Campus newspapers ask high court to overturn alcohol-ad ban

The ACLU of Virginia has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a federal appeals court ruling that upholds a ban on alcohol advertising in Virginia’s college newspapers.
August 25, 2010
By The Associated Press

RICHMOND, Va. —In a 2-1 ruling in April, a panel of [...]

Ohio activist challenges Tenn. open-records law

The Midwest director of the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network is suing the state of Tennessee after he was denied access to public records because he is not a resident of the state.

August 25, 2010
By The Associated Press
NASHVILLE, Tenn. —A lawsuit filed [...]

Illinois: ACLU suit seeks to allow citizen recording of police in action

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois is filing a federal lawsuit challenging the Illinois Eavesdropping Act that criminalizes recording public conversations without the consent of all parties. The ACLU claims that  police routinely record encounters with drivers they pull over, but drivers are not allowed to record police conversations. -db
Chicago Tribune
August 19, 2010
By [...]

ACLU challenges Illinois eavesdropping act

Lawsuit cites cases of people charged with breaking the law for making audio recordings of police in action
The Chicago Tribune
August 20, 2010
By Becky Schlikerman and Kristen Mack
It’s not unusual or illegal for police officers to flip on a camera as they get out of their squad car to talk to a driver they’ve pulled over.
But [...]

Miss. student sues over rejected yearbook tux photo

A Mississippi teenager is suing a rural school district, this time over a policy barring young women from wearing tuxedos in senior yearbook portraits.
August 18, 2010
By The Associated Press
By The Associated Press
08.18.10 JACKSON, Miss. —Ceara Sturgis’ dispute with the Copiah County School District started in 2009, well [...]

ACLU turns over blogger IPs in Pa. defamation case

A civil liberties group has surrendered the Internet protocol addresses from six posts on an online message board to a local western Pennsylvania official who claims the authors posted defamatory information about him.
August 13, 2010
By The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — The American Civil Liberties Union, [...]

Gag order eased for man fighting FBI over warrantless investigation

A president of an Internet service provider can for the first time speak about a gag on his telling anyone he had received an national security letter demanding private customer records. The ACLU argues that without a court order the FBI should at least show individual suspicion before invading the privacy and free speech rights [...]

U.S. appeals court deciding if high school students can parody administrators online

A Pennsylvania federal court is deciding if adolescents can be punished for ridiculing school principals online using lewd and outrageous language. -db

The Philadelphia Inquirer
June 4, 2010
By Nathan Gorenstein
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia is considering whether adolescents with home computers and lewd vocabularies can be punished for ridiculing school principals on the Internet.
Web parodies of [...]

Rights groups question new free speech policy at California college

FIRE and ACLU of San Diego have objected to a new policy at Southwestern College in San Diego that restricts peaceful protesters on campus to a “free speech zone.”-db

FIRE
Commentary
May 13, 2010
SAN DIEGO – Southwestern College (SWC) limits free expression on its California campus to a single “free speech patio” and has proposed a new policy [...]

Federal judge upholds free speech right to print dead soldier’s name on anti-war T-shirt

While noting that it may be in poor taste to use a dead soldier’s name on an anti-war T-shirt, a federal judge ruled that the T-shirt was political speech protected under the First Amendment. -db

Knoxville News Sentinel
May 8, 2010
By Matt Lakin

Using a fallen soldier’s name on anti-war T-shirts might be in bad taste, but it’s [...]

Federal Court rules Virginia can ban alcohol ads in college publications

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Virginia’s law restricting ads for alcoholic drinks in college publications did not unfairly violate free press rights of students in that the law was tailored to achieve the legitimate object of fighting underage and abusive drinking on campuses. -db
Student Press Law Center
April 9, 2010
By Nicole Ocran
VIRGINIA– The [...]

Opinion: Mississippi school violates prom-goer’s First Amendment rights

The New York Times applauds the federal court decision against a Mississippi school district that prevented a senior girl from attending the prom with her girlfriend as a gay couple. The judge ruled that the district violated the senior girl’s First Amendment right of self-expression and also her right to send the message that women [...]

State Department lifts ban on scholars banned from U.S. for political views

Professors Adam Habib and Tariq Ramadan are expected to travel to the U.S. for speaking engagements in the next few weeks after years of exclusion stemming from their political views critical of some government policies. -db

American Civil liberties Union
Press Release
March 22, 2010
NEW YORK – Two prominent scholars are coming to the United States after years [...]

Federal court blocks District Attorney from prosecuting girls for appearing in racy photos on cellphones

Without resolving all the First Amendment issues in the case over whether girls could be punished for “sexting”, a federal appeals court blocked the District Attorney from initiating criminal charges and requiring the girls to participate in an education program and to write an essay about why their sexting was wrong. -db

The New York Times
March [...]

Appeals panels in Pennsylvania rule in contradictory ways on student on-line speech

Free speech advocates are mulling over the decisions of two three-judge panel in appeals courts for the Third Circuit as the panels ruled separately that a student had the right to speak freely off-campus and that the school had a right to punish students for off-campus speech they deemed disruptive to the school. -db
Student Press Law [...]

Southern California: Workers want right to solicit work on street corner

Day laborers in Costa Mesa are contesting a city law that bans them from seeking employment on city streets. The laborers want “solicitation speech” included as protected speech under the First Amendment. -db
Courthouse News Service
February 8, 2010
By Elizabeth Banicki

SANTA ANA, Calif. (CN) – Day laborers say Costa Mesa enforces an unconstitutional ordinance that prohibits [...]

Rights organization sues to obtain ethics report on Bush lawyers who wrote ‘torture memo’

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed suit to force the Department of Justice to release to the public a report that explores possible ethics violations by the lawyers who wrote the Bush administration’s “torture memos.” -DB

American Civil Liberties Union
Press Release
January 22, 2010

NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit today to compel [...]

Federal judge rules ‘right to party’ not in Constitution

A federal judge upheld a law allowing police in a Rhode Island beach town to put orange stickers on home hosting raucous parties, ruling the the First Amendment did not protect wild and crazy events. -DB

First Amendment Center
January 25, 2010
By Eric Tucker
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)— A law allowing police in a Rhode Island beach town to [...]

Obama administration begins roll back of ideological exclusion of international scholars

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton signed orders lifting the ban of two foreign scholars denied the opportunity to address audiences in the United States. The two are prominent scholars from England and South Africa and were denied visas to the U.S. by the Bush administration. -DB

American Civil Liberties Union
Press Release
January 20, 2010

WASHINGTON. D.C. – [...]

Darkness Award highlight: California school district pays for censorship of student newspaper

The Fallbrook Union High School District who censored the student newspaper, cancelled the journalism program and reassigned the newspaper adviser agreed to pay the adviser $7,500 and reimburse the ACLU and its law firm $20,000 for legal costs. In October the First Amendment Coalition awarded its Darkness Award to Rod King, the principal responsible for [...]

Opinion: Imperial Valley Board of Supervisors violated spirit of California’s open government law

While finding that the county supervisors covered themselves sufficiently on the Brown Act, the Imperial Valley Press argues that they failed to honor the spirit of the Brown Act by not fully informing the public that it was their intention to intervene in a federal case involving Prop 8 making same-sex marriage illegal in California. -DB

Imperial [...]

Imperial County Board of Supervisors under scrutiny for possible open government violation

The American Civil Liberties Union is looking into an allegation that the Imperial County Board of Supervisors violated California’s Brown Act in a closed session December 15 when it voted to intervene in a federal case involving Prop 8, the state proposition making same-sex marriage illegal. -DB

Imperial Valley Press
December 18, 2009
By Elizabeth Variner

Did the Imperial County [...]

ACLU suing Nebraska on stringent requirements for independent candidates and ballot initiatives

In suing the state of Nebraska, the American Civil Liberties Union claims that signature requirements for independent candidates and ballot initiatives discourage voter participation and violate their free speech rights. -DB
American Civil Liberties Union
Press Release
December 16, 2009
OMAHA, NE – Burdensome petition signature requirements unlawfully keep independent candidates and ballot initiatives off the Nebraska ballot, according [...]

Government lawyer argues torture suit too sensitive for public court

Citing national security and state secrets, a Justice Department lawyer argued that the suit involving the CIA and a San Jose company over extraordinary rendition and torture of suspected terrorists cannot proceed in open court. -DB
San Francisco Chronicle
December 16, 2009
By Bob Egelko
SAN FRANCISCO — A lawsuit accusing a Bay Area flight-planning company of aiding [...]

Reprimands of faculty in campus protest over budget cuts raises serious First Amendment issues

A rally over budget cuts held in a tiny free speech patio at Southwestern College spilled out onto the larger campus, bringing student and faculty protesters into a confrontation with police and garnering reprimands for three faculty members. Some question whether the school administration can under the Constitution make the vast majority of campus a non-public [...]

Government worker fired for criticism unrelated to his job of Guantanamo military commissions

Col. Morris Davis, former prosecutor for the Guantanamo military commissions, was fired from the Congressional Research Service after he wrote opinion pieces critical of the commissions that appeared in the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. -DB
American Civil Liberties Union
Opinion
December 4, 2009
By Rachel Myers

The ACLU sent a letter to the Library of Congress and [...]

U.S. needs federal shield law

The Senate should move forward on a federal shield law for reporters writes an ACLU blogger because such a law strengthens democracy by allowing journalists to reveal government malfeasance without fear of going to jail. -DB

American Civil Liberties Union
Opinion
December 2, 2009
By Sandra Fulton

Most people don’t realize that the American government is in the habit of [...]

Supreme Court supports move to withhold photos of abused detainees

The U.S. Supreme Court vacated a decision of a federal appeals court to require the Pentagon to release photos of showing torture of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan. -DB

Jurist
November 30, 2009
By Jay Carmella

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday vacated and remanded a decision  by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit that required [...]

School denies students right to wear anti-Islam T-shirt

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing a school district in Gainesville, Florida for punishing students for wearing T-shirts promoting their religious beliefs that included anti-Islam slogans. -DB
American Civil Liberties Union
Opinion
November 25, 2009
By Brandon Hensler
Islam is of the Devil.
That is the T-shirt slogan that instigated a hailstorm of debate in Gainesville, Fla., about where to [...]

CIA torture tapes destroyed earlier than claimed

The ACLU Freedom of Information lawsuit surfaced evidence CIA torture tapes were destroyed immediately after the Washington Post reported the existence of the CIA black sites and the New York Times reported that the CIA Inspector General had questioned the legality of the agency’s torture program.
ACLU Security/Torture

November 24, 2009
Documents Reveal Date Tapes Were Destroyed And [...]

Secretary of Defense blocks release of torture photos

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates used powers granted to him under new legislation passed last month to exempt the photos of abuse of detainees from the Freedom of Information Act. The new law provides exemptions for records deemed harmful to national security. -DB

American Civil Liberties Union
Press Release
November 14, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In a brief filed late [...]

San Diego ACLU challenges alleged violations of college employees’ free speech rights

In a letter to the Southwestern College president, the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego urged him to repudiate his actions restricting a peaceful demonstration on campus to protest budget cuts. -DB

ACLU San Diego and Imperial Counties
Press Release
November 9, 2009
Saying that a public college “must uphold the highest possible commitment to freedom of speech [...]

Indiana high School students sue after school imposed penalties for posting racy photos on internet

Two sophomores from an Indiana high school were barred from afterschool sports for the 2009-2010 school year when the administration objected to sexually provocative images of themselves the girls posted on MySpace. The American Civil Liberties Union is filing a suit against the school, arguing that the posting was not disruptive and therefore violated the [...]

ACLU gets more records about Bush administration’s interrogation of detainees

The federal government handed over to the American Civil Liberties Union more documents requested through the Freedom of Information Act lawsuits. The documents pertained to the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody overseas. -DB

American Civil Liberties Union

Press Release
October 30, 2009
NEW YORK – The government today handed over to the American Civil Liberties Union numerous documents [...]

Recent federal court ruling prompts city council to consider its handbill ban

An early October ruling in a case from San Clemente that handbill distribution on vehicles was protected under the First Amendment has made the Carlsbad city attorney recommend rescinding the city’s 15-year-old ban on the practice. -DB

North County Times
October 26, 2009
By Barbara Henry
Tucking a fitness club flier or a restaurant discount coupon onto the windshield [...]

ACLU letter to Gates: Don’t use discretionary power to withhold torture photos

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the Defense Secretary Robert Gates urging him not to use discretionary power in a bill expected to be signed this week to keep secret photos of abuse of detainees held by the U.S. -DB
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
October 21, 2009
By Miranda Fleschert
The American Civil [...]

Federal judge rules some records of Guantanamo interrogations may be kept secret

A federal judge agreed with the government that the C.I.A. was within the law in classifying parts of Guantanamo detainee statements. The government had maintained that no violations of laws were being concealed and that the exemption to the Freedom of Information Act was necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods. -DB
Breaking News 24/7
October [...]

Obama administration asks Supreme Court to delay decision on appeal of release of detainee torture photos

The United States Solicitor General asked the Supreme Court to postpone deciding whether to hear the case over whether abuse photos of detainees should be released to the public. If the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill is signed into law, provisions in the bill would allow the administration to withhold the photos from public scrutiny, making [...]

Senate moves to back Obama in barring release of torture photos

A senate Committee voted to amend the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill to include language to allow the Secretary of Defense to withhold photos of detainees who had undergone torture. -DB
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
October 8, 2009
By Miranda Fleschert
Barring the release of photos depicting abuse of detainees in U.S. custody was again [...]

High court hears arguments: animal rights versus free speech

The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week on whether videos of dogfights are protected speech under the First Amendment. The Obama administration is asking the court to reinstate the Federal Depiction of Animal Cruelty law, restricting the sale of videos and depictions of animal cruelty. -DB

NPR
October 6, 2009
By Deborah Tedford
Animal rights groups and free [...]

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