News & Commentary
The Promise and Hope of Detroit
"Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world", as Percy Bysshe Shelley put it. I was reminded of this power that poetry has to illuminate social and political realities while reading Jamaal May's "There are Birds Here." May was born and raised in Detroit and his poem, dedicated to his native city, insists that Detroit is no desolate wasteland, but a place where children live, play and dream.
By By Dennis Parker, Director, ACLU Racial Justice Program
Guantánamo Dispatch: When a Guilty Plea is the Way Out
I watched a man yesterday plead guilty to war crimes in a military commission, and it troubled me. It troubled me because just the day before, I watched the defense counsel in another commission proceeding taking place at Guantánamo this week make compelling arguments that the very same charges should be dismissed because they are not legitimate war crimes.
By By Marcellene Hearn, Senior Staff Attorney, ACLU National Security Project
New Location Tracking Video Released
Our crack communications staff here at the ACLU have taken the graphical blog post I did on location tracking, and what it might look like in the future, and turned it into a snappy new video.
By By Jay Stanley, Senior Policy Analyst, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
In Court Today: Challenging DOJ Secrecy on Use of Warrantless Cell Phone Location Tracking
Way back in 2007, we filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking information about how and when the government obtains cell phone location data without a warrant. Since then, we have learned that the practice of using cell phones as tracking devices is widespread, growing and conducted under various, conflicting legal standards, but the specifics of cell phone use in criminal investigations have largely stayed hidden (exceptions exist). This lack of transparency has stifled public debate on the practice, prevented it from being properly evaluated in the courts, and kept individuals who have been tracked from ever knowing about the surveillance.
By By Bennett Stein, ACLU Speech, Privacy and Technology Project
Rebooting Net Neutrality
The Federal Communications Commission has taken the first step in rebooting the net neutrality rules. Today's announcement by FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler follows a major D.C. Circuit decision this year, which struck down the existing rules requiring that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) treat all data on the internet equally, while keeping the door open for future FCC action to prevent broadband providers from discriminating against or blocking certain websites or services.
By By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
AT&T's First Transparency Report Reveals Warrantless Demands for Customer Data
This was originally posted by the ACLU of Northern California.
By By Matthew Cagle, Technology and Civil Liberties Policy Attorney,, ACLU of Northern California
While My Grandfather Fought in WWII, My Grandmother Was Locked in a U.S. Concentration Camp
This piece was originally published on In These Times.
By Carl Takei, ACLU National Prison Project
The Voters of Cranston, Rhode Island, Deserve to be Treated Equally
Imagine that you were treated as three-fourths of a person in every aspect of your daily life. When you want to binge-watch House of Cards on Netflix, you're only allowed to watch the first three-fourths of the season. When you buy a cup of Starbucks coffee, you get three-fourths of a cup. When you get a paycheck, you're paid three-fourths of what your coworkers are paid. And when you go into the polling booth to cast your vote, your vote is only counted as three-fourths of a vote.
By By Sean Young, Staff Attorney, ACLU
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