American Civil Liberties Union

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FBI Iris Scans Slammed as 'Runaway Surveillance'

434K scans have been collected since 2013

(Newser) - The FBI has collected 434,000 eye scans from people arrested in the US since 2013, according to a Verge investigation based on records obtained through the California Public Records Act. The scans can be used for identification much like a fingerprint, and critics are worried about abuse. The FBI...

Advocates Push LGBT 'Civil Rights Act'

But it could take a decade

(Newser) - With same-sex marriage sweeping the country and analysts predicting the Supreme Court will soon legalize it in all 50 states, gay rights advocates are turning their attention to new legislation: the LGBT version of 1964's Civil Rights Act. It may take a decade or more to be put into...

Sex Offenders Suffer 'Inhuman' Conditions in Miami: ACLU

Ex-convicts' camp full of rats, lacks toilets: suit

(Newser) - Following their release from prison, registered sex offenders are experiencing "horrid" conditions in Miami: Living outdoors near train tracks, they have no running water or toilets, and they share their camp with rats, the American Civil Liberties Union says in a suit. Their living area is a result of...

Michigan: We're Protecting Kids From 'WAR SUX' Plate

State defends rejection of personalized license plate

(Newser) - Michigan rejected a Washtenaw County man's request for a personalized license plate reading "WAR SUX," and the state says it's all about protecting the children. David DeVarti, with the help of the ACLU, sued over the rejection, accusing officials of violating the First Amendment, but lawyers...

Atheists Fight Ohio Holocaust Memorial

Group says Star of David has no place on state grounds

(Newser) - An atheist group is up in arms over a Holocaust memorial set to be erected near the Ohio statehouse, calling the monument's design "exclusionary." That design is the work of architect Daniel Libeskind, who Salon identifies as a "big deal": He's the son of Holocaust...

ACLU: Millions of Innocent Drivers Being Tracked

Vast databases store info on your plate, movements

(Newser) - You know about speed cameras and red-light cameras. But did you know about plate-reading cameras? Few people do, and that's a worry for the ACLU, which says the cameras are infringing on our civil liberties. Unlike the speed and red-light cameras, which are activated only when someone violates a...

ACLU Sues for Gay Marriage in Pennsylvania

Sets sights on Virginia, North Carolina

(Newser) - The ACLU isn't wasting any time in expanding gay marriage following the Supreme Court's big rulings. First up: a lawsuit in Pennsylvania seeking to end the state's ban on same-sex vows, the New York Times reports. The suit has 23 plaintiffs including a truck driver, a stay-at-home-mom,...

Detroit Cops Dumping Homeless Outside City: ACLU

Police 'deserting them miles away', it claims

(Newser) - Detroit police are ushering homeless people out of a tourist area and leaving them miles away—in some cases outside the city itself, the ACLU alleges in a federal complaint. Officers are "approaching individuals who appear to be homeless in the Greektown area, forcing them into police vans, and...

Court: CIA Can't Say There's No Drone Program

ACLU records request alive once more.

(Newser) - The CIA can't just pretend its drone program doesn't exist to avoid releasing its records, a federal appeals court ruled today, reviving an ACLU lawsuit to obtain them. The CIA had rejected the ACLU's Freedom of Information Act request, saying it couldn't confirm or deny that...

Al-Awlaki&#39;s Dad Sues US
 Al-Awlaki's Dad Sues US 
Jul 19, 2012 3:00 AM CDT

Al-Awlaki's Dad Sues US

Along with mother of another American killed in drone strike

(Newser) - The families of three Americans killed in US drone strikes in Yemen are suing the government, arguing that it had no right to assassinate them without a trial. The wrongful-death suit was filed yesterday by Nasser al-Awlaki, father of Anwar al-Awlaki, and Sarah Khan, mother of Samir Khan, the BBC...

ACLU Agrees to Defend KKK
 ACLU Agrees to Defend KKK 
Jun 27, 2012 9:38 AM CDT

ACLU Agrees to Defend KKK

Georgia highway dispute creates unlikely bedfellows

(Newser) - The Ku Klux Klan has a right to adopt a highway , the American Civil Liberties Union said yesterday, announcing that it would accept the white supremacist group's request for representation in its dispute with the Georgia Department of Transportation. The ACLU has previously said it views the case as...

MySpace Parody Case: Court of Appeals Rules in Favor of Free Speech
Teens Can't Be Suspended for MySpace Parodies
court rulings
Jun 14, 2011 9:36 AM CDT

Teens Can't Be Suspended for MySpace Parodies

Schools cannot discipline students for offensive actions in their homes

(Newser) - Two Pennsylvania teens cannot be disciplined at school for MySpace parodies of their principals created on home computers, a federal appeals court ruled yesterday in a high-profile case involving students and free speech. The postings, however lewd or offensive, were not likely to cause significant disruptions at school and are...

ACLU Wants Court to Ban Assassinations

Argues that targeting a US citizen is unconstitutional

(Newser) - The ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights have made a bold move in their quest to get Anwar al-Awlaki off the CIA's "capture or kill" list. The rights groups filed a lawsuit yesterday asking a federal court to declare all assassinations unconstitutional, unless the target poses an imminent,...

ACLU: Feds Covered Up Role in Torture of US Citizen

Lawsuit tries to force CIA, FBI to come clean

(Newser) - The ACLU is suing the federal government for ignoring its Freedom of Information Act inquiry into the detention and torture of an American citizen overseas. Naji Hamdan, who spent 20 years in California before moving to the United Arab Emirates in 2006, was arrested in August 2008 and, according to...

ACLU Sues Arizona Over Immigration Law

Class-action suit hits 'shameful, un-American' law

(Newser) - The ACLU and several other civil rights groups yesterday sued Arizona over what one lawyer calls the state's "shameful, un-American" immigration law. The federal class-action suit charges that Arizona's law is unconstitutional, will lead to widespread racial profiling, and violates the free-speech rights of day laborers, the Los Angeles ...

Democrats' ID Card Plan: Get Your Fingerprints

'Biometrics' a big part of immigration reform proposal

(Newser) - Now it's the Democrats' turn to be accused of trying to violate civil liberties in the name of immigration reform. A crucial part of their plan calls for what amounts to a high-tech national ID card. It would have a "biometrics" component—namely fingerprints—and every worker would need...

Supreme Court Sides With Obama on Torture Photos

New law prevents pictures' release

(Newser) - The Supreme Court threw out an appeals court ruling ordering the disclosure of photographs of detainees being abused by their US captors today, citing a recent change in federal law that allows the pictures to be withheld. The justices issued a brief, and expected, order directing the 2nd US Circuit...

Taser Tells Cops: Don't Aim at Chest
Taser Tells Cops: Don't
Aim at Chest
Oct 21, 2009 11:35 AM CDT

Taser Tells Cops: Don't Aim at Chest

Company cites 'extremely low risk' but insists stun gun is safe

(Newser) - Stun gun maker Taser has issued an advisory to police departments suggesting cops not aim at a suspect’s chest because it poses an "extremely low" chance of triggering an "adverse cardiac event." The company insists its product is safe, but if something goes wrong, "it...

Obama Supports Extending Patriot Act Provisions

Administration tells Congress it wants to renew surveillance laws

(Newser) - The Obama administration supports extending three controversial provisions of the Patriot Act that are due to expire at the end of the year,  AP reports. The Justice Department tells Congress in a letter they will back preserving the post-9/11 law's authority to access business records, monitor so-called "lone...

Court: Ashcroft on Hook in Post-9/11 Detention Case

Bush attorney general slammed for imprisonment without charges

(Newser) - Former Bush attorney general John Ashcroft can be held personally responsible in a lawsuit brought by a US citizen who was detained on suspicion of being a material witness to terrorism but was never charged with a crime, an appellate court ruled today. Abdullah al-Kidd alleged the detention, begun in...

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