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ACLU In Court Today Challenging Conditions At Maricopa County Jail (08/12/2008)
PHOENIX – The American Civil Liberties Union is in a federal district court beginning today seeking to rebuff an attempt by Maricopa County and its sheriff, Joe Arpaio, to terminate a federal consent decree mandating that he maintain conditions at the Maricopa County Jail that meet constitutional minimums.

FBI Improperly Obtains Reporters' Phone Records (08/09/2008)
NEW YORK -- The FBI admitted late yesterday to improperly obtaining telephone records from New York Times and Washington Post reporters by issuing "emergency" records demands that allowed the agency to bypass even the extremely limited safeguards that ordinarily apply to national security letters (NSLs). The American Civil Liberties Union has successfully challenged the national security letter statute in federal court and says this breach confirms the inadequacy of safeguards on the FBI's intrusive surveillance powers.

Court Blocks Local Arizona Anti-Solicitation Law (08/08/2008)
PHOENIX – The U.S District Court in Phoenix today blocked the town of Cave Creek, Arizona from enforcing an anti-solicitation ordinance that infringes on the free speech rights of day laborers in that town. The order ensures that day laborers will be able to exercise their constitutional rights by expressing their availability to work in public areas.

ACLU Challenges South Carolina's Unconstitutional Ballot Access Law In Federal Court (08/07/2008)
COLUMBIA, SC – In the first case of its kind, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging the South Carolina election rules that prevent a candidate seeking the nomination of more than one political party from appearing on the general election ballot if that candidate wins one party's nomination but loses another's. South Carolina is one of only four states that permits fusion voting, which allows multiple political parties to nominate the same candidate, but also has a so-called "sore loser" statute disqualifying candidates who have been selected by one party but rejected by another. The ACLU brought this legal challenge on behalf of the state Green Party, a disqualified candidate for the state House of Representatives and a South Carolina voter.

ACLU Reminds "America's Toughest Sheriff" That He's Not Above The Law (08/07/2008)
PHOENIX - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion yesterday to hold Maricopa County Sheriff Joseph Arpaio in contempt for disobeying a court order that would allow women prisoners in Maricopa County to obtain timely, safe, and legal abortions. In addition, today's motion asks the court to provide additional safeguards for women prisoners seeking abortion care.

Creative Arts, Media and Free Speech Groups Join ACLU In Urging Supreme Court To Reject FCC Censorship (08/07/2008)
NEW YORK – In a friend-of-the-court brief filed today on behalf of creative arts, media and free speech organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union criticized the Federal Communication Commission's regulation of "indecent speech" as arbitrary, inconsistent and irreconcilable with core First Amendment values. The brief urges the Supreme Court to uphold a lower court ruling in Federal Communication Commission (FCC) v. Fox Television Stations, Inc. striking down the recent FCC decision to ban even "fleeting expletives" from the airwaves as an unjustified departure from the agency's longstanding practices.

Oceanside Police Grossly Negligent in Responding to Suicidal Persons, says ACLU (08/07/2008)
SAN DIEGO – Oceanside Police mishandled a crisis negotiation in a way that may well have contributed to the suicide of a young man Grant Sattaur, 20, on December 26, 2007, the family said today at a press conference and at a hearing of the San Diego County Board of Mental Health.

President Carter Supports ACLU And NACDL Guantánamo Defense Project (08/07/2008)
NEW YORK – Former President Jimmy Carter issued a statement in support of the American Civil Liberties Union's John Adams Project, a partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) that provides civilian legal teams to assist under-resourced military counsel of Guantánamo detainees who have been charged in the military commissions.

ACLU of Massachusetts Files Suit Seeking Ballot Place for Third Party Candidates (08/06/2008)
BOSTON – In a lawsuit aimed at ensuring the franchise for Massachusetts voters, the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts has filed suit seeking ballot access on behalf of Bob Barr and Wayne A. Root, the candidates of the national Libertarian Party for President and Vice President of the United States. Despite earlier indicating that it would do so, the Massachusetts Elections Division has refused to place the names of the Libertarian Party's nominees on the ballot.

First Unconstitutional Military Commission Trial Ends In Conviction (08/06/2008)
NEW YORK – After a trial filled with overwhelming constitutional and procedural flaws, a jury of military officers today found Salim Hamdan guilty of providing material support for terrorism. The American Civil Liberties Union has been at Guantánamo Bay observing the Hamdan proceedings, which lacked the fundamental legal safeguards found in traditional U.S. courts or military courts governed by the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

ACLU Calls FCC Penalty Against Comcast a Step Forward Toward Net Freedom (08/01/2008)
Washington, DC – Today the Federal Communications Commission is expected to penalize Comcast for violating the FCC’s principles to ensure open access to the Internet.

ACLU Rebukes House for Passing Problematic E-Verify System (08/01/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union rebukes the U.S. House of Representatives for this evening’s reauthorization of the national voluntary employment-verification program (E-Verify). The House has extended a system proven to be ineffective in verifying potential employees’ work status. It has been plagued with errors and has prevented innocent applicants from working.

ACLU Expresses its Disappointment in Congress for Failing to Eliminate Aid Penalty in HEA Reauthorization (07/31/2008)
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed its disappointment in Congress for failing to repeal the aid elimination penalty in the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). The aid elimination penalty bars students with drug convictions – often minor, first time and misdemeanor offenses – from receiving critical college aid.

ACLU Hails Senate Markup of Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (07/31/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union hailed today’s Senate Judiciary Committee markup of the William Wilberforce Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA) as an important step in ending the persistent exploitation and enslavement of domestic workers by foreign diplomats. The provisions in the TVPRA will help put in place important mechanisms that can prevent exploitation by providing domestic workers with critical information, creating a monitoring system, training consular officers who issue visas and requiring an employment contract between the worker and employer.

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.

ACLU Skeptical of Intelligence Overhaul (07/31/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed concern regarding significant new changes made to a previously existing executive order governing the intelligence activities of a multitude of US government agencies, including the FBI, CIA, Defense Department and National Security Agency (NSA). President Bush signed amendments to Executive Order 12333 last night before informing Congress of the changes. The ACLU applauded members of the House Intelligence Committee who walked out of a briefing today in protest of their lack of involvement in drafting the language.

ACLU Testifies Today Asking Congress To Narrow Scope Of State Secrets Privilege (07/31/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union testified today about the improper use of the state secrets privilege at a hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. The hearing was held to discuss legislation introduced by the subcommittee’s chairman, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), entitled the “State Secrets Protection Act of 2008” (H.R.5607). The bill would narrow the scope of the privilege by setting appropriate limits on its use.

ACLU Urges Senate Judiciary Committee to Close School-to-Prison Pipeline (07/31/2008)
Washington, DC – The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled today to mark up S. 3155, the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Reauthorization Act of 2008 (JJDPA), a bill setting standards and providing funding to protect the rights of juveniles in the criminal justice system.

Federal Court Upholds Voting Rights Of Alaska Natives Who Need Language Assistance (07/31/2008)
ANCHORAGE — Late yesterday, a federal court ordered Alaska's state and local elections officials to provide effective language assistance to citizens who speak Yup'ik, the primary language of a majority of voters in the Bethel region of Alaska. The victory came in a legal challenge brought by Native American Rights Fund (NARF) and the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf of four Alaska Natives and four tribal governments.

Paycheck Fairness Bill Necessary to Strengthen Equal Pay Protections (07/31/2008)
Washington, DC – The American Civil Liberties Union urges the House of Representatives to pass H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would amend the Equal Pay Act, one of the most important laws addressing pay discrimination. The bill, with 230 co-sponsors to date, would strengthen and improve the effectiveness of the Equal Pay Act by requiring employers to demonstrate that differences in wages among employees are not based on gender, strengthening penalties for equal pay violations, bolstering the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) ability to handle pay discrimination cases, and requiring the EEOC to develop regulations directing employers to collect wage data, reported by race, sex and national origin, of employees.