News & Commentary
Equality in the Culture and Equality in the Courts
In the last 25 years or so, the attitude of Courts toward people making rights claims about sexual orientation has undergone a stark reversal. The Supreme Court of 1986 in Bowers v. Hardwick thought it "at best facetious" to claim that the constitution prevented states from making the intimate relationships of gay people a crime. By 2003, the Court said gay people had the right not to have their relationships "demeaned" by laws that did just that. Lawrence v. Texas.
By By Matt Coles, Director, ACLU Center for Equality
In Court Today: Defending Medical Records from Warrantless Search
I will be in federal district court in Oregon today for oral argument in the ACLU’s challenge to the Drug Enforcement Administration’s practice of obtaining Oregon patients’ confidential prescription records without a warrant. We represent patients and a doctor whose prescriptions are tracked in the Oregon Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP), a state database intended as a public health tool to help doctors and pharmacists avoid and treat drug overdoses and abuse by their patients. Although Oregon law requires police to get a probable cause warrant from a judge before requesting PDMP records in an investigation, the DEA refuses, and instead uses administrative subpoenas to request the records. Unlike a warrant, those subpoenas involve neither prior approval of a judge nor a showing of probable cause.
By By Nathan Freed Wessler, Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
DOMA Zombies Surface in Congress
Since the Supreme Court's landmark Windsor ruling last June striking down the core of the so-called "Defense of Marriage Act" (DOMA), the federal government has moved, with commendable speed, in a myriad of areas to extend recognition to the marriages of same-sex couples.
By By Ian S. Thompson, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
FCC, Heal Thyself
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today issued a long-awaited decision in a challenge to the Federal Communications Commission’s “net neutrality” or “open internet” regulations. As expected, the court invalidated two of these rules.
By By Gabe Rottman, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
Growing Chorus Agrees Mass Surveillance Just Doesn't Work
Since official Washington's return to work from the winter holidays, there has been a steady clip of developments on NSA reform. The New America Foundation (NAF) published a strong critique yesterday of the effectiveness of the NSA's surveillance program. Its conclusion echoes a similar one reached by the president's NSA Review Group - the agency's mass surveillance program simply does not work.
By By Gaurav Laroia, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
On the Agenda: January 13-17
Washington is slowly getting back into the swing of things following its annual winter hibernation when the streets are empty and it's relatively easy to get a table at all the new restaurants that line 14th St NW. Now, not so much.
By By Shawn Jain, Media Strategist, ACLU
CeCe is Free But So Much Work Remains
According to the Minnesota Department of Corrections website, CeCe McDonald is expected to be released today from the Minnesota men's prison where she has served 19 months of her 41 month sentence stemming from her controversial manslaughter conviction.
By By Chase Strangio, Staff Attorney, ACLU
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