Home : Drug Policy

ACLU Urges House of Representatives to Protect Students’ Fourth Amendment Rights (09/19/2006)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the House of Representatives to protect students’ Fourth Amendment rights and reject a bill granting schools broad authority to search students and their personal belongings. H.R. 5295, the “Student Teacher Safety Act of 2006,” would allow school officials to conduct random, wide-scale searches of students without having any individualized suspicion that a particular student is participating in criminal activity or breaking school rules.

Medical Marijuana Patients Get Say in Counties’ Legal Challenge to California Medical Marijuana Law (08/04/2006)
SAN DIEGO – A San Diego Superior Court ruled today that lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Safe Access and the Drug Policy Alliance will be permitted to intervene in a lawsuit brought by several California counties seeking to thwart the state’s Compassionate Use Act, which makes medical marijuana legal for patients with a doctor’s recommendation. The groups joined the case on behalf of medical marijuana patients and their caregivers and doctors in order to assure their adequate representation in the legal proceedings.

ACLU of Maryland Declares Victory as High Court Unanimously Rules Pregnancy Prosecutions Are Illegal (08/03/2006)
BALTIMORE, MD – The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland applauded today’s decision by the Maryland Court of Appeals unanimously ruling that the reckless endangerment statute does not apply to women who take drugs while pregnant.

Adults Have Privacy Right to Use Marijuana in the Home, Says Alaska Judge in Landmark Ruling (07/11/2006)
JUNEAU — In a landmark ruling, an Alaska state court judge has upheld adults' right to possess and use small amounts of marijuana within their homes. The American Civil Liberties Union, which challenged the law, said the ruling confirmed that the state constitution protects adults who use and possess marijuana in their homes from police surveillance, searches, arrest and prosecution.

Landmark Settlement Reached in Notorious School Drug Raid Caught on Tape (07/11/2006)
GOOSE CREEK, SC -- The American Civil Liberties Union announced today that a federal court has approved a landmark settlement in its lawsuit challenging police tactics in the high-profile drug raid of Stratford High School in Goose Creek, South Carolina. The settlement includes a consent decree that sets a new standard for students’ rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure.

ACLU and Others Step In To Defend California’s Medical Marijuana Law From Rogue Counties’ Attack (07/07/2006)
SAN DIEGO - The American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Safe Access and the Drug Policy Alliance moved today to intervene in a lawsuit brought by several California counties that seeks to overturn the state’s Compassionate Use Act, which makes medical marijuana legal for patients with a doctor’s recommendation.

July's ACLU Freedom Files: Drug Wars Shows the Sham That Is the "War on Drugs" (07/06/2006)
NEW YORK — The ACLU Freedom Files helps viewers get to know everyday people whose rights are threatened and shows the human side of our fight to protect civil liberties. The "Drug Wars" episode, premiering this July, shows how the "war on drugs" has turned out to be a war on the American people.

ACLU Asks Alaska Court to Strike Down Unconstitutional Marijuana Law (06/30/2006)
JUNEAU, AK – The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska today filed legal papers urging a court to strike down as unconstitutional a newly enacted law criminalizing adults’ possession of small amounts of marijuana in the privacy of their homes. A hearing on the matter has been set for Wednesday, July 5, in state Superior Court in Juneau, Alaska.

ACLU Files Lawsuit to Protect Privacy Rights of Alaskans After Governor Signs Unconstitutional Marijuana Law (06/05/2006)
JUNEAU, AK - The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska today filed a state constitutional challenge to a newly enacted law criminalizing adults’ possession of small amounts of marijuana in the privacy of their homes. The ACLU of Alaska’s lawsuit seeks an immediate court order blocking enforcement of the law and an eventual ruling permanently striking down the legislation as unconstitutional.

ACLU Wins Expanded Protections for Needle Exchange Participants (06/01/2006)
BRIDGEPORT, CT – The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed a ruling by a federal court expanding protections to needle exchange program participants. The court expanded the scope of a previous order, which prohibited the Bridgeport Police Department from harassing or arresting individuals who possess needles, ruling that other forms of injection equipment are protected as well.

ACLU and Sentencing Experts Again Call for Federal Courts to Uphold Judges’ Right to Reject 100-to-1 Crack/Powder Sentencing Disparity (06/01/2006)
SIOUX CITY, IA – The American Civil Liberties Union and a number of prominent criminal law and sentencing experts filed the fourth in a series of friend-of-the-court briefs today supporting judges’ right to depart from the notorious 100-to-1 crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity imposed by Congress. The case, U.S. v. Spears, is being argued in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.