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ACLU Obtains Government "Manual" For Prepackaged Guilty Pleas For Prosecution Of Immigrant Workers In Postville, Iowa (07/31/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union obtained a government "manual" distributed to defense lawyers assigned to represent immigrant workers arrested and prosecuted in last May's Postville, Iowa meatpacking raids. The document – posted on the ACLU Web site today – contains prepackaged scripts for plea and sentencing hearings as well as documents providing for guilty pleas and waivers of rights that were used to push the more than 300 Postville workers through mass criminal proceedings as quickly as possible.

Iowa Legislature Outlaws Discrimination Based on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (04/26/2007)
DES MOINES – The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Iowa legislature for approving a bill outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill, which was approved earlier by the Iowa Senate, passed the Iowa House of Representatives late last night by a vote of 59-37. Governor Chet Culver has already said that he would sign the bill into law.

ACLU of Iowa Challenges Use of Speed Cameras in Davenport (06/14/2006)
DAVENPORT, IA - The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa today began the defense of a Davenport automobile owner who received a speeding ticket in the mail based upon pictures of his vehicle taken by an automated traffic enforcement camera.

ACLU and Sentencing Experts Again Call for Federal Courts to Uphold Judges’ Right to Reject 100-to-1 Crack/Powder Sentencing Disparity (06/01/2006)
SIOUX CITY, IA – The American Civil Liberties Union and a number of prominent criminal law and sentencing experts filed the fourth in a series of friend-of-the-court briefs today supporting judges’ right to depart from the notorious 100-to-1 crack/powder cocaine sentencing disparity imposed by Congress. The case, U.S. v. Spears, is being argued in the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

ACLU Launches Nationwide Action Against NSA Snooping on Americans’ Phone Calls (05/24/2006)
NEW YORK -- Responding to reports that phone companies are turning over private details about Americans’ telephone calls to the National Security Agency, the American Civil Liberties Union today launched a nationwide initiative to end illegal government spying.

ACLU Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Review Iowa's Sex Offender Residency Restriction (09/29/2005)
DES MOINES - The Iowa Civil Liberties Union announced today that its is asking the Supreme Court to overturn Iowa's unprecedented law that restricts where sex offenders with victims under the age of 18 can reside. The Court will likely decide by the end of the year whether to hear the case.

ACLU Applauds Iowa Supreme Court for Allowing Lower Court to Dissolve Lesbian Couple's Civil Union (06/17/2005)
DES MOINES, IA -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the Iowa Supreme Court for not interfering with a lower court's ruling dissolving the civil union of a lesbian couple. The court ruled that a group of state legislators and others represented by the Alliance Defense Fund lacked standing to challenge the ruling.

Iowa Civil Liberties Union Defends Right of Students to Wear Anti-Abortion T-Shirts (04/29/2005)
DES MOINES -- The Iowa Civil Liberties Union today blasted school officials for threatening to punish two teenage girls who wore anti-abortion T-shirts to school. The group also offered to assist the students in their quest to continue wearing the shirts at school.

ACLU Launches Nationwide Effort to Expose Illegal FBI Spying on Political and Religious Groups (12/02/2004)
DES MOINES -- Citing evidence that the FBI and local police are illegally spying on political, environmental and faith-based groups, the American Civil Liberties Union and its affiliates in Iowa and other states today filed multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests around the country to uncover who is being investigated and why.

Des Moines Adopts Anti-Patriot Act Resolution (07/27/2004)
DES MOINES - The Iowa Civil Liberties Union today applauded the passage of a pro-civil liberties resolution by the Des Moines City Council last night, which urges the federal government to remove unconstitutional aspects of the Patriot Act and affirms the city's commitment to defending national security without sacrificing fundamental civil rights and freedoms. The action made Iowa's capital city the 342nd local government in the nation to adopt an anti-Patriot Act resolution.

Feds Respond to Backlash, Quash Iowa Protester Subpoenas (02/10/2004)
WASHINGTON - Questions still remain about the broad scope of a Justice Department inquiry involving an anti-war protest in Des Moines, the American Civil Liberties Union said today, and the decision to quash a series of grand jury subpoenas raises concerns about why they were issued in the first place.

ACLU Monitoring New Rule Regarding Nativity Scene Display in Iowa Town (12/03/2003)
DES MOINES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa today said has yet to decide whether the display of a nativity scene and disclaimer in an area next to the Tipton courthouse recently designated a "public forum" by Cedar County improperly entangles government with religion.

The Ashcroft Roadshow, Continued: Attorney General Ducks Demonstrators on Visit to Iowa's Heartland (08/21/2003)
DES MOINES -- Today in Des Moines, the Attorney General of the United States gave yet another speech to yet another closed audience of law enforcement personnel. Outside the hotel where he spoke, nearly 100 people gathered to demonstrate in opposition to the government's anti-civil liberties initiatives. But like many in this administration, Attorney General Ashcroft has chosen to avoid speaking to the American people. Instead he prefers to confine his speaking to hand-picked audiences, thus creating the illusion of agreement and consensus.

ACLU of Iowa Challenges State's Flag Desecration Law (12/02/2002)
DES MOINES-The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa today filed a lawsuit on behalf of two college students here who were prohibited by city and county officials from displaying a United States flag upside down in protest of U.S. government policies.

ACLU Asks Iowa Supreme Court to Protect Confidentiality of Patients' Medical Records (09/30/2002)
DES MOINES--Seeking to preserve a woman's right to confidential reproductive health care, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief today asking the state supreme court to prevent law enforcement from obtaining pregnancy records at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Storm Lake.

ACLU Asks Iowa Supreme Court to Block Disclosure Of Patient Records at Planned Parenthood Clinic (08/15/2002)
DES MOINES-Seeking to preserve patients' privacy rights and the confidentiality of medical records, the American Civil Liberties Union has filed a ""friend-of-the-court"" brief asking the state supreme court to block the disclosure of pregnancy records at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Storm Lake.

ACLU Supports Right of Iowa Students to Distribute Christian Literature at School (07/11/2002)
DES MOINES--The Iowa Civil Liberties Union today announced that it is publicly supporting the Christian students who recently filed a lawsuit against the Davenport Schools asserting the right to distribute religious literature during non-instructional time.

ACLU Files Lawsuit on Behalf of Iowa Inmate Denied Medication to Control Mental Illness (06/13/2002)
DES MOINES--The Iowa Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit on behalf of a schizophrenic prisoner who was punished for misbehavior that occurred after prison officials withheld medications that would have controlled her illness.

ICLU Brings Lawsuit On Behalf of Students Required to Sing Lord's Prayer at Graduation (04/01/2002)
DES MOINES--Acting on behalf of 14-year-old twins and their parents, the Iowa Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit against the Woodbine Community School District in west central Iowa challenging the district's practice of having the school choir sing the Lord's Prayer at school graduation ceremonies scheduled for May 19. 

ACLU Files Legal Challenge to Solitary Confinement of Sex Offenders Awaiting Civil Commitment Trials in Iowa (11/29/2001)
DES MOINES--The Iowa Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit on behalf of former convicts who have served their time and are now being held in solitary confinement pending trial on whether they should be indefinitely committed as "sexually violent predators." 

County Officials in IA Agree to Remove Ten Commandments from Courthouse Grounds (03/15/2001)
JOHNSON COUNTY, IA--The Board of Supervisors here today voted unanimously to honor a request by the Iowa Civil Liberties Union to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the courthouse lawn. 

ACLU Wins Damages for Iowa Woman Strapped Naked to a Wooden Board in County Jail (01/29/2001)
DES MOINES--Issuing a strong rebuke to a local sheriff's department, a federal jury on Friday awarded $5,000 in damages to a woman who was strapped naked, spread-eagle fashion, upon a wooden board while in custody at a county jail.

Ames Student Wins First ACLU Youth College Scholarship (04/20/2000)
AMES, IA --The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the winners of a nationwide student activist college scholarship competition, awarding eight high school students $4,000 each for outstanding contributions in the struggle for civil liberties and the rights of young people.

"Oh, Behave!" Iowa ACLU Turns Tables on Teacher Tattler Plan (04/18/2000)
DES MOINES, IA -- In an effort to give lawmakers a taste of their own medicine, the Iowa Civil Liberties Union is urging college students to contact the parents of those who approved a "snitch bill" authorizing school officials to notify parents of adult students deemed to have violated school alcohol rules.

Iowa Civil Liberties Union Condemns State Lawmakers' Call to Post Ten Commandments (03/01/2000)
DES MOINES, IA -- The Iowa Civil Liberties Union today condemned a proposal by 12 legislators to require posting of the Ten Commandments in the State Senate chamber.

ACLU Files Suit to Protect Citizen's Right to Protest In His Own Front Yard (12/03/1999)
DES MOINES -- In a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of a man forced to remove a sign of political protest from his property, the ACLU said that the city of Coralville violated the First Amendment protection of freedom of speech.

"Bix Smokes, Speech Lives!" Iowa Civil Liberties Union Declares (07/27/1999)
DES MOINES -- A federal court today affirmed the right of a Scott County couple to distribute "Bix Smokes" flyers at a festival celebrating jazz great Bix Beiderbecke, the Iowa Civil Liberties Union announced.

Iowa Couple Sues For Right To Distribute Controversial Flyers (07/15/1999)
DAVENPORT, IA -- The American Civil Liberties of Iowa today filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Davenport for interfering with the rights of a couple to distribute controversial flyers at the city's annual Bix Street Festival.

ACLU Defends Iowa Community Activist Sued for Speaking Out at City Council Meeting (06/30/1999)
DES MOINES -- Protecting the right to speak out at public meetings, the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa today announced that it has joined the legal team in defense of Alice Rodine, one of the city's most respected neighborhood activists.

ACLU of Iowa Sues to Stop Unlawful Tax Searches (06/30/1999)
DES MOINES -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of a Marshall County resident whose real estate taxes were doubled after he refused to consent to a warrantless search of his home.

ACLU to Defend Iowa Farm Families in Lawsuits Against Hog Factories (06/30/1999)
DES MOINES -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa today announced that it will provide legal assistance to people around the state who could be prevented from maintaining lawsuits against neighboring hog factories that pollute their environment.