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Former Ambassador Joe Wilson talks about the Bush administration's efforts to stifle free speech

ACLU of Hawaii Invokes "Media Shield" Law in Defense of Documentary Filmmaker (06/30/2009)
HONOLULU – The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii ("ACLU") and Honolulu attorney James J. Bickerton (of Bickerton Lee Dang & Sullivan) announced today that they will use Hawaii's new "media shield" law to protect a documentary filmmaker's work from sweeping subpoenas issued by a private homeowner over a land-use dispute on Kauai.

ACLU Secures Victory For Freedom Of Speech (06/18/2009)
Today Johnny Duncan and the ACLU Foundation of Louisiana entered a settlement with the City of Amite, which detained and ticketed Mr. Duncan because there was a sign on his car reading "You Might be a Nigger!." Mr. Duncan, aka "Johnny UnBlackWorthy," an African-American veteran and a resident of Amite, is the author of a book of political and social commentary entitled "You Might be a Nigger!" The sign on his car was to advertise the book.

ACLU Challenges Defense Department Personnel Policy To Regard Lawful Protests As “Low-Level Terrorism” (06/10/2009)
Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as “low level terrorism.” ACLU attorneys are calling the approach “an egregious insult to constitutional values” and have sent a letter to the Department of Defense demanding that the offending materials be changed and that the DoD send corrective information to all DoD employees who received the erroneous training.

ACLU Seeks Records About Laptop Searches At The Border (06/10/2009)
NEW YORK – United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policy permits officials to search the laptops and other electronic devices of travelers without suspicion of wrongdoing, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU filed the FOIA request with CBP, a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to learn how CBP's suspicionless search policy, first made public in July 2008, is impacting the constitutional rights of international travelers.

White House Expands Recovery Act Lobbying Ban To Non-Lobbyists (05/29/2009)
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration today modified lobbying restrictions that banned registered lobbyists from speaking with federal agency officials about requests for Recovery Act funds to everyone. The welcomed White House announcement amends the president’s Memorandum on Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds, dated March 20, 2009, by eliminating the distinction between registered lobbyists and all other interested parties and shortening the period when the restrictions apply. The new rules require written communications with agency officials about competitive grants once the grant applications have been filed with the federal government.

ENACTING A REASONABLE FEDERAL SHIELD LAW: A REPLY TO PROFESSORS CLYMER AND ELIASON (07/01/2008)
These days, it can be difficult to read a newspaper without seeing a story of another journalist subpoenaed to identify a confidential source. From Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada to Judith Miller and Jim Taricani, many reporters are becoming known more for the court proceedings against them than they are for the stories they write. Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter James Risen, who broke the story on the Bush Administration’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program, is the latest casualty.2 Instead of reporting the news, journalists have become the news.

Reclaiming Our Rights: Declaration of First Amendment Rights and Grievances (09/01/2007)

Publish and Perish: The Need for a Federal Reporters' Shield Law (03/14/2007)
The need for a federal reporters' shield law today is urgent. Efforts by the press to fulfill its role of exposing government abuses of power and unlawful acts are met with subpoenas, criminal charges, and lengthy prison terms.

Freedom of Expression (10/31/2005)

NYCLU Report: Arresting Protest (04/28/2003)

ACLU Freedom of Information Act Request for Records Maintained by Customs and Border Protection (06/10/2009)

BRCA - Complaint (05/12/2009)

ACLU Statement For The Record On Libel Tourism Before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (02/12/2009)

ACLU, et al. v. Mukasey, et al. - Complaint (01/15/2009)

Letter to networks about YouTube take-down demands (10/20/2008)

ACLU Letter to the Department of Defense Regarding Its Level 1 Anti-terrorism Training Materials (06/10/2009)

Joint Letter to White House Urging Rescindment of Speech Limitations for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (03/31/2009)
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (“CREW”), the American Civil Liberties Union (“ACLU”) and the American League of Lobbyists (“ALL”) respectfully request that President Barack Obama rescind Section 3 of the March 20, 2009, memorandum issued to the heads of executive departments and agencies with the subject line, “Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds.”

ACLU Letter to the House of Representatives Urging Support of H.R. 985, the Free Flow of Information Act (03/30/2009)

ACLU Testimony Submitted to the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law (02/11/2009)
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has more than half a million members, countless additional activists and supporters, and fifty-three affiliates nationwide. We are one of the nation’s oldest and largest organizations advocating in support of individual rights in the courts and before the executive and legislative branches of government. In particular, throughout our history, we have been the nation’s pre-eminent advocate in support of individual free speech rights. We write today to express our strong support for legislation to resolve the problem known as ‘libel tourism’. Some say no such problem exists.1 Those who believe it is a problem don’t necessarily agree on the best approach to dealing with the issue. The ACLU is less concerned with these differences of opinion than with upholding the constitutional standards found in the U.S. Constitution against challenges arising out of foreign laws that fall short of accepted international standards. We encourage this committee to craft legislation to protect the free speech rights of those authors and writers entitled to such protection from the chilling effect of foreign laws that fail to conform to basic international human rights agreements.

ACLU Legislative Priorities for the 111th Congress (01/13/2009)

BRCA - Statement of Support: Joshua Sarnoff (05/13/2009)

BRCA - Statement of Support: Council for Responsible Genetics (05/12/2009)

BRCA - Statement of Support: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered (05/12/2009)

BRCA - Statement of Support: Center for Genetics and Society (05/12/2009)

BRCA - Statement of Support: International Center for Technology Assessment (05/12/2009)

BRCA: Genes and Patents (05/12/2009)
What are genes and patents? What is the law that applies? Why is the ACLU getting involved with patent law?

FAQs on Reporter Shield Laws (05/28/2008)

Additional Statements of Leslie Weise and Alex Young (11/21/2005)

Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC (11/21/2005)
Whether the ACLU can be barred from broadcasting advertisements prior to an election that name a federal candidate, even though the ACLU has never taken a position on an election in its 85-year history. DECIDED

ACLU Lawsuit To Uncover Records of Cell Phone Tracking (07/01/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit in July 2008 urging a federal court to order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over records related to the government's use of people's cell phones as tracking devices.