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Nightspot with Racially Discriminatory Policy Settles Case with DOJ; ACLU Lawsuit Pending (02/12/2008)
Virginia Beach, VA—The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement resolving allegations of racial discrimination against the owner of Kokoamos Island Bar, Grill and Yacht Club in Virginia Beach. Kokoamos at one point banned patrons who wore braids, twists, cornrows, or dreadlocks.

Senate Committee Hears Testimony on Need to Reform 100-to-1 Crack/Powder Federal Sentencing Disparity (02/12/2008)
Washington, DC – The ACLU submitted testimony to the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Senate Judiciary Committee for today’s hearing, titled "Federal Cocaine Sentencing Laws: Reforming the 100-to-1 Crack/Powder Disparity." The purpose of this hearing is to address the wide disparity between federal sentencing guidelines for crack versus powder cocaine. October 2006 marked the 20th anniversary of the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act. In the years since its passage, many of the myths surrounding crack cocaine have been dispelled, and it has become clear that there is no scientific or penological justification for the 100-to-1 disparity.

Senate Poised to Approve Huge Giveaway to the Bells, Immunity deal may mean no day in court for Americans (02/12/2008)
Washington, DC –The U.S. Senate is likely to decide to grant immunity to telecommunications providers that broke the law over the past six years in a vote on an amendment to strip immunity from the Senate Intelligence Committee’s bill to gut the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the immunity amendment Tuesday morning and if the amendment fails, as expected, the bill will be a multi-billion dollar giveaway to giant telecommunications companies.

ACLU Hotline To Help Virginia Voters Who Encounter Problems During Presidential Primaries (02/11/2008)
RICHMOND, VA - The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia will have its hotline open tomorrow for voters who run into problems at the polls during the presidential primaries. The hotline will enable voters to contact someone at the ACLU if they feel they have been illegally denied the right to vote. The ACLU hotline number is 804/644-8080.

Military Prosecutors Plan To Use Flawed Commissions System To Seek Death Penalty For Guantánamo Detainees (02/11/2008)
NEW YORK - The United States military has announced its intention to prosecute and seek the death penalty for six detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, despite a flawed military commissions system there that has yet to try a single case. The Bush administration’s military commissions have been riddled with ethical and legal challenges, including a 2006 Supreme Court decision that struck down the first version of the system as unconstitutional. Among other things, the commission proceedings allow the admission of coerced evidence that may have been obtained through practices condemned throughout the world as torture. Last week, CIA Director Michael Hayden confirmed that one of the men who will be tried, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was waterboarded by CIA agents during interrogations.

Attorney General Mukasey Will Not Prosecute Criminal Acts by the CIA (02/07/2008)
Washington, DC – During today’s House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing of the Department of Justice, Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) asked the attorney general point blank if he would begin a criminal investigation now that the director of the CIA has admitted instances of waterboarding. Attorney General Mukasey replied with a resounding “no.” When asked if the committee, which has the appropriate clearance, could have access to the legal opinion on which Mukasey is relying, the attorney general again denied the reasonable request.

Challenge To Arizona Employer Sanctions Law Continues In Appellate Court (02/07/2008)
PHOENIX - After a Phoenix federal court today issued a decision that would allow Arizona officials to begin enforcement of the so-called Legal Arizona Workers Act on March 1, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Arizona, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) announced that they will ask the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to suspend the Act.

Mukasey to Defend Statements on Waterboarding Before the House Judiciary Committee (02/07/2008)
WASHINGTON – Today, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee’s Department of Justice oversight hearing. Expected to be discussed is the attorney general’s refusal to firmly state his position on waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, which were heavily debated in Mukasey’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. The American Civil Liberties Union has long pointed to the historic position of the United States that those methods are torture. The Administration should prohibit their use by any American personnel.

Wisconsin Supreme Court Says Municipalities Can't Intervene to Fight ACLU Lawsuit Seeking Domestic Partner Health Insurance (02/07/2008)
MADISON, WI – The Wisconsin Supreme Court decided today that a number of municipalities had no right to interfere in a lawsuit brought by lesbian Wisconsin state employees seeking domestic partner health insurance for their partners from their state employers. The six lesbian couples, who have had to go without adequate health insurance for their families while this issue has been litigated, will now have their chance to prove that it is unconstitutional for the state to bar them from receiving the same compensation as their straight colleagues.

Budget Cuts Target Elderly and Disabled Refugees (02/06/2008)
PORTLAND, ME – Many elderly and disabled refugees who have sought asylum in Maine could lose their only source of income under proposed budget cuts that will be presented Thursday to a joint meeting of the Appropriations and Health and Human Services Committees. The budget cuts proposed by Governor John Baldacci would change current law, which has allowed the state to help disabled refugees who are here legally but who are not eligible for federal SSI benefits.

California High Court to Hear Oral Arguments in Historic Marriage Case on March 4 (02/06/2008)
SAN FRANCISCO – The California Supreme Court announced today that it will hear oral arguments on March 4 in the cases challenging the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage.

Funding for Invasive Real ID Cons States in Exchange for Their Privacy (02/06/2008)
Washington, DC – After releasing regulations last month that failed to fix the manifold privacy and civil liberties violations of the Real ID Act, the federal government has left state governments to shoulder most of the cost of the onerous, invasive national ID program. The President’s budget proposal requests only $110 million in federal grant money toward the states for Real ID implementation, and even that money, if actually appropriated by Congress, will be split among Real ID and other programs.

ACLU of North Carolina Files “Friend of the Court” Brief in Case Where Police Shot Hispanic Homeowner After Search Based on Racial Profiling (02/05/2008)
RALEIGH – The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief last week in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case where police officers admitted under oath that while trying to locate a man named Rudelfo Gonzales who had escaped from his probation officers, Clayton police officers searched the property surrounding the home of Manuel Peña, an Hispanic man, in part because he happened to be Hispanic.

ACLU In Court Today In Lawsuit Against Boeing Subsidiary That Aided CIA “Torture Flights” (02/05/2008)
SAN JOSE, CA - The American Civil Liberties Union will argue in federal court today for the continuation of its case against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for the company’s role in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. The ACLU is opposing the government’s attempt to throw out the case by misusing the “state secrets” privilege in an effort to avoid legal scrutiny of the unlawful and shameful program.

ACLU To Monitor Military Commission Hearings At Guantánamo Bay This Week (02/04/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union will be at Guantánamo Bay this week to monitor the military commission hearings of Canadian national Omar Ahmed Khadr and Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan. In each hearing, a U.S. military judge will determine whether the commission has proper jurisdictional authority to hear the U.S. government’s case. Khadr and Hamdan are two of only four Guantánamo detainees to face charges since Congress’ 2006 reinstatement of the commissions after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the system established by the Bush administration.

ACLU Urges William & Mary to Allow Controversial Show to Go On (02/04/2008)
Richmond, VA -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia today faxed a letter to William & Mary President Gene Nichol urging him to allow a performance of the Sex Workers’ Art Show to take place tonight as scheduled. The letter also informs him that a special contract the college is requiring sponsoring students and performers to sign is unconstitutional.

MCLU Applauds Public Utilities Commission Order On Sale Of Verizon To FairPoint (02/04/2008)
PORTLAND, ME - The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) today released an order that will allow its investigation into Verizon’s alleged abuses of customer privacy to continue. The order requires that, as a condition of the sale of Verizon assets to FairPoint Communications, the PUC retain jurisdiction over the telecomm giant even after the transaction with FairPoint has been completed.

ACLU Files Court Brief In Support Of Attorney General's Right To Speak Out in Lead Paint Case (02/01/2008)
PROVIDENCE, RI - Supporting the public’s right to know, the Rhode Island ACLU has today filed a brief urging the R.I. Supreme Court to reverse the imposition of $15,000 in fines against Attorney General Patrick Lynch for public comments he made during the “lead paint public nuisance” case. The brief argues that the fines violated not only Lynch’s First Amendment right to free speech, but also the public’s right to hear the “views of attorneys concerning pending litigation in which the attorneys are involved.”

ACLU Says NY Times Reporter Subpoena Is Assault On Free Press (02/01/2008)
Washington, DC – After reports that a federal grand jury issued a subpoena to New York Times reporter James Risen last week in an attempt to force disclosure of a confidential source, the American Civil Liberties Union today strongly objected to the subpoena, saying that basic First Amendment principles are at stake when reporters are called into the courtroom against their will. According to reports, a chapter in Mr. Risen’s book on the Central Intelligence Agency, "State of War," piqued the interest of the Justice Department and consequently he has been ordered to appear before the grand jury next week.

Appeals Court Says State Must Recognize Canadian Marriage of New York Lesbian Couple (02/01/2008)
NEW YORK – In a unanimous decision, a New York appellate court today ruled that marriages of same-sex couples entered into outside of New York must be recognized. The case, filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union, is the first appellate court decision in the state and the first known decision in the country to hold that a valid same-sex marriage must be recognized here.