Ashcroft and Allies Seek New Powers by Expanding Patriot Act
ACLU Sues Secret Service for Violating Free Speech Rights
Stand Up For Your Rights at the ACLU's Freedom Concert on October 4th!
Federal Court Rules South Dakota Violated Voting Rights of Native Americans
Lincoln City, Nebraska Becomes 350th Community to Pass Anti-Patriot Act Resolution
News:
"Unconstitutional" Shown Across the Country
Former Inmate Can Sue Texas Officials for Rights Violations
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"Unconstitutional" Shown Across the Country
Executive Producer Robert Greenwald speaks at Texas premiere.
"Unconstitutional" premiered earlier this month before an overflow crowd at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas. It's also been screened in New York, San Diego, Kansas City, Boston and dozens of other cities, generating a buzz across the country. For more information about future screenings click here.
Make a contribution to the ACLU today of $40 or more and we’ll send you your own copy of "Unconstitutional."
But hurry – we only have a few hundred copies left in stock.
Former Inmate Can Sue Texas Officials for Rights Violations
In a legal first, a unanimous federal appeals court has ruled that seven ranking Texas prison officials can be sued for damages due to discrimination based on sexual orientation. The ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals came in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU on behalf of a gay man who was repeatedly raped by prison gangs and whose pleas for help were ignored by officials. The decision also upheld the right to proceed in the case under the Eighth Amendment's protection against cruel and unusual punishment.
In its brief to the appeals court, the ACLU showed that Johnson had produced ample evidence that Texas prison officials "were well aware of the significant risk that ...[he] would be raped and that they consciously disregarded the risk, arbitrarily denying him protection."
In its unanimous ruling, the appeals court noted the U.S. Supreme Court's 1994 ruling that officials have a duty to protect prisoners from violence at the hands of other prisoners.
For the complete story click here.
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September 23, 2004
Join the ACLU in standing up for freedom as we celebrate the Constitution.
Attorney General Ashcroft and his allies in Congress are taking advantage of the 9/11 Commission report to push an expansion of the powers of the Department of Justice and erode key checks and balances that prevent government abuse. Many of their earlier proposals met with defeat, but now they are pushing new legislation that would dramatically expand on the Patriot Act and even further restrict our freedom.
"Across the nation, people are demanding that lost freedoms be restored," said Timothy Edgar, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "Liberals and conservatives alike do not want the government to further expand upon the Patriot Act without a thorough review of its effectiveness."
The new bill, called the "Tools to Fight Terrorism Act of 2004", would increase the government's powers to secretly obtain personal records without judicial review, limit judicial discretion over the use of secret evidence in criminal cases, eliminate important foreign intelligence wiretapping safeguards and allow the use of secret intelligence wiretaps in immigration cases without notice or an opportunity to suppress illegally acquired evidence.
Take Action! Urge your Members of Congress to oppose this dangerous expansion of government powers.
 "We never imagined that we would end up in jail because of a homemade t-shirt," said Nicole Rank. On behalf of Mrs. Rank and her husband Jeff, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the Secret Service and Greg Jenkins, Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of White House Advance, for infringing on their First Amendment rights.
The couple wore t-shirts bearing the international "no" symbol (a circle with a diagonal line across it) superimposed over the word "Bush" to the Fourth of July event. Two men believed to be working for the Secret Service or White House approached the Ranks and demanded that they remove or cover their t-shirts. When the couple refused, the officials instructed city police to arrest Jeff and Nicole, causing them to be removed from the Capitol grounds in handcuffs, jailed for one to two hours and charged with trespassing.
"This is a simple case," said ACLU Senior Staff Attorney Chris Hansen, who is the lead counsel in the case. "Two Americans went to see their president and to express their disagreement with his policies respectfully and peacefully. They were arrested at the direction of federal officials. That is precisely what the First Amendment was adopted to prevent."
Read more about this article here.
The ACLU's Freedom Concert will be held at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall on Monday, October 4th. Scheduled performers include: Sean Penn, Tony Kushner, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Robin Williams, Paul Simon, Lou Reed, Philip Glass, Wyclef Jean, and many more.
Tickets are going fast, get yours today!
Click on the button below:
For a complete list of performers and more information click here.
In an historic victory for voting rights, a federal court today ruled that South Dakota violated the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act when it approved a statewide redistricting plan that dilutes the voting power of Native Americans.
The ACLU filed the case on behalf of four Native American voters in December 2001 after the state legislature drew a new legislative district map that packed Native Americans into a single district.
"If the state had drawn districts more fairly, Native Americans would have been a majority in two districts instead of a 90 percent supermajority in only one," said Bryan Sells, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project, which had challenged the plan. "Redistricting has historically been used to disenfranchise minority voters. Today's decision will help rectify this longstanding problem."
To find out more follow this link.
After five hours of testimony and debate, the city council passed a resolution calling for reform of the Patriot Act. The ACLU of Nebraska credited the work of dozens of people who committed time and energy to the single goal of getting the "Defense of Liberty" resolution passed, as well as the testimony of former Republican Congressman Bob Barr.
The ACLU invited Bob Barr, a former United States Attorney and Republican member of Congress, to present information to the council. Barr, who served on the House Judiciary Committee and originally voted for the Act, has been critical of some of its provisions and how they have been implemented.
The measure was met with opposition by the U.S. Attorney for Nebraska, who testified against it and brought three FBI agents to the council meeting to provide additional supportive testimony.
The council approved the resolution on a vote of 4-3, making Lincoln the first Nebraska city and the 350th nationally to pass a resolution calling for Patriot Act reform.
Read the complete article.
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