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ACLU Continues Monitoring Illegitimate Guantánamo Hearings This Week (03/12/2008)
NEW YORK – Continuing its role as vigilant monitor of the U.S. Military Commission hearings, the American Civil Liberties Union will be at Guantánamo Bay this week to observe the proceedings of Afghan national Mohammed Jawad, Saudi national Ahmed Mohammad al-Darbi, and Canadian national Omar Ahmed Khadr. The ACLU has attended every military commission proceeding since the system’s inception in 2004 and has seen no indication that the tribunals are fair, impartial or legitimate.

Stunning New Report on Domestic NSA Dragnet Spying Confirms ACLU Surveillance Warnings (03/12/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union responded today to a stunning new report that the NSA has effectively revived the Orwellian "Total Information Awareness" domestic-spying program that was banned by Congress in 2003. In response, the ACLU said that it was filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for more information about the spying. And, the group announced that it was moving its "Surveillance Clock" one minute closer to midnight.

ACLU Calls for Greater Congressional Oversight of HUD and its Failure to Meet its Obligations Under VAWA (03/11/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties today called on Congress to examine the failure of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to fully implement the requirements of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) as it relates to victims of domestic violence. The House Financial Services Committee and Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee are slated to begin oversight hearings of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) this week. The ACLU urges these committees to ask HUD why it leaves battered women and children out in the cold.

ACLU Sues Over Failed Privately-Run Alternative School In Atlanta (03/11/2008)
ATLANTA – In a case with national implications, the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Georgia filed a class action lawsuit today against the Atlanta Independent School System (AISS) and Community Education Partners (CEP) for violating students’ constitutional right to an adequate public education. CEP is a for-profit corporation paid nearly $7 million a year by the city to run its alternative school, which is among the most dangerous and lowest performing schools in Georgia.

Congress Must Act to Keep the Internet Free from Censorship (03/11/2008)
Washington, DC – Testifying today before the House Judiciary Committee hearing on net neutrality, the director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office, Caroline Fredrickson, urged Congress to act to safeguard free speech on the Internet. “Congress should act to protect the rights of all Internet users to send and receive lawful content free of censorship from government or business,” Fredrickson said. “Restoring meaningful rules that protect Internet users from corporate censorship is vital to the future of free speech on the Internet.”

Death Sentence Of Mentally Ill Man Reversed (03/11/2008)
NASHVILLE – The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has reversed the conviction and death sentence of Richard Taylor, a severely mentally ill man who has twice been forced to stand trial despite his mental illness and likely incompetence. Taylor was represented during the appeal of his conviction by the American Civil Liberties Union and Kelly Gleason, then a private attorney and now with the Office of the Tennessee Post-Conviction Defender.

New FISA Compromise Is an Improvement, Still Raises Concerns (03/11/2008)
Washington, DC -- Statement from Caroline Fredrickson, Director of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office on the proposed House FISA compromise legislation:

Time Has Come for Real Oversight to End ICE Incompetence, ACLU Says (03/11/2008)
Washington, DC – In light of a hearing examining Department of Homeland Security law enforcement operations, the American Civil Liberties Union called once again for the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security to conduct true oversight over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), one of the worst violators of civil liberties among federal agencies. ICE has conducted dragnet-style raids of homes and businesses to sweep for immigrants; separated parents from their children and held them without due process in immigration detention facilities; and been responsible for numerous deaths due to squalid conditions.

ACLU Condemns Bush Veto Of Intelligence Bill Preventing Torture (03/08/2008)
WASHINGTON - In a brazen move signaling a callous disregard for human rights, President Bush today vetoed the 2008 Intelligence Authorization Act largely due to a provision that would have applied the Army Field Manual (AFM) on Interrogations to all government agencies, including the CIA. The AFM, which currently applies only to the Department of Defense, prohibits specific acts of torture and abuse, including waterboarding, and specifically authorizes an array of time-tested interrogation methods. During recent congressional testimony, CIA Director Michael Hayden admitted the agency has waterboarded detainees.

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.

ACLU SUES TO PROTECT EQUAL OPPORTUNITY (03/07/2008)
Oklahoma voters filed a protest on March 7, 2008 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 ballot measures that California businessman Ward Connerly and his organization known as the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) have spearheaded across the country.

Fired Art Teacher Wins $65,000 Settlement from Chesterfield County School Board (03/07/2008)
Chesterfield County, VA — The ACLU of Virginia today announced that it has reached an agreement with the Chesterfield County School Board in the case of former Monacan High School art teacher Stephen Murmer. Murmer was fired in January 2007 for creating paintings rendered by transferring paint from his body onto canvasses. The paintings were produced at Murmer’s own expense and during his private time away from work.

International Human Rights Experts Denounce U.S. Record On Racial And Ethnic Discrimination (03/07/2008)
GENEVA -- A United Nations committee today issued a strongly worded critique of the United States' record on racial discrimination and urged the government to make sweeping reforms to policies affecting racial and ethnic minorities, women, and immigrants in this country. The American Civil Liberties Union called on the U.S. government to take vigorous steps to implement the committee's recommendations and fulfill its human rights treaty obligations.

ACLU Lawsuit Charges Grossly Inadequate Medical Care At State Prison In Nevada (03/06/2008)
ELY, NV – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a class-action lawsuit today against the director of Nevada’s Department of Corrections and other top governmental officials in Nevada for failing to rectify a pervasive pattern of grossly inadequate medical care at the Ely State Prison that creates a substantial risk of serious medical harm for each of the prison’s 1,000 inmates. The lawsuit charges that the prison lacks the most basic elements of an adequate prison health care system and deprives prisoners of the minimal civilized measure of life’s necessities.

Demanda legal de la ACLU denuncia pésima atención médica en prisión estatal del estado de Nevada (03/06/2008)
ELY, NEVADA – La Unión de Libertades Civiles de los Estados Unidos presentó una demanda de acción de clase contra el director del Departamento de Prisiones del estado de Nevada, así como otros funcionarios con puestos elevados en el gobierno del estado, debido a que no han corregido el problema de la pésima atención médica que impera en la Prisión Estatal de Ely, la cual crea un riesgo considerable de graves daños a la salud de los 1,000 reos de la prisión. La demanda acusa que el reclusorio no cuenta ni con los elementos más básicos de un sistema de atención médica adecuado y priva a los prisioneros de las necesidades vitales más fundamentales de una sociedad civilizada.

ACLU Asks Judge To Review Lawsuit Challenging FBI Brutality (03/05/2008)
SAN JUAN, PUERTO RICO - The American Civil Liberties Union today will ask a federal appeals court to allow a case brought by journalists who were kicked, punched and pepper sprayed by FBI agents to move forward. The ACLU will ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit to reverse an earlier decision by the district court that sided with the FBI agents and ignored important constitutional issues raised by the journalists.

ACLU Calls for True Oversight of DHS Failures (03/05/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today responded to the House Judiciary Committee’s questioning of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff with a question of its own: After five years of mistakes, why is an agency that consistently overlooks civil liberties and privacy concerns be still allowed to violate the law?

ACLU Slams FBI Privacy Violations (03/05/2008)
Washington, DC – In testimony today before the Senate Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller confirmed the misuse of National Security Letters (NSLs) – which allow for the collection of personal information without court approval – to secure Americans’ personal information during FBI investigations. A report from the Office of the Inspector General on the FBI’s use of NSLs is expected soon, though it was due in December of last year.

ACLU Urges Senate: Ask FBI the Tough Questions (03/05/2008)
Washington, DC – As the Senate Judiciary Committee was set to question FBI Director Robert Mueller III today, the American Civil Liberties Union urged the committee to ask Director Mueller the tough questions about the bureau’s civil liberties record.

Texas School Board Agrees To Stop Teaching Unconstitutional Bible Class In Public Schools (03/05/2008)
ODESSA, TX – The Ector County School Board agreed today to stop teaching a course in its public schools that unconstitutionally promotes a particular interpretation of the Bible that is not shared by Jews, Catholics, Orthodox Christians, and most Protestants.