News & Commentary
Meet the Prison Phone Company Profiting Off Love
While the two of us were writing this blog post, we called each other twice. Our organizations—the ACLU and Brave New Foundation—paid for the calls via flat monthly payments to our respective phone companies. The rates are reasonable, and if they weren't our workplaces could switch to different companies, which keeps prices competitive. Pretty straightforward.
By By Jesse Lava, Campaign Director, Beyond Bars & Sarah Solon, Communications Strategist, ACLU
Taking a Stand Against a 21st Century Scarlet Letter
Today, we filed suit in federal court on behalf of Jennifer Maudlin, a single mother who was fired when her employer learned that she was pregnant. Jennifer's employer – a religiously-affiliated community organization called Inside Out – says that it fired Jennifer for violating its unwritten rule against non-marital sex.
By By Mie Lewis, Women's Rights Project
Axe Wasteful and Abusive FBI Programs
According to the Washington Post, new FBI Director James Comey is struggling with an FBI budget shortfall as a result of the sequester (even though the FBI budget more than doubled since 2001). Since we just finished Unleashed and Unaccountable, a detailed examination of the transformation of the FBI since 9/11, we thought we'd offer the new director a few ideas about programs that deserve to get the axe, because they're ineffective, undermine innocent Americans' privacy and civil liberties, or simply offend American values.
By By Mike German, ACLU, Washington Legislative Office
House Takes Aim at Women's Health in Shutdown Fight
If you thought last week's shenanigans in Congress couldn't get any more ridiculous, think again.
By By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
It Sure Sounds Like the NSA Is Tracking Our Locations
The drumbeat of “non-denial denials” is getting louder as the NSA continues to refuse to directly state whether it is using cell phone information to track Americans’ whereabouts. When NSA Director Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander was asked again about the NSA’s cell phone location tracking on Thursday — at a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence — this is how the exchange went:
By By Patrick C. Toomey, Fellow, ACLU National Security Project
A Very Unhappy Anniversary for Low-Income Women
Some anniversaries just don't deserve a celebration, and today is one of them. Thirty-seven years ago today, Congress shut off Medicaid coverage for abortion care, unfairly targeting low-income women.
By By Sarah Lipton-Lubet, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
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