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ACLU of Arkansas Says Watson Chapel School Dress Code Violates Free Speech (02/22/2007)
LITTLE ROCK, AR - The American Civil Liberties Union of Arkansas filed papers in federal court today charging that the dress code policy of the Watson Chapel School District violates the free expression rights of students. The move comes in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU on behalf of Watson Chapel students who were disciplined for wearing black armbands to protest the school dress code and its harsh, inconsistent enforcement.

ACLU Calls on New Jersey Supreme Court to Protect Reproductive Freedom and Free Speech (02/20/2007)
TRENTON, NJ - The American Civil Liberties Union today called on the New Jersey Supreme Court to protect women’s reproductive rights and physicians’ free speech rights. The ACLU urged the court to overturn a lower court medical malpractice decision that would have the effect of improperly forcing physicians to give a non-medical, value-laden speech to their patients before performing an abortion.

ACLU Lauds Senate Hearing on Science Saying, "Fund Research Not Ideology" (02/07/2007)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union applauded the Senate Commerce Committee’s hearing today on oversight of government research on climate change, noting that recent government funded scientific studies have often put politics above facts.

ACLU Challenges Baltimore County Sign Ordinance That Unconstitutionally Restricts Political Speech (02/02/2007)
BALTIMORE - Alarmed that Baltimore County has elected - for the second time in a decade - to waste taxpayer resources trying to restrict the free speech rights of it own residents, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland today filed suit seeking to overturn a new county law that unconstitutionally limits when individuals can place political signs on their private property.

City Cannot Block Release of NYPD Materials from Republican National Convention, Federal Court Rules (01/22/2007)
NEW YORK - A federal judge today rejected the city's attempt to block the New York Civil Liberties Union from making public extensive information on the mass arrests and detentions that occurred during the 2004 Republic National Convention.

ACLU Welcomes Senate Stand on Free Speech (01/19/2007)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union praised the Senate for removing a provision from the “Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007” before passing the measure late last night.

Rhode Island Officials Rule School Can't Censor Teen's Yearbook Photo (01/19/2007)
PROVIDENCE, RI - In an important victory for students' free speech rights, the Rhode Island Department of Education today ordered Portsmouth High School to publish a yearbook photo of a student dressed in a medieval costume. The education commissioner agreed with the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island that school officials improperly used the district's "zero tolerance" weapons policy to reject 17-year-old Patrick Agin's senior portrait because he posed with a prop sword.

North Carolina Appeals Court Allows ACLU Lawsuit Over Court Swearing-in Practice to Go Forward (01/16/2007)
RALEIGH, NC - A unanimous North Carolina Court of Appeals today ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina can proceed with its lawsuit challenging state courts' practice of refusing to allow people of non-Christian faiths to swear religious oaths using any text other than the Christian Bible.

“Santa’s Butt” Can Come to Maine (01/04/2007)
PORTLAND, ME - In what may have been the most talked about censorship case of the holiday season, Santa and the brewing company that wished to put him on their labels came out on top. In a letter dated December 22, 2006, Maine’s Liquor Licensing Unit Inspector Supervisor Jeffrey Austin told Shelton Brothers Brewers that they could register the label for “Santa’s Butt Winter Porter”, which features Santa’s fully-clothed derriere perched atop a barrel (or “butt”) of beer.

ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit On Behalf of Pennsylvania Student Suspended Over Remark (12/19/2006)
PITTSBURGH — The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania today filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a former Beaver County student charging that the school district violated the student’s First Amendment rights when it punished him for a single, spontaneous remark he made in response to repeated teasing.

ACLU Says Virginia Schoolteacher Has Right to Artistic Expression (12/14/2006)
RICHMOND, VA - The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia today called the widely publicized suspension of an art teacher in Chesterfield County a real-life constitutional lesson for students. Chesterfield officials suspended Stephen Murmer from his job as a public school art teacher because of the unique artwork he creates in his personal time, namely floral and abstract paintings produced by using his buttocks. The ACLU said that the First Amendment protects Murmer's right to produce and sell his paintings, which he does entirely outside of school, on his own time, and at his own expense.