This Week in Civil Liberties

06/17/2011
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties

By Suzanne Ito, ACLU at 6:25pm

Despite all the distractions of the week (and by distractions, we mean that weird case of possible voter fraud—let's focus on civil liberties, people!) it was still a busy week here at the ACLU.

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the day President Richard Nixon declared the “war on drugs,” a failed and unfair war that has helped make the U.S. the nation’s largest incarcerator. To mark this day, we debuted a new infographic that shows some startling statistics about America’s addiction to incarceration, a byproduct of this failed war on drugs. Check out the infographic here.

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06/10/2011
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties

By Jessica Monaco, ACLU at 5:26pm

Another busy week! We filed a lawsuit seeking declassification of the State Department cables released by Wikileaks, appealed the dismissal of our lawsuit on behalf of Jose Padilla against former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, got a Louisiana school board to stop denying children equal educational opportunities in the classroom and more.

"If the Law Does Not Protect Jose Padilla . . . It Protects No One"
In February, a federal district court in South Carolina dismissed our lawsuit against Donald Rumsfeld and other current and former government officials for their roles in the detention and torture of American citizen Jose Padilla. This week we appealed that dismissal.

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04/29/2011
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties

By Jessica Monaco, ACLU at 5:34pm

The ACLU butted heads with big companies this week: Wal-mart and medical marijuana. Apple and privacy. Sony and privacy. Signal and human trafficking. In other news, Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU and Larry Siems of PEN American Center gave us a new perspective and a timely reminder in a New York Timesop-ed: Torturers and their apologists are not heroes, men and women who stand up for what's right are heroes. And more...

ACLU Appeals Medical Marijuana Case on Behalf of Cancer-Stricken Wal-Mart Employee
The ACLU filed a brief urging a federal appeals court to reinstate a 2010 lawsuit about the wrongful firing of Wal-Mart employee Joseph Casias for using medical marijuana in accordance with state law. In February, a U.S. district judge dismissed the case, but the ACLU is appealing.

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04/08/2011
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties

By Jessica Monaco, ACLU at 7:00pm

A few themes emerged at the ACLU this week: Women's Health, LGBT rights and the death penalty. We also found a moment or two to speak out against hate speech — in the advertising epicenter of the world — Times Square!

Our Bodies, Ourselves — It's a Cliché Because It's True.
Between hearings in the challenge to breast cancer gene patenting on Monday and a highly successful rally in Washington, D.C., yesterday, the ACLU was standing up for women's rights — not to mention free speech, scientific freedom, and choice — all over the place. The courtroom was crowded with scientists, medical professionals and legal scholars when the ACLU's Chris Hansen presented arguments in our case against Myriad Genetics' patent on the breast cancer gene. And about 3,500 supporters of women's health showed up at the rally. See what they had to say here.

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01/28/2011
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties

By Katie Smith, ACLU at 5:45pm

This is the start of something new. Not just a New Year, but here at ACLU.org we have some new and exciting programs launching, and more coming up in the near future. Starting this week, we’ll showcase the hot issues from the last seven days. This is your chance to take another look.

This Week on the Blog of Rights

Last Saturday marked the 38th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. The ACLU's Jennifer Dalven reflected on the current challenges to reproductive freedom and new legislation that threatens basic health care for women. And Louise Melling blogged on the conspicuous absence of the word "abortion" in President Obama's Roe statement.

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03/22/2013
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (03/22/2013)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:08pm

How many friend-of-the-court briefs have been filed in support of Edie Windsor case against the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)?

What bill has been proposed a second time with no changes to the privacy problems that caused President Obama to threaten a veto last year?

Which Senators proposed a bill that would require law enforcement to get a warrant before access your email and other online communications?

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03/15/2013
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (03/15/2013)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:43pm

Criticism of what Electronic Arts game demonstrates the digital divide experienced by the 19 million Americans who don't have broadband access and those who do?

Which state will finally allow DREAMers, federally authorized to live and work in the United States, to get their driver's licenses?

How many times did the government refuse to release information requested under the Freedom of Information Act in 2012?

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02/08/2013
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (02/08/2013)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:39pm

A targeted killing white paper by which government agency reasons that judicial process is unnecessary?

The conditions in Ohio's Lake Eerie Correctional Facility have taken a dramatic turn for the worse since the state sold the facility to which private prison company?

The ACLU is challenging in court the secrecy over which government agency's racial profiling program?

Which state may be the first to regulate surveillance drones?

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01/25/2013
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (1/25/2013)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:33pm

In what U.S. city was a woman targeted, forced off a plane, detained and strip searched solely based on her ethnicity?

Which company released a transparency report on the number of government requests for customer information this week?

How many restrictions to abortions did state politicians pass from 2011-2012 (40 years after Roe v. Wade)?

When was the most recent federal law concerning the privacy of your electronic communications (like e-mail and Facebook) enacted?

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01/04/2013
This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week in Civil Liberties (1/4/2013)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:51pm

How many people were executed in the United States in 2012?

An extension to which law did President Obama sign this week in order to continue President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program for another five years?

In which city did a district attorney agree to withdraw subpoenas that infringed on two protestors’ free speech and privacy rights?

What federal immigration policy prevents immigrants from reporting crimes they have witnessed or experienced to law enforcement?

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