News & Commentary
How Racial Bias Corrupts Juries
This piece originally appeared on Salon.
By By Barry Scheck, Co-Director, The Innocence Project
NYPD Shutters Muslim Mapping Unit – But What About Other Tactics?
The New York Police Department is disbanding the unit that mapped New York’s Muslim communities, their places of worship, and businesses they frequent – based on nothing but their religious beliefs and associations. To this we say: Good Riddance.
By By Noa Yachot, Communications Strategist, ACLU
Congratulations! The Taxes You Just Paid Might Be On Their Way to a Private Prison
Ah, April 15th. Tax Day.
When you p
By By Hedy Weinberg, ACLU of Tennessee
The FBI Derails the 9/11 Hearings at Guantánamo
The oft-delayed, secrecy-plagued 9/11 military commission hearings came to an abrupt halt today before the scheduled arguments surrounding the competency of defendant Ramzi bin al Shibh even began. Just minutes after Army Col. James Pohl called the courtroom roll, defense lawyers revealed that, hours earlier, they had filed an emergency motion seeking to stop this week's proceedings and asking the court to investigate yet another instance of alleged government meddling with defense counsel in this death penalty case.
By By Brett Max Kaufman, Legal Fellow, ACLU National Security Project
Curious Cop Downloaded Hundreds of Private Prescription Records Because He Could
Today, the ACLU and ACLU of Utah filed an amicus brief in support of a Utah paramedic whose Fourth Amendment rights were violated when police swept up his confidential prescription records in a dragnet search. Law enforcement’s disregard for basic legal protections in the case is shocking.
By By Nathan Freed Wessler, Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
How a Father Gets Deported for a Traffic Violation
If you ask the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), it doesn't deport parents whose most serious crime is a traffic offense. In fact, according to its statistics, 98 percent of people deported fell into one of DHS's "priorities" – designed to deport people who pose a threat to public safety, national security, and border security.
By By Neema Singh Guliani, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
The Perversity of Profiling
The Justice Department is considering revised racial profiling guidance that, if issued, could set back race relations and basic fairness in this country. We hope that it does not make that mistake.
By By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Sandra Fulton, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
The Democracy Restoration Act: Preventing a Lifetime Punishment
Tayna Fogle is a mother of two, grandmother of six, a leader in her community, and a powerful example of how difficult it is for citizens to regain their voting rights.
By By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Tyler Ray, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
SEC Blocking Update to Electronic Privacy Laws
During the long, hard fight to bring the outdated Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) into the 21st century, advocates have run into the most unlikely of opponents: the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Yes, the SEC—the agency charged with regulating the securities industry—has brought the ECPA update to a screeching halt. Yesterday the ACLU, along with the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Tax Reform and the Center for Democracy and Technology, sent the agency a letter calling them out on their opposition.
By By Sandra Fulton, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
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