![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
FISA: Fear-mongering and What We’ve Learned Since January
05/14/2008 Federal Judge Rules That Students Can’t Be Barred From Expressing Support for Gay People 05/13/2008 PANAMA CITY, FL – After a two-day trial in which a Florida high school principal testified that he believed clothing or stickers featuring rainbows would make students automatically picture gay people having sex, a federal judge today ruled that the school violated students’ First Amendment rights of students. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of a junior at the school who had been forbidden by her principal to wear any sort of clothing, stickers, buttons, or symbols to show her support of equal rights for gay people. ACLU Skeptical of Senate Report on “Homegrown” Terrorism 05/08/2008 Washington, DC – After Senators Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced a report on Islamic homegrown terrorism today, the American Civil Liberties Union strongly urged Congress to use caution when moving forward on related legislation, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (S. 1959). The report, "Violent Islamist Extremism, the Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorism Threat," is based on findings from hearings held by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. The ACLU and nearly twenty other groups sent a memo to the committee outlining concerns with the report, most notably the free speech implications of labeling the internet as a "weapon" and the unfair singling out of one religious group as possible "extremists." Coalition Memo to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Regarding "Homegrown Terrorism" 05/07/2008 ACLU Announces Winners Of Third Annual Stand Up For Freedom Contest 05/07/2008 NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the winners of its third annual Stand Up for Freedom Contest. Launched July 4th, 2007, the contest challenged people between the ages of 17 and 29 to produce a video public service announcement (PSA) or podcast detailing one of today's pressing civil liberties issues. ACLU Commends Net Neutrality Hearing 05/06/2008 WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union commends Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA) of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet for holding a hearing today on the Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 (H.R. 5353), legislation designed to keep the Internet free for open discourse. ACLU Commends Senator Feingold for Hearing on Secret Law 04/30/2008 Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded a Senate subcommittee for holding a hearing on the Bush administration’s use of secrecy to institute government policy. During the hearing, entitled “Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government,” the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and its chairman, Senator Russell Feingold (D-WI), heard testimony from legal experts and open government advocates. The hearing focused on the administration’s broad interpretation of the law as it relates to government secrecy and counterterrorism policies – including a legal opinion written by former Justice Department Official John Yoo on the use of torture in interrogations. That memo was made public through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by the ACLU. ACLU Takes On High School Principal For Discriminating Against Male Couple 04/29/2008 MEMPHIS – A public high school principal who posted the names of two boys on a list of students believed to be couples, revealing their relationship to their parents as well as other students and teachers, violated the students' constitutional right to freedom of association, the American Civil Liberties Union charged today. In a letter to school board officials in Memphis, Tennessee, the ACLU demanded today that the school reprimand the principal and take steps to ensure such actions never happen again. ACLU Urges Senate Committee to Pass Strong State Secrets Bill 04/24/2008 Washington, DC – As the Senate Judiciary Committee meets today to mark up key legislation, the American Civil Liberties Union urged the body to pass a bill that would allow Americans to hold their government accountable. The bill, introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), would limit the scope of the state secrets privilege. The Bush administration, which has threatened to veto Senator Kennedy’s bill, has used the privilege to halt several important lawsuits against the government, including an ACLU case involving the extraordinary rendition of an innocent German citizen, Khaled El-Masri. ACLU Urges House to Remain Firm as FISA Stalemate Continues 04/24/2008 Washington, DC – In response to reports that Republicans in the House of Representatives have filed a discharge petition in order to force a vote on a Senate-passed update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the American Civil Liberties Union released the following statement. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||