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ACLU of Hawaii Invokes "Media Shield" Law in Defense of Documentary Filmmaker (06/30/2009)
HONOLULU – The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii ("ACLU") and Honolulu attorney James J. Bickerton (of Bickerton Lee Dang & Sullivan) announced today that they will use Hawaii's new "media shield" law to protect a documentary filmmaker's work from sweeping subpoenas issued by a private homeowner over a land-use dispute on Kauai.

ACLU Secures Victory For Freedom Of Speech (06/18/2009)
Today Johnny Duncan and the ACLU Foundation of Louisiana entered a settlement with the City of Amite, which detained and ticketed Mr. Duncan because there was a sign on his car reading "You Might be a Nigger!." Mr. Duncan, aka "Johnny UnBlackWorthy," an African-American veteran and a resident of Amite, is the author of a book of political and social commentary entitled "You Might be a Nigger!" The sign on his car was to advertise the book.

ACLU Defends Francisco Reina And Sues In District Court To Challenge Craig's 500 Dollar Spending Limit (06/16/2009)
Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of Colorado (ACLU) filed suit against the City of Craig in Moffat County District Court late Monday afternoon, asking the court to declare that a provision of the Craig City Charter violates the First Amendment and cannot be enforced. The Charter forbids candidates for city posts to spend more than $500 on their campaigns. The ACLU filed the legal action on behalf of Francisco Reina, who ran unsuccessfully for Craig City Council in April, 2009. Reina faces a criminal charge of violating the spending limit and is set to appear in Craig Municipal Court on Wednesday morning June 17.

ACLU Seeks Records About Laptop Searches At The Border (06/10/2009)
NEW YORK – United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policy permits officials to search the laptops and other electronic devices of travelers without suspicion of wrongdoing, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU filed the FOIA request with CBP, a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to learn how CBP's suspicionless search policy, first made public in July 2008, is impacting the constitutional rights of international travelers.

ACLU Challenges Defense Department Personnel Policy To Regard Lawful Protests As “Low-Level Terrorism” (06/10/2009)
Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as “low level terrorism.” ACLU attorneys are calling the approach “an egregious insult to constitutional values” and have sent a letter to the Department of Defense demanding that the offending materials be changed and that the DoD send corrective information to all DoD employees who received the erroneous training.

ACLU Letter to Senate on The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (06/01/2009)
We are writing on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to express our concern over the advertising restrictions contained in S. 982, The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (hereinafter the ‘2009 Tobacco Control Bill’). The ACLU is America’s largest and oldest civil liberties organization, having over half a million members, countless additional activists and supporters, and 53 affiliates nationwide. We last commented on the issue of tobacco advertising regulation when S. 2626, the Youth Smoking Prevention and Public Health Protection Act of 2002 (hereinafter the ‘2002 Youth Smoking Bill’), was introduced during the 107th Congress. As in 2002, we continue to believe that the advertising restrictions in this year’s bill are not drawn narrowly to achieve the stated public purpose and, as such, fail to comply with the free speech protections of the First Amendment. In the absence of a much more substantial narrowing of the advertising restrictions in a manner directly tied to the goal of reducing youth smoking, we urge the removal of the advertising restrictions set forth in Section 102 of the bill. It is our understanding that such an amendment is likely to be offered when the bill comes to the floor for consideration and we urge you to support it.

White House Expands Recovery Act Lobbying Ban To Non-Lobbyists (05/29/2009)
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration today modified lobbying restrictions that banned registered lobbyists from speaking with federal agency officials about requests for Recovery Act funds to everyone. The welcomed White House announcement amends the president’s Memorandum on Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds, dated March 20, 2009, by eliminating the distinction between registered lobbyists and all other interested parties and shortening the period when the restrictions apply. The new rules require written communications with agency officials about competitive grants once the grant applications have been filed with the federal government.

ACLU Sues To Stop Tennessee Schools From Censoring Gay Educational Web Sites (05/19/2009)
NASHVILLE, TN – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Tennessee sued two Tennessee school districts in federal court today, charging the schools are unconstitutionally blocking students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues. Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, Knox County Schools and as many as 105 other school districts in Tennessee use Internet filtering software to block Web sites containing pro-LGBT speech, but not Web sites touting so-called "reparative therapy" and "ex-gay" ministries. The "LGBT" filter is not used to block sites containing pornography, which are filtered under a different category, but it does block the sites of many well-known LGBT organizations including Parents, Families, And Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), the Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network (GLSEN) and Human Rights Campaign (HRC).

ACLU Challenges Patents On Breast Cancer Genes (05/12/2009)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union and the Public Patent Foundation, a not-for-profit organization affiliated with Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (PUBPAT), filed a lawsuit today charging that patents on two human genes associated with breast and ovarian cancer stifle research that could lead to cures and limit women's options regarding their medical care. Mutations along the genes, known as BRCA1 and BRCA2, are responsible for most cases of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers. The lawsuit argues that the patents on these genes are unconstitutional and invalid.

Supreme Court Rules FCC Ban On Fleeting Expletives Not "Arbitrary," Doesn't Rule On Constitutionality (04/28/2009)
NEW YORK – By a five to four decision, the Supreme Court ruled today that the Federal Communications Commission had not acted arbitrarily when it changed a long-standing policy and implemented a new ban on even "fleeting expletives" from the airwaves. The Court explicitly declined to decide whether the new rule is constitutional, and sent that issue back to the lower courts for their review.

Man Jailed For E-Mails Sent To Newspapers (04/22/2009)
Today the ACLU of Louisiana filed suit against the City of Mamou, Louisiana, on behalf of a man who was arrested for contacting the media about official misconduct. Bobby Simmons, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, served 27 years as a police officer in Franklin and Abbeville. Last May, Mr. Simmons contacted media outlets and inquired into coverage of Mamou police chief Greg Dupuis' improper conduct. Within days, Mr. Simmons was arrested and charged with "criminal defamation." Simmons, who suffers from a terminal lung disease, was denied food, water, and access to his essential medications during his ten hours in custody. He repeatedly asked for medication and was denied. His wife made attempts to bond him out and was denied. It was only when Simmons requested an ambulance because he could not breathe that he was released on bond.