Federal appeals decision busts privacy exemption for Freedom of Information Act requests

The Internet era has eroded a Supreme Court decision (Department of Justice v. Reporters’ Committee) allowing governments to deny rap sheets requested under the Freedom of Information Act. Now it is possible to tap into a national database provided by the federal courts to obtain the information. In an opinion a federal judge has even [...]

Federal judge bags Michigan law limiting funeral protests

A federal judge ruled that Michigan’s law limiting funeral protests was unconstitutional in prohibiting conduct that would “adversely affect” a funeral. The judge said the law violated the First Amendment and was unconstitutionally vague. The ACLU sued on behalf of an army veteran and his wife arrested for displaying signs and bumper stickers critical of [...]

Domestic spying pervasive since 9/11

President Barack Obama has done nothing to fulfill his promise to curtail warrantless spying and in fact wants Congress to renew powers given to the federal government to conduct the surveillance. Writing a commentary for Wired, Ryan Singel quotes Julian Sanchez of the Cato Institute on the effectiveness of the spying, “We have become so [...]

Federal appeals court rules government must turn over records on warrantless tracking of cell phones

The Electronic Freedom Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union won a victory in court as the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the federal government must produce documents concerning criminal prosecutions in which the government obtained cell phone site locations without a warrant. The court found that the release of the documents would [...]

ACLU sues Orange County Supervisors for silencing public

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Orange County Board of Supervisors for their policies regulating controversial commentary at their public meetings. The suit came after the supervisors cut off a speaker who in their opinion had wrongly criticized Vietnamese immigrants. -db For the Voice of OC, September 9, 2011, by Tracy Wood. Full [...]

Justice Department ordered to release case information related to alleged illegal search

A federal appeals court ruled that the U.S. Department of Justice must release case docket information in criminal cases where the government used cellphone location tracking data without a warrant.The American Civil Liberties Union used the Freedom of Information Act starting in 2007 in a bid for the information. The ACLU was concerned that the [...]

ACLU sues for records of FBI’s domestic spying

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the FBI and the National Security Agency for withholding information about the eGuardian monitoring system that collects information on “suspicious activity” that may include taking photos of important buildings. The ACLU has been unsuccessful in its attempts to acquire the information through the Freedom of Information Act. The [...]

Federal judge rules school can’t punish students for posting provocative images of themselves

A federal district judge ruled that Indiana school authorities overreached in punishing two high school girls for posting provocative images of themselves online. The judge said the expression was intended to be humorous and was protected. He also found no disruption in the posting, “…no reasonable jury could conclude that the photos of T.V. and [...]

Federal court rules transit district violated First Amendment in rejecting ad

A federal appeals court ruled that a Pennsylvania transit agency, the Allegheny County Port Authority, violated the free speech rights of a nonprofit group who had sought to run a bus ad to inform ex-cons of their voting rights. The agency rejected the ad on the grounds that it did not accept noncommercial ads, but [...]

Did transit district overreach by shutting off cellular service?

The Bay Area Rapid Transit District’s attempt last week to foil protesters by shutting down cellular service in its San Francisco underground stations has turned into a First Amendment cause celebre. The transit district switched off service last Thursday to confound protesters who might use mobile phones to organize inside the stations. BART said it [...]

ACLU files public records requests on cell phone tracking by law enforcement

Affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union filed 379 public records requests in 31 states to find out how local law enforcement agencies are using cell phone location to track citizens. Writing for the ACLU, Allie Bohn says that laws don’t always keep up with technology and civil liberties suffer, “…while we believe that law [...]

Court rules no contempt in CIA destruction of video of interrogations

A federal judge criticized the CIA for ignoring a court order asking the agency to preserve videos of interrogations but did not hold it in contempt. The American Civil Liberties Union had brought the contempt motion in ACLU v. Department of Defense, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit begun in 2004. An ACLU spokesperson said, [...]

New Jersey: ACLU forces issue in obtaining record of back room king-making

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie invoked the executive privilege exception in denying the requests of Gawker reporter John Cook to correspondence, calendar entries and phone logs on a dinner with Fox News President Roger Ailes who encouraged Christie to run for president. Chistie eventually submitted a calendar entry about the dinner after the American Civil [...]

Blogger files lawsuit to discover if government maintains file on him

A University of Michigan professor, Juan Cole, who suspects he was under investigation by the federal government for his blogs on Mideast issues, is filing a lawsuit to force the government to release any files on him. The lawsuit came about after a former CIA official said his superiors asked what he knew about Cole [...]

Boston: Federal court hearing case on right to record police actions in public

A Massachusetts man was arrested under Massachusetts wiretap law and accused of aiding the escape of a prisoner and disturbing the peace. The man Simon Glik had used his cell phone to record police arresting a suspect on the Boston Common. Glik contended that his did not make a secret recording as forbidden by the [...]

California company agrees to remove block to gay educational websites

Under pressure from the American Civil Liberties Union, a California software company agreed to remove a web filter blocking public school students from access to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender websites. Removing the filter allows over additional 6 million students to check out the sites. Suzanne Ito wrote in an ACLU commentary that the public [...]

Two Texas school districts remove filters on gay, bisexual and transgender internet content

Two Texas school districts in Fort Worth and Baytown said they will no longer block students from accessing gay, bisexual and transgender content on the Web. After the American Civil Liberties Union challenged the districts, they investigated and found that the filters blocked educational information not sexually explicit. -db From the Courthouse News Service, May [...]

ACLU delegation in Puerto Rico finds police used excessive force against protestors

A delegation sponsored by the American Civil Liberties Union found that police were routinely using excessive force against students, journalists and union members during protests in Puerto Rico. Students said that they had been beaten, sexually harassed or groped by police during protests over school fees and budget cuts. -db From the Amerian Civil Liberties [...]

ACLU sponsors delegation to Puerto Rico to document civil liberties violations

The American Civil Liberties Union is leading a delegation to San Juan, Puerto Rico to investigate possible civil liberties and human rights violations. Actor Rosie Perez and ex-baseball player Carlos Delgado are part of the team for the fact-finding mission. The release reads, “During the past 18 months, individuals protesting at the University of Puerto [...]

ACLU finds schools censoring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender websites

The American Civil Liberties Union has discovered that schools in Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania and Virginia are using filers to block students from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender websites. The ACLU has sent letters to the schools to unlock the sites. The press release outlines the rights of students and the reasons they should have access [...]

Open government: Whistleblowers win challenge to law protecting them

The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the False Claims Act (FCA) that allows whistleblowers to bring claims for the government to recover damages for fraud committed by government contractors. The American Civil Liberties Union, OMB Watch and the Government Accountability Project sued under the First Amendment and the public’s right to know [...]

Federal judge orders Twitter to release user records in WikiLeaks inquiry

A federal judge ordered Twitter to release records of three of its users in a U.S. government investigation of WikiLeaks. In an article in PC Magazine, Chloe Albanesius quotes Elecronic Frontier Foundation legal director Cindy Cohn on the implications of the order, “We’re disappointed that the court did not recognize that people using digital tools [...]

Free speech: ACLU leads fight against Muslim ‘radicalization’ hearing by House committee

The American Civil Liberties Union with other groups sent a letter to the House of Representatives Homeland Security committee to protest the bias of the committee in scheduling a hearing March 10 on the “radicalization of the American Muslim community.” The ACLU fears the hearings could chill free speech and free association. -db WASHINGTON, D.C. [...]

Yale and ACLU campaign to stop schools’ censorship of web on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender content

The American Civil Liberties Union and Yale Law School are assessing public high school censorship of  LGBT web content by asking students to report instances of censorship. Reads the release: “Students may not realize that it actually is illegal for their schools to block educational and political content geared toward the LGBT community,” said Joshua [...]

High school student insulting teacher online gets suspension from school expunged

San Francisco Chronicle January 29, 2010 By Bob Egelko SACRAMENTO COUNTY – A high school sophomore suspended for calling his teacher a “fat ass” on Facebook had the infraction erased from his record after his principal conceded that the posting was not disruptive to the school environment. The American Civil Liberties Union had argued that [...]

Florida student vindicated after suspension for criticizing teacher online

A former student at a Florida high school who was suspended for Facebook posts criticizing a teacher settled with the school district. The district expunged the record of the suspension and paid $15,000 in attorney’s fees. -db Student Press Law Center January 20, 2011 By Aly Brumback FLORIDA – A former Pembroke Pines Charter High [...]

Federal repeals court denies access to information on Guantanamo ‘high value’ detainees

The American Civil Liberties Union lost a round in federal court when the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. ruled that the government did not have to release information about 14 suspected terrorist leaders and operatives held in Guantanamo. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press January 20, 2011 By Rachel Costello [...]

ACLU sues in Washington state for right to run ad alleging Israeli war crimes

Seattle Times January 19, 2011 By Keith Ervin After complaints about an ad set to run on Seattle buses alleging Israeli war crimes, King County withdrew the ad prompting a suit by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington saying withdrawing the ads violated the First Amendment rights of the sponsoring group. -db

ACLU can’t challenge Illinois law forbidding recording police in public places without permission

Courthouse News Service January 20, 2011 By Joe Celentino A federal district judge said the American Civil Liberties Union could not contest an Illinois law that criminalizes recording people including police in public places without their permission. -db

Protestors included in Pennsylvania Homeland Security anti-terrorist report

American Civil Liberties Union Commentary January 20, 2011 A retired Air Force officer and anti-drilling activist  received a Pennsylvania Homeland Security  bulletin that listed her activities against drilling in their anti-terrorist report. -db

Groups sue Pentagon over records of military sexual assault and harassment

The American Civil Liberties Union and a service women’s advocacy group is suing the Department of Defense for records of sexual assault and harassment in the armed forces in a campaign to get the government to provide recourse and improved benefits for victims. -db American Civil Liberties Union Press Release December 13, 2010 NEW HAVEN, [...]

California college president resigns over free speech controversy

Under criticism for suspending faculty members for participating in a protest outside the school’s “free speech zone,” the president of Southwestern College resigned November 30. -db FIRE December 2, 2010 By Adam Kissel The president of California’s Southwestern College (SWC), Raj K. Chopra, abruptly resigned on November 30 under a cloud of free-speech controversy. His [...]

Kansas man wins free speech battle with city over yard sign

A homeowner in Valley Center, Kansas won a judgment of $8000 against the city who sued him for criminal defamation after he posted a yard sign criticizing the city administration. -db The Topeka Capital-Journal November 13, 2010 By Roxana Hegeman WICHITA (AP)— A Valley Center homeowner can again display a yard sign criticizing the city [...]

New Jersey transit worker fired for burning Quran on a day off

A New Jersey Transit employee is suing his employee for violating his freedom of speech when they fired him after during a day off from work he burned three pages of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11.  -db NJ.com November 5, 2010 By  Chris Megerian TRENTON — On the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 [...]

Federal court bars enforcement of Massachusetts law prohibiting distribution of sexual material to minors

A federal district court has blocked the enforcement of a Massachusetts obscenity law that makes it a crime to disseminate electronic material harmful to minors. -db The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press October 28, 2010 By Rosemary Lane A federal district court in Massachusetts Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction preventing the enforcement of [...]

Condo renter wins free speech battle over election signs

Asked to remove political signs last month from the windows of his rental condo, a San Francisco man refused and the condo managers eventually conceded that a state law protected his right to post the signs. -db San Francisco Chronicle October 29, 2010 By Bob Egelko When Elliot Kamin posted a couple of political signs [...]

Coalition urges Senate to pass law to allow cameras in Supreme Court

The American Civil Liberties Union, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Alliance for Justice are urging the Senate to pass a bill allowing television coverage of Supreme Court hearings. -db American Civil Liberties Union Press Release October 28, 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. – A coalition of public interest advocates led by the American Civil [...]

Federal court rules Defense Department not have to release information about Afghanistan prisoners

The American Civil Liberties Union lost a bid to open records about the detention of hundreds imprisoned at the U.S. military’s Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. -db American Civil Liberties Union Press Release October 25, 2010 NEW YORK – The Defense Department can continue to withhold key information from the public about the hundreds of [...]

ACLU report affirms ‘net neutrality’ as key free speech issue of our time

A report by the American Civil Liberties Union urges the Federal Communications Commission to act aggressively to prevent powerful companies from exploiting the Internet for commercial gain and compromising the Internet as a free speech forum. -db American Civil Liberties Union Press Release October 19, 2010 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Protecting the Internet against content discrimination [...]

ACLU sues South Carolina prison for banning books, magazines and newspapers

The Berkeley County Detention Center in South Carolina allows prisoners to receive Bibles but not other books, magazines and newspapers and is now facing a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of the Prison Legal News. -db Jurist October 7, 2010 By Drew Singer The American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] [...]

« Previous Page — Next Page »