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LEARN MORE >> The informants are watching us... But who's watching the informants? Preliminary research indicates that up to 80% of all drug cases in America may be based on information provided by informants. An informant can be a useful law enforcement tool – a necessary evil – if used properly. But putting police work in the hands of known criminals and blindly trusting that justice will be done is an unnecessary evil. Learn more >> BREAKING NEWS: Encouraging Developments in Informant System Reform >> AUDIO: Davey D Remixes The Wire's Ed Burns >> VIDEO: Inside Recent Congressional Hearing >>

ACLU of Arizona Urges Governor to Veto Bill Denying Benefits to Domestic Partners, Welfare Recipients (9/4/2009)
PHOENIX, AZ – Saying budget proposals to drug test welfare recipients and deny benefits to domestic partners are misguided and discriminatory, the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona today sent a letter to Governor Jan Brewer urging her to veto H.B. 2013.

Pain Relief Advocate Pays High Price For Free Speech (9/3/2009)
TOPEKA, KS – A federal court in Topeka, Kansas today imposed a $200 per day fine upon nationally renowned pain relief activist Siobhan Reynolds for her refusal to comply with a pair of subpoenas secured in an effort to chill her constitutionally protected speech, as well as an additional $200 per day fine upon her advocacy organization, the Pain Relief Network (PRN). Reynolds, who is President of PRN, has been an outspoken advocate for sufferers of chronic pain and physicians’ ability to provide appropriate pain management treatment without risk of criminal prosecution. The subpoenas are part of an ongoing grand jury investigation related to the federal prosecution of Dr. Stephen Schneider and his wife, Linda, who operated a medical practice specializing in pain relief and whose prosecution Reynolds has publicly condemned. Reynolds is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union in the case.

Federal Court Signs Off On Agreement To Permanently Halt Random Teacher Drug Testing In West Virginia (8/21/2009)
CHARLESTON, WV - A federal court today signed off on a formal agreement to permanently block the proposed random, suspicionless drug testing of Kanawha County public school employees. The Court’s order approves an agreement between the Kanawha County Board of Education and the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions, represented in part by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had brought a legal challenge arguing that drug testing without cause violates public servants’ constitutional right to privacy.

House Subcommittee Takes First Congressional Vote To End Crack Cocaine Sentencing Disparity (7/22/2009)
WASHINGTON – The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security voted on an historic markup today of the Fairness in Cocaine Sentencing Act of 2009, a bill that would result in the elimination of the unjust and discriminatory disparity between crack and powder cocaine sentences under federal law. H.R. 3245, sponsored by Representative Robert Scott (D-VA), removes references to “cocaine base” from the U.S. federal code and takes the welcome step of removing the five-year mandatory minimum sentence for simple possession of crack cocaine.

US Supreme Court Declares Strip Search Of 13-Year-Old Student Unconstitutional (6/25/2009)
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old Arizona girl when they strip searched her based on a classmate's uncorroborated accusation that she previously possessed ibuprofen. The American Civil Liberties Union represents April Redding, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, whose daughter, Savana Redding, was strip searched by Safford Middle School officials six years ago.