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Fusion Centers Part of Incipient Domestic Intelligence System, ACLU Warns (07/29/2008)
WASHINGTON – The nation’s growing network of “fusion centers” is part of an incipient de facto domestic intelligence system, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. Today the ACLU released a report detailing spying on Maryland peace demonstrators, a mysterious domestic-spying scandal at a California military base and other recent incidents, confirming that its warnings about fusion centers were coming true.

ACLU Urges Congress to Define Medical Privacy as Patient Control of Electronic Health Records (07/23/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today urges the House Energy and Commerce Committee to require patient control of medical records and compensation for privacy breaches to be a part of the standards set for converting to electronic patient records. The ACLU cautions that H.R. 6357, the “Protecting Records, Optimizing Treatment, and Easing Communication through Healthcare Technology Act of 2008” or the PRO(TECH)T Act, has insufficient privacy provisions and leaves patients vulnerable to bad, lost, stolen or misused data.

ACLU Urges Congress to Ensure Privacy of Electronic Health Records (06/25/2008)
Washington, DC – Today, lawmakers will be making decisions about the future of patients’ medical privacy as legislation aimed at pushing the health care industry toward a conversion from paper to electronic health records is due for a vote by a House panel.

ACLU Urges Congress to Maximize Medical Privacy of Electronic Health Records (06/04/2008)
Washington, DC—The American Civil Liberties Union urges the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health at today’s hearing to develop privacy and security standards at the same time the health care industry converts from paper to electronic patient records. The ACLU warns that without real patient controls and compensation for misused data, American medical records are extremely vulnerable to being lost or stolen from these systems.

ACLU Report: Government Must Abandon Misguided Approach to Pandemic Preparedness (01/14/2008)
WASHINGTON – As fears of a flu pandemic have grown, the Bush administration has pursued a misguided approach to pandemic preparation that relies on a law enforcement/national security approach, rather than a public health approach to the problem, and which exposes Americans to unnecessary risk. That is the finding of an expert report being released today by the American Civil Liberties Union at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.

New “Fusion Centers” Must Be Open, Carefully Monitored and Subject to Restraints, ACLU Says In New Report (12/12/2007)
WASHINGTON – New institutions now emerging in American life – “fusion centers” – are raising many questions about privacy and government openness and must be carefully bounded and monitored to ensure that they remain a legitimate and effective law enforcement tool, according to a new report released today by the American Civil Liberties Union.

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.

ACLU Seeks Information About Government Use of Brain Scanners in Interrogations (06/28/2006)
NEW YORK—In the face of suspicions that the government is using cutting-edge brain-scanning technologies on suspected terrorists being held overseas or at home, the American Civil Liberties Union today announced that it had filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with all the primary American security agencies.

ACLU of Ohio Encouraged by Lawmakers’ Approval of State DNA Testing Bill (05/18/2006)
COLUMBUS, OH -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio today said it was pleased by the passage of State Senate Bill 262 by the Ohio House, which extends the window of opportunity for convicted criminals to petition the state to test DNA evidence to prove their innocence. The bill received widespread support from criminal justice advocates, law enforcement and various legislators.

NYCLU Joins State Senator Tom Duane in Challenging Expansion of State's DNA Database (05/15/2006)
ALBANY, NY - At a news conference in Albany today, the New York Civil Liberties Union stood with State Senator Tom Duane as he called for answers to questions about legislation that would expand the state's DNA database to include DNA from all persons convicted of any crime, including non-violent felonies and misdemeanors.

NYCLU Urges Legislature to Let Families Make Medical Decisions for Incapacitated Patients (03/29/2006)
NEW YORK -- One year after Terri Schiavo's husband won his fight to honor his wife's wishes by removing her feeding tube, the New York Civil Liberties Union called upon legislative leaders to put health care decisions in families' hands by passing the Family Health Care Decisions Act.

Following ACLU of New Mexico Lawsuit, Surgical Center Agrees to Honor Patients’ End-of-Life Wishes (02/02/2006)
ALBUQUERQUE – The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico today said it has secured an agreement from the New Mexico Orthopaedic Surgery Center to stop making patients sign away their right-to-die arrangements as a prerequisite for receiving care.

ACLU of New Mexico Defends Patient's End-of-Life Wishes (06/09/2005)
ALBUQUERQUE -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico announced today that it has sued the New Mexico Orthopaedic Surgery Center for requiring a patient to abandon his living will prior to receiving medical care, which the ACLU said violates the New Mexico Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act.

ACLU of Massachusetts Warns that Random DNA Dragnets Hinder, Not Help, Crime Investigations (04/15/2005)
BOSTON, MA -- Reports that police have arrested a suspect in connection with the murder of Truro resident Christa Worthington based on a DNA sample taken more than a year ago highlights the importance of not over-whelming the state crime lab with ineffective and wasteful DNA roundups of ordinary citizens, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said today.

U.S. Supreme Court Protects Liberty by Upholding Terri Schiavo's Decision to Discontinue Medical Treatment, Says ACLU of Florida (03/24/2005)
MIAMI - The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida today welcomed the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of a petition forcing the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tubes, a decision that protects the severely brain-damaged woman's right to withdraw her own life-sustaining treatment and prevents politicians from interfering with intensely personal medical decisions.

ACLU of Florida Welcomes Judge Whittemore's Ruling in the Schiavo Case (03/22/2005)
MIAMI, FL -- Today Judge Whittemore found that even with the special law passed by Congress there is no basis to set aside the legal procedures in Florida for how these difficult, but intensely personal decisions are to be made. Both Congress and the President needlessly prolonged this tragic saga.

ACLU of Florida Criticizes Congress's Attempt to Subvert Court Rulings in Schiavo Case (03/18/2005)
MIAMI, FL -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida believes that Congressional leaders, including Speaker Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Tom Delay and Tom Davis, Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Reform, acted inappropriately by attempting to interfere in the legal proceedings involving Terri Schiavo by the issuance of a Congressional subpoena.

ACLU of Massachusetts Calls for End to DNA Dragnet (01/10/2005)
BOSTON - Calling the use of DNA sweeps unproductive and a potential violation of the Fourth Amendment rights of individuals asked to give such samples, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts today called upon law enforcement officials to discontinue use of a DNA dragnet in attempting to solve the Christa Worthington murder case in the Cape Cod town of Truro.

ACLU of New Jersey Wins Victory In DNA Law Challenge (12/22/2004)
NEWARK, NJ - The Superior Court of New Jersey in Mercer County ruled today that New Jersey must limit its new DNA collection law so that it does not violate the constitutional right of freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.

ACLU Challenges California Law Permitting Government Seizure of DNA Samples from Innocent People (12/07/2004)
SAN FRANCISCO - The California affiliates of the American Civil Liberties Union today filed a class-action lawsuit challenging portions of a new initiative, Proposition 69, that requires DNA testing of people who are arrested for but never convicted of a crime.