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Federal Court Allows Bush Administration To Withhold Records Detailing Torture And Abuse Of Guantánamo Prisoners (10/29/2008)
WASHINGTON – A federal judge today allowed the Bush administration to withhold unredacted transcripts in which 14 prisoners now held at Guantánamo Bay describe abuse and torture they endured in CIA custody. The decision comes in an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit filed in March to enforce a Freedom of Information Act request for records from Combatant Status Review Tribunals that determine if prisoners held by the Defense Department at Guantánamo qualify as "enemy combatants."

Federal Lawsuit Challenges District Of Columbia's Funding Of Religious Mission (09/18/2008)
WASHINGTON – The ACLU of the National Capital Area, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit today challenging the District of Columbia's plan to grant more than $12 million in public property and cash to the Central Union Mission, a religious homeless shelter.

ACLU And EFF Sue Justice Department To Uncover Records Of Cell Phone Tracking (07/01/2008)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a lawsuit today urging a federal court to order the Department of Justice (DOJ) to turn over records related to the government's use of people's cell phones as tracking devices. The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the records in November 2007 following revelations that federal officials are using Americans' cell phones to pinpoint their locations, sometimes without a warrant or any court oversight. The DOJ has failed to release the documents or provide an adequate response to the request.

Federal Court Rules That D.C. Police Unlawfully Arrested Anti-Bush Protesters On Inauguration Day (06/18/2008)
Washington, DC — A federal court ruled yesterday that the District of Columbia had unlawfully arrested about 70 people during an anti-war and anti-Bush protest march on Inauguration Day 2005. The arrestees are now entitled to a trial to determine the amount of the District’s monetary liability to them.

ACLU Sues For Documents Collected By Inspector General In Prisoner Abuse Investigation (06/12/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit today for documents related to an investigation by the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the abuse and torture of prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantánamo Bay. Last month, the OIG released a report on the investigation, which was launched after internal government documents – uncovered by another ACLU lawsuit – revealed that FBI agents at Guantánamo raised concerns about abusive techniques used by military interrogators.

Library of Congress Can Be Sued for Discriminating Against Transgender Veteran, Says Federal Court (11/28/2007)
WASHINGTON – Rejecting the federal government's attempt to throw out a transgender veteran's sex discrimination lawsuit against the Library of Congress, a federal judge ruled today that the case can go forward. The American Civil Liberties Union brought the lawsuit in June 2005 on behalf of 25-year U.S. Army veteran Diane Schroer who was offered a job as a senior terrorism researcher but was later told she was not a "good fit" after her future boss learned she was in the process of transitioning from male to female.

ACLU Applauds New D.C. Law Protecting Protest Rights (05/02/2005)
WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area today welcomed a new law approved by the D.C. City Council that strengthens the First Amendment rights of peaceful protesters, and limits police use of ""protest pens"" and mass arrests. The law takes effect on the eve of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings and the demonstrations that traditionally accompany them, which have led to police-protester confrontations in recent years.

D.C. Officials Pay $425,000 to Seven People Falsely Arrested at 2002 World Bank Demonstration (01/24/2005)
WASHINGTON - In a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and legal advocates, the District of Columbia today agreed to pay $425,000 to seven people who were arrested at an anti-World Bank demonstration in Pershing Park in September 2002, and to expunge all records of their arrest and detention. In papers filed in federal court, the District also agreed to make numerous reforms in its policies for handling mass demonstrations, and D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey agreed to personally sign a letter of apology to each of the seven arrestees.

ACLU Offers Legal Counsel to Government Whistleblowers; Calls on Congress to Adopt Whistleblower Protection Legislation (09/09/2004)
WASHINGTON-At a press conference held by prominent government whistleblowers, the American Civil Liberties Union today announced that it will provide legal counsel to federal employees who may want to come forward to expose government wrongdoing or cover-ups.

Drug Policy Reform Groups Display Marijuana Policy Ads in D.C. Metro (08/31/2004)
WASHINGTON - The controversial marijuana law reform advertisement at issue in a recent federal lawsuit will be displayed tomorrow for the first time in the Union Station and Capitol South stops of the Washington D.C. Metro. After a legal battle between a coalition of drug policy reform groups and the federal government over a law that would have eliminated federal funding of transportation authorities that ran such ads, a federal district court ruled the law unconstitutional in June 2004. The government appealed from the district court's decision to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on August 2.

Following Legal Challenge from ACLU and Drug Policy Reform Groups, Federal Court Strikes Down Law Censoring Marijuana Policy Reform Ads (06/03/2004)
WASHINGTON -In a stinging rebuke, a federal judge today struck down a law prohibiting the display of marijuana policy reform ads in public transit systems, saying that the government's attempt to censor ads was "illegitimate and constitutionally impermissible." The judge also issued a permanent injunction prohibiting its enforcement.

ACLU Applauds Introduction of Senate Bill to Fix Now Infamous "Section 215" of the USA PATRIOT Act (07/31/2003)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed the introduction in the Senate of Senate legislation that would roll back one of the most controversial provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act. The bill, the ""Library and Personal Records Privacy Act,"" would take aim at the infamous Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which gives the government virtually unfettered access to personal data.

ACLU Cautions President Against Taking A More Extreme Anti-Gay Stance (07/30/2003)
WASHINGTON - Responding to President Bush's support for a discriminatory new law restricting marriage to a man and woman, expressed this morning at a rare Rose Garden news conference, the American Civil Liberties Union cautioned the President against supporting a constitutional amendment that would forever ban same-sex marriages.

ACLU Files Class-Action Lawsuit Challenging Unconstitutional Mass Arrest of Antiwar Demonstrators in Washington (03/27/2003)
WASHINGTON- In a lawsuit filed in federal court today, the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area charged police officials with deliberately violating the constitutional rights of more than 400 peaceful antiwar demonstrators and bystanders by directing them into a police trap and then arresting them although they had not violated the law.

D.C. Police to Study Racial Profiling (03/31/2001)
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey met here yesterday with civil rights advisers and outlined his plans to begin collecting data for racial profiling studies that the advocates have requested, The Washington Post reported.

In Letter to D.C. Police, ACLU Warns of Possible Constitutional Violations at IMF Protests (04/16/2000)
WASHINGTON--The American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area today released a letter advising police of possible civil liberties violations in connection with ongoing protests at meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund here.

ACLU Cautions DC Police As World Bank Protests Near (04/10/2000)
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of Americans are expected to rally and march here this weekend to express their views in connection with the meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

Federal Court Allows DC Government to Tally Medical Marijuana Initiative Vote (09/17/1999)
"Today's ruling is a tremendous victory for the First Amendment rights of DC voters and home rule," said Arthur Spitzer, Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capital Area, which had filed the lawsuit last year. "We're delighted that the Federal court has so completely vindicated the rights of District residents." 

House Rejects Attack on Gay Families (07/29/1999)
The measure, which would have prohibited unmarried couples in the District of Columbia from adopting children, was offered as an amendment to the annual spending bill for the District of Columbia by Representative Steve Largent (R-OK). It was defeated on a vote of 213 to 215.