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.
By Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 3:37pm
The New York Times has a story today about gunshot location systems, which use microphones installed around a city to detect, and triangulate the location of, gunshots, so that police can be sent to the scene. We have been asked what we think of this technology from time to time since at least 2004.
New York City’s leaders, most notably its billionaire mayor, are bent on supporting a stop-and-frisk policy that according to the police department’s own numbers overwhelmingly target minorities.
The New York Civil Liberties Union is giving smart phones a social conscience. This week, we unveiled Stop and Frisk Watch – a new smart phone app that will empower New Yorkers to hold the NYPD accountable for unlawful, abusive street stops and other misconduct.
Stop and Frisk Watch – available in English and Spanish for Android phones – allows bystanders to document stop-and-frisk encounters and alert community members when a street stop is in progress. Easy to use, it has three main functions:
The pressure on the New York Police Department to reform its stop-and-frisk program is mounting, led by the New York Civil Liberties Union and other advocates and now the New York Times.
By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 3:24pm
We haven’t pulled punches in our criticismof the HolderJusticeDepartment, so it’s especially important that we give credit where credit is due. In support of an important case brought by the ACLU of Maryland defending the right to record, the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division forcefully and unequivocally endorsed our view in an unusual (but welcome!) 11-page letter to the Baltimore Police Department.
By Kara Dansky, Senior Counsel, ACLU Center for Justice at 2:35pm
Last week, the Senate Homeland Security Committee’s Subcommittee on Investigations issued a report criticizing the Department of Homeland Security for its failure to ensure proper oversight over state and local “fusion centers.” Shortly thereafter, the committee issued a statement denouncing the report and lauding fusion centers as playing a “significant role in many recent terrorism cases.”
By Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project at 2:05pm
In a recent post I pointed out various ways that license plate recognition devices could be combined with other databases to invade privacy.
One obvious use for ALPR that I did not mention is speeding tickets. If you’ve gotten from point A to point B in less time than would be possible at the speed limit, it would be simple to have the system automatically spit you out a citation. Surveillance drones could also be used for traffic enforcement.
By Hayley Horowitz, Attorney, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project at 3:02pm
Today the ACLU and the ACLU of South Carolina sent a letter to the Greenville County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Office and the State Solicitor’s Office demanding that the local police department stop violating the constitutional rights of innocent people under the guise of enforcing public decency laws. The letter is aimed specifically at ending Greenville County police officers’ practice of arresting women they suspect of being prostitutes and men who have sex with men, even though they haven’t broken any laws. These arrests violate the Constitution and need to be stopped.
