Home : Newsroom

ACLU of Oklahoma Challenges Anti-Civil Rights Ballot Measure (03/07/2008)
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma voters filed a protest today before the state Supreme Court challenging irregularities and questionable practices in the collection of signatures by the so-called Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative. The initiative is one of a series of anti-affirmative action ballot measures that California businessman Ward Connerly and his organization known as the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) have spearheaded across the country.

Supreme Court Refuses To Review Warrantless Wiretapping Case (02/19/2008)
NEW YORK – The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to review a legal challenge to the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program. The case was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of prominent journalists, scholars, attorneys and national nonprofit organizations who say that the unchecked surveillance program is disrupting their ability to communicate effectively with sources and clients. The court’s decision today lets stand an appeals court’s ruling on narrow grounds that plaintiffs could not show with certainty that they had been wiretapped by the National Security Agency.

Court Decision Denies Extraordinary Rendition Victims Their Day In Court (02/14/2008)
SAN JOSE, CA - A federal court yesterday bowed to pressure from the Bush administration and dismissed a case against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for the company’s role in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, charged that Jeppesen knowingly aided the program by providing flight planning and logistical support services for aircraft and crews used by the CIA to transport victims to U.S.-run prisons or foreign intelligence agencies overseas, where they were subjected to harsh interrogation techniques and torture.

House Stands Up to Threats from the White House on Domestic Surveillance (02/14/2008)
Washington, DC – The Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives stared down the White House today and decided to stick with their version of revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The House voted to adjourn without letting the phone companies off the hook for breaking the law by helping the government spy on Americas. The House is leaving town and allowing the unconstitutional Protect America Act to expire this weekend.

Charges Dismissed Against Reporter Who Was Victim of NYPD Racial Profiling as Figures Show Hundreds of Thousands of Innocent Black New Yorkers Were Stopped-and-Frisked in 2007 (02/13/2008)
NEW YORK – A Bronx Criminal Court judge has dismissed charges against a black New York Post reporter who was the victim of racial profiling by NYPD officers. The dismissal came on the same day that the NYPD quietly released figures showing that police made nearly half a million stops in 2007, most of which were of black and Latino New Yorkers.

ACLU Says “Clean Teams” Cannot Wash Away Dirty Interrogation Tactics (02/13/2008)
NEW YORK – Just days after the Bush administration announced its intention to seek the death penalty for six men allegedly involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Department of Justice and the Pentagon confirmed the existence of “clean teams” of agents and investigators who allegedly conducted traditional law enforcement interviews with the prisoners after they had already been subjected to torture or “dirty” interrogation practices. The effort began in 2006 when the administration became concerned over legal challenges based on the abuse of these former CIA prisoners.

MCLU Denounces Senate Vote to Expand Warrantless Surveillance (02/12/2008)
PORTLAND- The MCLU expressed strong disappointment with Maine’s two Senators after they backed the Bush Administration’s extension of a law that would vastly expand the government’s ability to spy on Americans without a warrant. The Senate bill, which passed on Tuesday in a 68-29 vote with both Maine’s Senators voting in favor, would extend the government’s power to bypass the safeguards that have been part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, (FISA), which was enacted after the Watergate scandal to provide a court check on government surveillance. Several amendments that would have safeguarded civil liberties were defeated as was an amendment that would have stripped telecom immunity from the bill. Telecom immunity could possibly bring to a close the Maine Public Utilities Commission inquiry into whether Verizon violated Mainers’ privacy by collaborating with the National Security Agency.

Nightspot with Racially Discriminatory Policy Settles Case with DOJ; ACLU Lawsuit Pending (02/12/2008)
Virginia Beach, VA—The Department of Justice announced today that it has reached a settlement resolving allegations of racial discrimination against the owner of Kokoamos Island Bar, Grill and Yacht Club in Virginia Beach. Kokoamos at one point banned patrons who wore braids, twists, cornrows, or dreadlocks.

Military Prosecutors Plan To Use Flawed Commissions System To Seek Death Penalty For Guantánamo Detainees (02/11/2008)
NEW YORK - The United States military has announced its intention to prosecute and seek the death penalty for six detainees held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, despite a flawed military commissions system there that has yet to try a single case. The Bush administration’s military commissions have been riddled with ethical and legal challenges, including a 2006 Supreme Court decision that struck down the first version of the system as unconstitutional. Among other things, the commission proceedings allow the admission of coerced evidence that may have been obtained through practices condemned throughout the world as torture. Last week, CIA Director Michael Hayden confirmed that one of the men who will be tried, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, was waterboarded by CIA agents during interrogations.

Mukasey to Defend Statements on Waterboarding Before the House Judiciary Committee (02/07/2008)
WASHINGTON – Today, Attorney General Michael Mukasey is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee’s Department of Justice oversight hearing. Expected to be discussed is the attorney general’s refusal to firmly state his position on waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods, which were heavily debated in Mukasey’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. The American Civil Liberties Union has long pointed to the historic position of the United States that those methods are torture. The Administration should prohibit their use by any American personnel.

ACLU of North Carolina Files “Friend of the Court” Brief in Case Where Police Shot Hispanic Homeowner After Search Based on Racial Profiling (02/05/2008)
RALEIGH – The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina Legal Foundation (ACLU-NCLF) filed an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief last week in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a case where police officers admitted under oath that while trying to locate a man named Rudelfo Gonzales who had escaped from his probation officers, Clayton police officers searched the property surrounding the home of Manuel Peña, an Hispanic man, in part because he happened to be Hispanic.

ACLU In Court Today In Lawsuit Against Boeing Subsidiary That Aided CIA “Torture Flights” (02/05/2008)
SAN JOSE, CA - The American Civil Liberties Union will argue in federal court today for the continuation of its case against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. for the company’s role in the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition” program. The ACLU is opposing the government’s attempt to throw out the case by misusing the “state secrets” privilege in an effort to avoid legal scrutiny of the unlawful and shameful program.

ACLU To Monitor Military Commission Hearings At Guantánamo Bay This Week (02/04/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union will be at Guantánamo Bay this week to monitor the military commission hearings of Canadian national Omar Ahmed Khadr and Yemeni national Salim Ahmed Hamdan. In each hearing, a U.S. military judge will determine whether the commission has proper jurisdictional authority to hear the U.S. government’s case. Khadr and Hamdan are two of only four Guantánamo detainees to face charges since Congress’ 2006 reinstatement of the commissions after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the system established by the Bush administration.

MCLU Applauds Public Utilities Commission Order On Sale Of Verizon To FairPoint (02/04/2008)
PORTLAND, ME - The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) today released an order that will allow its investigation into Verizon’s alleged abuses of customer privacy to continue. The order requires that, as a condition of the sale of Verizon assets to FairPoint Communications, the PUC retain jurisdiction over the telecomm giant even after the transaction with FairPoint has been completed.

ACLU Urges Congress to Stand for a Constitutional FISA (01/30/2008)
Washington, DC – As both the Senate and House consider legislation on government spying on Americans, the ACLU urges members of Congress not to cave in to White House requests for immunity for telecommunications providers and asks for a no vote on any bill with warrantless wiretapping.

House Hearing a Step Towards Progress on State Secrets Privilege (01/29/2008)
Washington, DC –The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Oversight heard today from witnesses giving testimony on the state secrets privilege. Historically, the privilege has been used to give the government an opportunity to prevent the disclosure of evidence that would legitimately harm national security. In the hands of the Bush administration, it has been used as an alternative form of immunity that is increasingly being used to shield the government and its agents from accountability for systemic violations of the Constitution. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) has introduced legislation in the Senate that would go a long way in narrowing the scope of the privilege.

ACLU Encourages Senate Rebellion on Spy Law (01/28/2008)
Washington, DC – Today in a procedural vote, Senate Democrats and key Republicans are set to stand firm against the administration’s attempt to widely expand warrantless wiretapping. A motion to end debate and prevent future amendments from being offered to the Senate Intelligence Committee’s version of the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 will likely be blocked this afternoon. This will set up the Senate for a much more productive procedure and will allow senators the chance to fix the fatally flawed bill.

ACLU Calls Civil Rights Act of 2008 Vital to Restoring Equal Protection Under the Law (01/25/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union cheers the introduction of S. 2554, the “Civil Rights Act of 2008” by Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA). The companion bill, H.R. 5129, was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) on January 23, 2008.

ACLU Asks Federal Appeals Court to Lift Ban on Renowned Scholar (01/23/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union appealed a federal judge’s ruling today to challenge the government’s exclusion of renowned Swiss scholar Tariq Ramadan from the U.S. The ACLU continues to believe that the government’s stated reason for barring the scholar is a pretext and that Ramadan, a leading European academic whose work addresses Muslim identity and the role of Islam in democratic societies, remains banned from the country because of his political viewpoints.

Federal Judge Orders CIA and Defense Department to Produce Documents for Court Review (01/17/2008)
NEW YORK - A federal judge today ordered the CIA and the Department of Defense (DoD) to provide him with documents related to the treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York ordered the government to make the documents available to him so he can determine for himself whether they should be made public pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and other organizations.