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9/11 Victims' Families Send Letter Decrying Politicization Of Guantánamo Military Commissions (06/03/2008)
NEW YORK – Family members of 9/11 victims have sent a letter today to Susan Crawford, Convening Authority of the Guantánamo military commissions, sharply criticizing the politicization of the system. According to news reports, a Pentagon representative secretly invited an outspoken supporter of the military commissions to Guantánamo Bay for Thursday's arraignment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four other detainees on terrorism-related charges, but did not make this option available to family members who have expressed criticism of the commissions. This type of politicization is symptomatic of the unconstitutional and biased tribunal system, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

La ACLU felicita al Subcomité Judicial (06/03/2008)
Washington, DC—La Unión Americana de los Derechos Civiles, o ACLU, por sus siglas en ingles, felicitó al Subcomité Judicial de la Cámara de Representantes sobre Inmigración, Ciudadanía, Refugiados, Seguridad Fronteriza y Derecho Internacional, por haber convocado para mañana [4 de junio] una muy necesitada audiencia para supervisar los problemas de atención médica de las personas detenidas por quebrantar las leyes de inmigración. La ACLU exhorta al Congreso a efectuar una investigación concienzuda acerca del incumplimiento de la autoridades de inmigración y aduanales (Immigration and Customs Enforcement, o ICE, por sus siglas en inglés) en cuanto a brindar atención médica básica, lo cual ha conllevado al sufrimiento innecesario e incluso la muerte de los detenidos.

Mentally Ill Man Receives Life Sentence After 18 Years On Tennessee Death Row (06/03/2008)
NASHVILLE – A severely mentally ill man who spent 18 years on death row and whose conviction and death sentence were reversed by a Tennessee appeals court in March was sentenced to life imprisonment today. Richard Taylor, twice forced to stand trial despite his severe mental illness, agreed to the sentence in exchange for pleading guilty to the 1981 murder of a Tennessee prison guard – a crime committed only after prison officials stopped giving Taylor his anti-psychotic medication.

Court Blocks Local Arizona Anti-Solicitation Law (06/02/2008)
PHOENIX - The U.S District Court in Phoenix issued a preliminary order today stopping the town of Cave Creek, Arizona from enforcing an anti-solicitation ordinance that infringes on the free speech rights of day laborers in that town. Pending a final ruling in the case, the order ensures that day laborers will be able to exercise their constitutional rights by expressing their availability to work by standing in public areas without fear of being cited under the ordinance.

El tribunal suspende ley local que prohíbe solicitar empleo en Arizona (06/02/2008)

Judge Orders Children Returned To Their Families (06/02/2008)
AUSTIN, TX - Judge Barbara Walther ordered the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services today to return more than 400 children removed from the Yearning for Zion Ranch in Eldorado, Texas to their families. The order follows a Texas Supreme Court decision last week holding that Judge Walther erred when she initially granted the state temporary custody of the children without requiring the state first to submit, in accordance with Texas law, evidence of a continuing threat of physical harm to the children.

Abrupt Dismissal Of Judge Is More Evidence Of Military Commissions' Illegitimacy (05/30/2008)
NEW YORK - Providing more evidence of the illegitimacy of the Bush administration's fundamentally flawed military commission system, the Pentagon abruptly dismissed judge Army Col. Peter Brownback without explanation late yesterday from the case of Omar Khadr, a Canadian detainee. According to Khadr's lawyer, Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler, the timing of the judge's removal was suspicious because Brownback had recently threatened to suspend the case if prosecutors refused to hand over important records about Khadr's confinement to the defense lawyers. Just last week, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the legal system under which Khadr was detained and prosecuted at Guantanamo violated international law.

ACLU Urges Court to Correct Constitutional Errors (05/30/2008)
AUSTIN -- The ACLU is encouraged by 51st District Judge Barbara Walther’s scheduling of a hearing for 2 p.m. today to address yesterday's Texas Supreme Court decision that the state's removal of over 400 children from the Yearning for Zion Ranch (YFZ) in Eldorado was unwarranted. The Supreme Court decision let stand an appellate ruling that Judge Walther must vacate her order granting custody of all of the YFZ children to the Department of Family and Protective Services.

Texas Supreme Court Calls Removal Of Children From Yearning For Zion Ranch "Unwarranted" (05/29/2008)
AUSTIN, TEX. – The Texas Supreme Court today agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union that the state failed to provide evidence sufficient to justify its removal of children from 38 mothers at the Yearning For Zion Ranch (YFZ) in Eldorado. In its ruling, the Supreme Court denied the state’s challenge to an appeals court finding that the removal was unwarranted, effectively requiring the state to return the children to the custody of their mothers.

ACLU Submits Brief In Texas FLDS Case Saying State Can't Separate Families Based Solely On Beliefs (05/29/2008)
AUSTIN, TX -- The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas today submitted a friend of the court brief with the Texas Supreme Court opposing a petition from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (TDFPS) to retain custody of the children of 38 mothers from the Yearning For Zion Ranch (YFZ) in Eldorado, Texas.

Alaska Becomes 9th State to Reject Real ID (05/29/2008)
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin returned a bill to the legislature that would prevent the state from funding implementation of the federal Real ID Act. By neither signing nor vetoing the bill 20 days after overwhelming passage in the legislature, Governor Palin allowed the bill to become law, effective August of this year. Real ID is a federal mandate imposing a national ID card on all Americans through their state drivers' licenses.

ACLU Obtains Heavily Redacted CIA Documents Regarding Waterboarding (05/27/2008)

Supreme Court Decisions Protect Workers From Retaliation For Reporting On-The-Job Discrimination (05/27/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union welcomed two decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court today protecting workers from retaliation when they complain about on-the-job discrimination.

ACLU Praises Adoption of Amendment Requiring Video Recording of Interrogations (05/23/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC - The American Civil Liberties Union praises last night's House of Representatives floor vote that adopted, by a margin of 218-192 (including 15 Republicans) the Holt/Tauscher/Grijalva/Schakowsky Amendment to the Duncan Hunter National Defense Authorization Act. The amendment requires the recording and retention of videos of strategic interrogations of persons under the custody or control of the Defense Department. The amendment would bring these interrogations into line with recommended best practices for military and law enforcement interrogations - increasing accountability for compliance with the McCain Anti-Torture Amendment and other anti-torture laws.

ACLU Rejects FISA “Compromise” (05/23/2008)
Washington, DC – Responding to a proposal from Senate Intelligence Ranking Member, Senator Christopher Bond (R-MO), the American Civil Liberties Union today criticized yet another attempt to gut the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and grant immunity to telecommunications companies. The proposal, which has the backing of the Bush administration, would allow for cases against the telecommunications companies to be held in a secret court and redundantly would restate the provision already in FISA making it the exclusive means to wiretap within the United States – after weakening FISA to allow the president’s warrantless wiretapping program to proceed virtually unfettered.

Canadian Supreme Court Rules Guantanamo Detention And Prosecution Of Prisoner Violated U.S. And International Law (05/23/2008)
NEW YORK - The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruled today that Canadian officials violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - analogous to the U.S. Bill of Rights - by turning over interrogation records of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr to the United States. The court reached this result after finding that, at the time Canadian officials interrogated him, Khadr was being detained and prosecuted at Guantanamo in violation of U.S. and international law.

ACLU Lawsuit Challenges Racial Discrimination In Alabama School District (05/22/2008)
MONROEVILLE, AL – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Alabama filed a complaint in a class-action lawsuit last night charging Monroe County school officials with subjecting African American students at Monroeville Junior High School to the widespread use of racial epithets and slurs, racially-motivated discipline, and racially segregated classrooms, practices that deny African American students their constitutional right to equal educational opportunities.

ACLU Applauds Menendez Legislation Calling for Standards Governing Basic Medical Care of Immigrant Detainees (05/21/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC—The American Civil Liberties Union applauds Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) for his leadership to provide adequate medical care for detainees in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Menendez introduced the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008 (S.2005), a bill designed to ensure adequate medical care for all detainees held by ICE. The legislation, a companion to H.R. 5950, introduced by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), requires ICE to also report detainee deaths to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Department of Justice Offices of Inspector General.

ACLU Demands Government Restore Basic Legal Protections To Meatpacking Workers Arrested In Iowa Raids (05/21/2008)
DES MOINES, IA– The American Civil Liberties Union sharply condemns the denial of basic legal protections to immigrant workers arrested in Postville, Iowa meatpacking raids last week and calls on the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to eliminate arbitrary and unreasonable deadlines for mass plea bargains. The U.S. Attorney's Office and DHS have implemented a troubling system that appears to be designed to undermine fairness and due process by criminally prosecuting the over 300 immigrant workers for identity theft and fraud and rushing them through criminal proceedings with insufficient legal representation.

ACLU Tells Congress to Strengthen Whistleblower Protections (05/21/2008)
Washington, DC – Testifying at a hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security today, the American Civil Liberties Union urged members to extend whistleblower protections to intelligence and law enforcement employees. ACLU National Security Policy Counsel and FBI whistleblower, Mike German, was joined on the panel by Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Bassem Youssef, another whistleblower who currently works in the FBI’s counter-terrorism division. Both German and Youssef complained to superiors at the FBI about the handling of counter-terrorism investigations. The ACLU is calling on Congress to offer better protection for government employees who uncover wrongdoing or national security breaches.