News & Commentary
Law Enforcement’s Lobbying Priority In States Is Fighting Transparency
The ACLU has been working in states across the country on a variety of laws pertaining to law enforcement agencies and their power to gather and access information about us—including location tracking, drones, automatic license plate readers, and access to our electronic communications content. From my vantage point in the ACLU national office working with our state affiliates to advance legislation, I have a unique view of legislative battles taking place across the nation. And what I have seen is that regardless of the issue or the state, there has been one common theme in law enforcement opposition to the bills: they don’t want you to know what they’re doing.
By By Allie Bohm, Advocacy & Policy Strategist, ACLU
On the Agenda: May 12 - 16
If you tuned into John Oliver’s new show last Sunday, you were reminded of one indisputable truth of the internet age: there is no wrong time for a viral video of animals being totally adorable. Hats off to the host of Last Week Tonight, who followed up a segment asking hard questions about the death penalty with a video of a hamster eating a tiny burrito.
By By Rachel Nusbaum, Media Strategist, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
DOJ Proposal on Law Enforcement Hacking Would Undermine Longstanding Check on Government Power
At the urging of the Department of Justice, the U.S. Courts’ Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure is considering whether to bless procedures that would allow law enforcement to hack into computers, including by the use of controversial “zero-day exploits.” As Bloomberg News reported this morning, the proposed rule change raises privacy concerns. It has the potential to threaten internet security and to facilitate violations of the Fourth Amendment.
By By Nathan Freed Wessler, Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
It's Time for Love to Win
There is a natural and sincere completeness to our family. Christy and I know that nothing is missing. We know that nothing is unintended.
By By Christy Berghoff & Victoria Kidd
"I should not have had to sue my employer to have a healthy pregnancy or keep breastfeeding"
As a mother of three children, working in the manufacturing industry, I am truly in the minority: I'm one of 30 women in our facility and the only one with small children. Still, I hardly thought that in this day and age I would have to fight just to have a healthy pregnancy or continue breastfeeding after returning to work.
By By Bobbi Bockoras
Mary Frances Berry: 60 Years After Brown, "The students didn't fail us; we failed the students."
Within a minute or two of speaking with Mary Frances Berry, you first hear the crackle of enthusiasm and then you notice the matter-of-fact way she can describe something awful, like police intimidation in the South, and chuckle, seemingly at the absurdity of it all. A life-long veteran of the civil rights and education reform movements, Berry has assumed many roles in her pursuit of blacks' and women's basic civil rights.
By By Matthew Harwood, Media Strategist, ACLU
What the House is Really Doing on Immigration Today
No one knows when, or if, House leadership will take up immigration reform.
By By Georgeanne M. Usova, Washington Legislative Office
Dear Senate, Demand to Read Drone Memos Before Voting on Barron Nomination
The ACLU wrote today to the full Senate membership urging senators to read key memos on the drone targeted killing program before voting on the nomination of David Barron to the First Circuit Court of Appeals. You can read the full letter here.
By By Zak Newman, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
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