American Civil Liberties Union

Drug Policy:
The ACLU Drug Law Reform Project is a division of the national ACLU. Our goal is to end punitive drug policies that cause the widespread violation of constitutional and human rights, as well as unprecedented levels of incarceration.


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Drug Policy : General : Press Releases

ACLU of South Carolina Defends Free Speech Rights of Drug Policy Reform Group to Disseminate Message at Three Rivers Music Festival (04/15/2004)
COLUMBIA, SC - The American Civil Liberties Union of South Carolina today filed a federal lawsuit defending the First Amendment rights of the drug policy reform organization NORML to distribute informational literature and t-shirts at the ""Three Rivers Music Festival"" taking place here this weekend.

ACLU and Drug Policy Groups Sue Over Censorship of Advertisements Criticizing "War on Drugs" (02/18/2004)
WASHINGTON-The nation's major drug policy reform groups today filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for censoring the speech of those critical of the government's ""War on Drugs.""

ACLU Asks Court to Protect Confidentiality of Rush Limbaugh's Medical Records (01/12/2004)
PALM BEACH, FL - In a motion filed today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida said state law enforcement officers violated Rush Limbaugh's privacy rights by seizing the conservative radio talk show host's medical records as part of a criminal investigation involving alleged ""doctor-shopping.""

South Carolina Students Were Terrorized by Police Raid With Guns and Drug Dogs, ACLU Lawsuit Charges (12/15/2003)
GOOSE CREEK, SC - Students as young as 14 were terrorized by police with guns and drug-sniffing dogs in an early-morning SWAT raid at Stratford High School that violated their rights, the American Civil Liberties Union charged in a lawsuit filed today on behalf of 20 families.

ACLU Sues West Virginia Police For Conducting Illegal Drug Stop (12/19/2002)
CHARLESTON, WV - Saying that participants at a political rally were unfairly harassed by law enforcement, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia today filed a lawsuit against two West Virginia law enforcement agencies for operating a roadblock near a drug law reform rally last year.

Federal Appeals Court Refuses to Resurrect Cincinnati Drug Zone Law (09/26/2002)
CINCINNATI--In affirming a lower court decision to invalidate a Cincinnati drug law, the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today for the first time recognized an individual's constitutional right to travel freely.

ACLU Says Bush Anti-Drug Goals Unattainable Unless Funding Meets Rhetoric (02/12/2002)
WASHINGTON -- While the American Civil Liberties Union applauds the President's newly announced goal of reducing drug use in America by 25 percent over the next five years, such a goal seems unrealistic unless the White House brings its funding priorities more in-line with its rhetoric. 

In Settlement of ACLU Lawsuit, New Mexico School District Agrees to Call Off Drug-Sniffing Dogs (10/25/2001)
ALBUQUERQUE - In a victory for students' rights, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico today announced that the Lordsburg Municipal School District has agreed to end its monthly drug-dog sweeps of students in grades 5-12.

Another Court Rejects Cincinnati "Drug Zones" as Unconstitutional (10/18/2001)
CLEVELAND-- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today hailed a second victory against unconstitutional ""drug zones"" that exclude people from their own neighborhoods. 

ACLU Joins Diverse, Right-Left Coalition To Highlight Privacy Violations in Drug War (09/10/2001)
WASHINGTON -- The ongoing and misguided "War on Drugs" in this country has claimed a number of unintended casualties, not least of which is the right to privacy of many law-abiding American citizens. The American Civil Liberties Union is encouraged that so many advocacy groups from across the ideological spectrum have joined together to urge the Senate to address this issue. We ask Senators to question John Walters, the Administration's drug czar nominee, about how the "War on Drugs" has diminished our privacy. 

ACLU of New Mexico Sues School District Over Use of Drug Sniffing Dogs to Search Students (05/02/2001)
ALBUQUERQUE --The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico today filed a lawsuit against Lordsburg school officials to stop them from using drug-detecting dogs to randomly sweep students for illicit substances in Lordsburg elementary, middle and high schools.

ACLU Sharply Criticizes White House Drug War (07/11/2000)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded Congress for investigating the federal government's insertion of propaganda into popular television sit-coms and dramas.

Latest Drug War Tactic An Attack on All Americans (05/24/2000)
"This is not your garden variety expansion of the so-called war on drugs," said Marvin Johnson, a Legislative Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington National Office. "The legislation would vastly expand the government's power to search private homes and would shut down a vital source of information about topics like medical marijuana and hemp production by threatening web site and book publishers with jail time." 

As Congress Holds Hearings, ACLU Asks White House to Release Guidelines For Drug Propaganda Scheme (02/09/2000)
WASHINGTON -- Saying that there are still many unanswered questions about how the federal government is managing its ongoing scheme to sway the content of popular television sit-coms and dramas, the American Civil Liberties Union today said that the White House should immediately release the guidelines it uses in determining whether a program receives lucrative advertising credits.

ACLU Urges State High Court to Consider Cincinnati Drug Zone Ordinance (02/07/2000)
Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Susan Dlott ruled -- in a challenge brought by ACLU volunteer attorneys Bernard Wong and Robert Gertzweiler -- that the law was unconstitutional, saying it violated the First, Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. 

Latest Drug War Proposal Repeats Same Old Mistakes (11/09/1999)
WASHINGTON -- Saying it would lead to an explosion of prison populations and costs, the American Civil Liberties Union today urged the Senate to reject a harsh drug control amendment expected to be offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-UT. The ACLU particularly objected to the amendment's requirement that mandatory minimum sentences for cocaine offenses be made even harsher. 

Drug Prevention Law Ignores More Effective Alternative, ACLU Tells PA Lawmakers (08/18/1999)
HARRISBURG, PA -- In testimony before a state committee on criminal justice issues, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania opposed a law that would slap a mandatory two-year prison term on anyone convicted of dealing drugs within 1,000 feet of a day-care center, the Bucks County Courier Times reports.

ACLU Urges Congress to Reconsider Destructive Drug War Strategy (06/16/1999)
"Our 85-year experiment with criminal prohibition of drugs has not solved the problems it was meant to solve and has created other serious problems resulting from the excessive and unprincipled use of the government's police power," ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser told the House panel. 

ACLU Urges Funds, Not Fanfare, for Clinton Public Health Approach to Drug War (02/08/1999)
Although the ACLU welcomed news reports indicating that the White House wants to expand treatment as alternatives to jail for drug users, it cautioned that the Administration's budget numbers do not fully support such an approach. 

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