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ACLU Says No Room For Compromise On Banning Torture (12/03/2008)
NEW YORK – News reports indicate that some members of Congress may be considering compromising over whether to completely end the Bush administration's disastrous policies of torture and detainee abuse.

ACLU Briefs Key House Committee on Privacy (12/03/2008)
WASHINGTON – The House Homeland Security Committee hosted a series of roundtable discussions today to consider the future of privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties at the Department of Homeland Security. Chairman Bennie Thompson invited scholars and experts from across the country, including the American Civil Liberties Union, to participate. The ACLU offered guidance on policies such as federal watch lists, border security, and increased information sharing among law enforcement – including the use of fusion centers.

U.S. Citizen Severely Tortured While Detained in the United Arab Emirates at the Behest of the United States (12/03/2008)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – An American man detained in the United Arab Emirates at the behest of the U.S. government has been released from state security custody and transferred to a prison in Abu Dhabi, but only after suffering severe torture. Naji Hamdan's transfer came only one week after lawyers for the ACLU of Southern California filed a lawsuit seeking his release.

ACLU Challenges Government's Authority To Designate Charities As Terrorists Without Due Process Or Court Oversight (11/21/2008)
TOLEDO, OH – A federal court should block the government from blacklisting an Ohio-based charity without providing it due process and should lift a freeze on the organization's assets, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Ohio and several civil rights lawyers argued today. The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) froze the funds of KindHearts for Charitable Humanitarian Development, Inc. more than 33 months ago without notice or a hearing, based simply on the assertion that the charity was "under investigation." OFAC then threatened to designate KindHearts as a "specially designated global terrorist" (SDGT) based on classified evidence, again without providing it with a reason or meaningful opportunity to defend itself.

Guantánamo Judge Throws Out More Evidence Obtained Through Torture In Jawad Case (11/20/2008)
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba – Less than a month after throwing out an alleged confession obtained through torture, a judge late Wednesday rejected more evidence gathered through coercive interrogations in the military commission case against Afghan national Mohammed Jawad. Army judge Col. Stephen Henley held that evidence collected while Jawad was in U.S. custody cannot be admitted in his trial. Previously, the government had told the judge that Jawad's alleged confessions were the centerpiece of its case against him.

Federal Judge Orders Release Of Five Guantánamo Detainees Held Without Charges (11/20/2008)
WASHINGTON – A federal judge today ordered the release of five Algerian detainees who have been held at Guantánamo for nearly seven years without charges. U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon also ruled that the government may continue to hold a sixth Algerian indefinitely. These cases are the first contested challenges to the indefinite detention of Guantánamo prisoners since the Supreme Court's landmark decision upholding the right of habeas corpus last June in Boumediene v Bush.

Bush Administration Continues To Ram Through Military Commissions Despite Obama's Pledge To Dismantle Guantánamo (11/19/2008)
NEW YORK – In a continued effort to press ahead with the Guantánamo military commissions at warp speed before the Obama administration can implement its plans to dismantle them, military prosecutors have filed new charges against detainee Mohammed al-Qahtani, who is accused of having plotted with the hijackers in the September 11 attacks. The administration dropped charges against al-Qahtani in May amidst revelations that he had been tortured and subjected to coercive interrogation techniques that could make it impossible to prosecute him with admissible evidence.

Documents Obtained By ACLU Provide Further Evidence That Abuse Of Iraqi Prisoners Was Systemic (11/19/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union released Department of Defense documents today that provide further evidence that prisoner abuse in U.S. detention facilities in Iraq was systemic. The documents, obtained as part of an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, also show that Army investigations of abuse in Iraq were compromised by missing records, flawed interviews and problems with witness recollection.

Documents Reveal U.S. Knowingly Transfers Detainees To Countries That Torture (11/18/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union and Columbia Law School's Human Rights Clinic released documents today revealing for the first time details of the U.S. government's process for transferring individuals to countries where they face a significant risk of being tortured. The documents, which were uncovered as the result of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the two organizations, shed new light on the fundamentally flawed practice of "diplomatic assurances" or secret promises obtained from foreign governments that they will not torture the returned individuals.

Military And Civilian Attorneys Challenge The Military Commissions Act In Second Round Of Guantánamo Pretrial Motions For 9/11 Detainees (11/18/2008)
WASHINGTON – For the second time this month, a group of military defense lawyers and a team of civilian attorneys assembled by the American Civil Liberties Union and National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) as part of the John Adams Project filed several pretrial motions in Guantánamo challenging the constitutionality of the military commission prosecutions. The defense is protesting the legality of these ad hoc tribunals, which may rely on coerced confessions and expressly preclude prisoners from invoking the Geneva Conventions. The John Adams Project is a partnership between the ACLU and the NACDL that sponsors expert civilian counsel to assist the under-resourced military defense counsel for several Guantánamo detainees.

ACLU Praises Obama's Plan To Close Guantánamo (11/17/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union strongly praises President-elect Barack Obama's promise on CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday night to close down Guantánamo and its unconstitutional military commissions being used to prosecute detainees.

No Special Court System Necessary For Guantánamo Detainees, Says ACLU (11/10/2008)
NEW YORK – News reports today indicated that President-elect Barack Obama's team was preparing a plan to close the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay and possibly create an alternative court system to try some of the detainees. Obama's transition team later clarified that no decisions have yet been made about detainee prosecutions.

ACLU Calls On Obama To Close Guantánamo On Day One Of Presidency (11/10/2008)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union launched a new campaign today calling on President-elect Barack Obama to close the Guantánamo Bay prison and end the military commissions on Day One of his presidency.

ACLU Calls on President-elect Obama to Restore America (11/07/2008)
In the wake of the presidential election, the ACLU has delivered to President-elect Obama a list of initiatives to implement during his first year in office.

Bush Administration Once Again Attempts To Block Release Of Prisoner Abuse Photos In ACLU Lawsuit (11/07/2008)
NEW YORK – The Bush administration petitioned a full appeals court late Thursday to reconsider a decision ordering the Defense Department to release photographs showing detainee abuse by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. In September, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ordered the government to release the photos as part of an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit seeking information on the abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody overseas.

Military And Civilian Lawyers Petition Guantánamo Military Commission To Address Fundamental Flaws (11/03/2008)
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba – A coalition of military and civilian lawyers, assembled as part of the American Civil Liberties Union's John Adams Project, filed pretrial motions in a Guantánamo military commission today requesting legal relief for some of the worst of the constitutional flaws plaguing the commission system. The ACLU's John Adams Project is a partnership with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers sponsoring expert civilian counsel to assist the under-resourced military defense counsel for several Guantánamo detainees.

Second Unconstitutional Military Commission Trial Ends In Conviction At Guantánamo (11/03/2008)
GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba – After a flawed military commission trial that was boycotted by the accused, a jury of nine military officers found Ali Hamza al Bahlul guilty of crimes including conspiracy and providing material support to al Qaeda. The American Civil Liberties Union was at Guantánamo Bay observing the al Bahlul proceedings, which, like all of the military commissions, lacked the fairness and transparency found in traditional U.S. or military courts.

Sweeping Homeland Security Investigation Of Muslims Was Unconstitutional And Discriminatory, Says ACLU (10/31/2008)
WASHINGTON – A report in today’s New York Times revealed details of a 2004 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) anti-terrorism program that, despite government claims to the contrary, used racial profiling. More than 2,000 Muslim immigrants were investigated in the lead up to the 2004 elections, and many were interrogated right before the November election. Despite the investment of considerable resources, “Operation Front Line” produced minimal results. Most of those investigated were found to have done nothing wrong.