requiring applicants for cash assistance to submit to a drug test, at their own cost, in order to qualify for benefits. As we’ve said before, laws like Florida’s are costly, ineffective and unconstitutional.

Read More»
09/23/2011
Respect for Marriage Act

Effort to Repeal DOMA in Congress Gains Bipartisan Support

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.

Read More»
09/07/2011
Voter ID

Core Civil Liberties Threatened in State Legislatures: Three Trends to Watch

By Nicole Kief, ACLU & Nicole Kief, Elissa Berger & Vivek Malhotra, ACLU at 3:32pm

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:

  1. restrictions on accessing abortion;
  2. racial profiling bills targeting Latinos and immigrants; and
  3. measures suppressing the right to vote.

Did your state see a battle on one of these issues? Check out this map to learn more.

Read More»
08/22/2011
Drug-Testing Welfare Recipients

Told You So: Florida's New Drug Testing Policy Already Costing Taxpayers More

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 5:57pm

We've told you a few times about Florida's horrible new law that drug tests all families applying for cash benefit welfare applicants. The law, which went into effect July 1, makes applicants front the cost of the drug test and reimburses individuals if they test negative.

The ACLU and others predicted this program would be a failure and cost the state of Florida much more money than they would save. Guess what? In just the few weeks that the program has been in effect we have been proven right.

Read More»
06/28/2011
Drug-Testing Welfare Recipients

Being Poor Is Not a Crime

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 1:25pm

June 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war that has cost roughly a trillion dollars, has produced little to no effect on the supply of or demand for drugs in the United States, and has contributed to making America the world's largest incarcerator. Throughout the month, check back daily for posts about the drug war, its victims and what needs to be done to restore fairness and create effective policy.

Read More»
05/19/2011
Drug-Testing Welfare Recipients

Florida Law Punishes Poor People for Being Poor

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 2:05pm

During this legislative session, more than two dozen states have introduced legislation to drug test individuals receiving or applying for various forms of public assistance. And by public assistance I mean individuals applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), welfare, unemployment and Medicare. (Incidentally, you know who isn't being asked to submit to drug testing before receiving public assistance? Bankers, traders and anyone who received money from the bailout.)

Read More»
04/07/2011
Florida

Our Own Chris Hampton on the Savage Lovecast!

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 4:14pm

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.

A few days ago, Dan Savage, who runs the Savage Love advice column and podcast and is the founder of the wildly successful It Gets Better Project, interviewed the LGBT Project's Youth and Program Strategist Chris Hampton about the LGBT Project's most recent work on behalf of students and youth. Chris's segment starts at the 18-minute mark, and the interview lasts for about 9 minutes.

Read More»
Statistics image