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ACLU Says Executive Order "Material Support" Provision Sweeps Too Broadly and Will Restrict Humanitarian Efforts in Iraq (07/27/2007)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today issued a warning about a little noticed presidential Executive Order recently issued by the White House. Although the order is ostensibly aimed at supporters of the insurgency in Iraq, the civil liberties group warned that its sweeping provisions posed risks for residents of the United States and for humanitarian work in Iraq.

West Point Graduate Sues Army for Discharge as Conscientious Objector (07/12/2007)
WASHINGTON - After being denied recognition as a conscientious objector, U.S. Army Captain Peter D. Brown yesterday asked a federal court in Washington, D.C., to order the Army to discharge him because he sincerely believes that Christian principles compel him not to kill or cause injury to others, even his enemies. Captain Brown is represented by the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area.

ACLU, JACL and ADC Alarmed that Census Violated Privacy in World War II, Urges Congress to Ensure Similar Actions Are Not Happening Now (03/30/2007)
WASHINGTON - Following reports in USA Today that the Census Bureau gave American surveillance agencies information on persons of Japanese Ancestry during World War II, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) urged Congress to investigate and ensure that such practices do not occur today.

ACLU: Bush Guts Geneva Conventions Enforcement and Undermines Due Process (09/06/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed opposition to the president’s proposal to try detainees and to amend the War Crimes Act to gut enforceability of the Geneva Conventions. In addition, the Department of Defense released an updated Army Field Manual on Interrogations that diminishes protections against abuse. At the same time, the president has also directed at least 14 prisoners held at CIA secret "black sites" to be transferred to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and tried there.

After NYCLU Files Lawsuit, Army Grants Honorable Discharge to Soldier Who Objects to War (05/26/2006)
NEW YORK -- Under pressure from a New York Civil Liberties Union lawsuit, the U.S. Army has granted Conscientious Objector (C.O.) status and honorable discharge to Sergeant Corey D. Martin, whom the Army previously had tried to deploy while his C.O. application was still pending, the NYCLU announced today.

New York Civil Liberties Union Wins Federal Court Victory for Conscientious Objector (03/20/2006)
NEW YORK, NY - The New York Civil Liberties Union announced today that a federal district court has ordered the U.S. Army not to deploy a soldier to Afghanistan who has a pending application for Conscientious Objector (C.O.) status.

ACLU Calls on Gonzales to Appoint Special Counsel on NSA Domestic Spying; Investigation of Violations of Law Must Be Independent, Free of Political Pressure (12/21/2005)
WASHINGTON - In a formal request to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the American Civil Liberties Union today called for the immediate appointment of an outside special counsel to investigate and prosecute any criminal acts and violations of laws as a result of the National Security Agency’s surveillance of domestic targets as authorized by President Bush.

30,000 National Security Letters Issued Annually Demanding Information about Americans: Patriot Act Removed Need for FBI to Connect Records to Suspected Terrorists (11/07/2005)
NEW YORK - New information in recent news reports shows that 30,000 National Security Letters are issued by the government per year, a hundred-fold annual increase since the 2001 Patriot Act relaxed requirements on the FBI's use of the power. Clients of the American Civil Liberties Union, which is challenging the federal statute in court, are gagged forever from speaking about their experiences. The ACLU has called on courts to strike down the provision and lift the gag orders, and has called on Congress to reform the Patriot Act to protect the personal records of ordinary Americans.

ACLU Welcomes Senate Inquiry Into Detainees and Their Abuse, Says Outside Special Counsel Needed To Answer Questions (06/15/2005)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, for conducting an oversight hearing on the issue of detainees held by the federal government. Critics have long called for Congressional inquiries into the issue, noting that there continues to be gross violations of the basic protections of detainees, and that an outside special counsel is needed to investigate and prosecute any criminal acts in the torture or abuse of detainees by the U.S. Government.

Bush-Appointed Judge Say U.S. Citizen Cannot Be Held as "Enemy Combatant," ACLU Welcomes Decision in Padilla Case (02/28/2005)
WASHINGTON -- A federal judge today ruled that President Bush does not have the power to hold an American citizen as an enemy combatant. The decision by U.S. District Judge Henry F. Floyd, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Bush in 2003, came in the case of Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen being held in a naval brig in Charleston, S.C.

ACLU Executive Director Travels to Cuba To Observe Military Tribunals (08/19/2004)
WASHINGTON - Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union, will travel Saturday to the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base on the eastern tip of Cuba to observe the first preliminary hearings in the new system of military commissions set up by President Bush.

Federal Court Decision Granting Guantanamo Bay Detainees Judicial Review Caps Red-Letter Day for Checks and Balances (12/18/2003)
WASHINGTON - Following an earlier federal court decision this morning rejecting the White House's assertion that the President can unilaterally detain American citizens as ""enemy combatants,"" absent any due process protections, another federal court ruled this afternoon that the non-citizen enemy combatants held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are entitled to habeas corpus reviews to determine the propriety of their detention.

ACLU Warns of Danger to Congress's War Powers in Iraq Resolution (10/10/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today warned that the joint resolution authorizing force against Iraq, while significantly improved from the President's original proposal, poses a danger to the war powers granted to Congress by the Constitution.

ACLU Applauds Constitutional Checks in New Iraq Compromise (10/02/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today said that a bipartisan Senate compromise on a resolution allowing the President to use force to oust Saddam Hussein is far more faithful to the Constitution than the blank check resolution being lobbied for by the White House.

Gulf of Tonkin Reprise? ACLU Questions Blanket Authority Granted by Proposed Iraq War Resolution (09/20/2002)
WASHINGTON - Noting marked similarities with the tragic Gulf of Tonkin resolution, the American Civil Liberties Union today told Congress that the President's proposed congressional resolution allowing the use of force to depose Saddam Hussein is too open-ended to be constitutional.

ACLU Says Military Action in Iraq Without Congressional Approval Would Be Unconstitutional (09/13/2002)
WASHINGTON - While remaining neutral on whether the United States should go to war with Iraq, the American Civil Liberties Union today said that the Bush Administration must -- if it wants to remain within the bounds of the Constitution -- receive Congressional approval before taking any military action against Saddam Hussein.

Ashcroft Uses Local and State Police to Enforce Complex Immigration Laws; ACLU Warns Move Will Erode Immigrants' Willingness to Cooperate With Police (08/23/2002)
WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice -- through a regulation that goes into effect today - has gained the authority to deputize local and state police to enforce complex immigration laws, a move that the American Civil Liberties Union said is a sure-fire way to reduce immigrants' willingness to cooperate with authorities in the fight against terrorism.

A Second Federal Court Rejects Government Secrecy, Orders Open Immigration Hearings in Post-Sept. 11 Challenge (05/29/2002)
NEWARK, NJ--A federal judge today rejected the government's blanket policy on secret deportation hearings for immigrants detained after September 11, joining a federal court in Michigan in rejecting the claim that public access would compromise its terrorism investigations.

ACLU Urges Congressional Authorization Before Expansion of Military Activity; Says Use of Force Resolution Didn't Authorize Military Tribunals (04/17/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged Congress to maintain its oversight function regarding further American military deployments, saying that U.S. soldiers should not be put in harm's way without specific approval from Congress. The ACLU also said that the legislature has not authorized military tribunals. 

ACLU Applauds Daschle, Byrd for Standing By Constitution; Agrees Congressional Oversight Necessary (03/01/2002)
Last year, Congress gave the President authority to respond to the terrorist attacks of September 11 with military force. That resolution did not, and under our Constitution could not, cede the war powers of the Congress to the President.