This Week in Civil Liberties

This Week In Civil Liberties

By Katie Smith, ACLU at 11:00pm

Wow! What a week. The House failed to get enough votes to extend the Patriot Act, the court unsealed three motions from the Twitter Wikileaks case — plus we had a big win for privacy!

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?

This Week in Civil Liberties (11/09/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:29pm

How can you ensure your state officials protect your civil liberties?

In which state was a lawsuit filed regarding a new software patch installed on voting machines?

Ballot measure victories for the freedom to marry for same-sex couples in Maine, Maryland  and Washington will likely affect which federal court’s decision on the Defense of Marriage Act?

Voters in which three states approved smart drug law reform regarding marijuana?

This Week in Civil Liberties (10/12/12)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 2:10pm

A new report by the ACLU and Human Rights Watch finds that what kind of punishment works against rehabilitation of youth under 18 in jails and prisons?

Which court will decide on whether the University of Texas’s use of race in its admissions process is constitutional?

A federal district court in Idaho has called on which government agency to explain its arrest and imprisonment without charges of U.S. citizen Abdullah al-Kidd?

Which Senate committee missed the opportunity to ensure the DHS’s fusion center program safeguards Americans’ liberties?

This Week in Civil Liberties (9/21/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:05pm

What excuse did an Indiana public school use in order to fire a teacher for becoming pregnant through IVF treatment?

What device packed with private information like emails, photos and call history can be seized and searched without a court order? (Hint: It might be in your pocket or purse right now.)

Why do Americans know so little about the Constitution they claim to revere?

How do debt collectors and prosecutors use the criminal justice system to financially exploit vulnerable Americans?

This Week in Civil Liberties (9/14/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 7:23pm

Which legislative body passed a five-year reauthorization of a law that gives vast, unchecked surveillance authority to the government?

How many ACLU affiliates participated in a coordinated records request to find out which law enforcement agencies use cell phone location data to track Americans?

In what year did Congress pass the only law protecting the privacy of your electronic communications? (Hint: The law is older than the Internet.)

What is the name of the man who died as a prisoner at Guantánamo Bay, despite having been cleared to go home on several occasions?

This Week in Civil Liberties (8/17/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 2:16pm

The ACLU is challenging a discriminatory single-sex education program in which state?

Which social networking site reversed its rejection of ads on marijuana legalization after the ACLU of Northern California and Electronic Frontier Foundation raised concerns for free speech?

By what percent has the average length of prison sentences in the U.S. increased since 1990?

At which Boston airport have TSA officers reported that TSA management’s "behavioral detection program" leads to racial profiling?

This Week in Civil Liberties (8/10/2012)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 11:20am

In which state did a charter school attempt to violate female students’ Title IX rights by forcing them to choose between taking a pregnancy test or getting kicked out of school?

Which ACLU affiliate recently released a report that documents unconstitutional police harassment of photographers?

Which constitutional amendment ought to protect the expression of “liking” something on Facebook?

Which court ruled this week that GPS tracking could be used against defendants who were tracked before the Supreme Court’s United States v. Jones decision?

This Week in Civil Liberties (7/27/12)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 4:03pm

Which city’s police department has issued a document on the public’s right to record the police as a result of a settlement of an ACLU lawsuit?

The government can continue to pretend documents made public by what group are still secret?

What sheriff took the stand this week in an ACLU case against racial profiling?

Which state almost executed an intellectually disabled man this week?

Which ACLU affiliate has launched a webpage to track law enforcement abuse of protestors’ rights?

This Week in Civil Liberties (6/22/12)

By Rekha Arulanantham, ACLU at 5:37pm

Which legislative body convened the first-ever hearing on the dangers of long-term solitary confinement?

Which standardized testing group announced a new, fairer lactation policy for nursing moms?

In which state are gay and lesbian parents banned from adopting their partners’ kids?

Which government agency found that a Texas school violated a student’s civil rights under Title IX when it failed to investigate the sexual assault she reported?

Which religious lobbying group is holding a “fortnight for freedom” because it wants to use religious liberty as a license to discriminate?

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