civil liberties

US Citizens Wrongly Detained, Deported by ICE

The son of a decorated Vietnam veteran, Hector Veloz is a U.S. citizen, but in 2007 immigration officials mistook him for an illegal immigrant and locked him in an Arizona prison for 13 months.

Veloz had to prove his citizenship from behind bars. An aunt helped him track down his father's birth certificate and his own, his parents' marriage certificate, his father's school, military and Social Security records.

Posted in civil liberties, ICE, immigration

Report: NY, NJ Immigration Raids Violated Rights

NEW YORK - Immigration agents raiding homes for suspected illegal immigrants violated the U.S. Constitution by entering without proper consent and may have used racial profiling, a report analyzing arrest records found.

Latinos made up a disproportionate number of the people arrested who were not the stated targets of the raids, and many of their arrest reports gave no basis for why they were initially seized, said the report, which was based on data from raids in New York and New Jersey.

Posted in civil liberties, ICE

Upside Down Flag Has Vet in Fight for 1st Amendment Rights

WAUSAU, Wis. - An American flag flown upside down as a protest in a northern Wisconsin village was seized by police before a Fourth of July parade and the businessman who flew it - an Iraq war veteran - claims the officers trespassed and stole his property.

A day after the parade, police returned the flag and the man's protest - over a liquor license - continued.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is considering legal action against the village of Crivitz for violating Vito Congine Jr.'s' First Amendment rights, Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said.

Posted in civil liberties

Establishment View of Obama's Civil Liberties Record

One of the most cherished weapons for dismissing political arguments without having to engage them is to claim they come from "the Far Left" or are confined to "liberal ideologues." For years, that was what was said about withdrawing from Iraq even as majorities of Americans supported that position, and it is how the political and media establishment now demonize the call for investigations into Bush/Cheney crimes, despite Posted in beyond obama, civil liberties, executive power, states secrets

10th Anniversary of Freedom for People with Disabilities

June 22 marks the 10th anniversary of a landmark ruling for people with disabilities.

The case, which reinforced the Americans with Disabilities Act, was called Olmstead v. LC and EW.

LC was Lois Curtis and EW was Elaine Wilson. These two women had spent most of their lives in state mental institutions.

They wanted to live in more integrated community settings, and their doctors said they didn?t need to be institutionalized. But their home state of Georgia provided no community options for them, and so they languished in the institutions.

Posted in civil liberties

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2009
2:13 PM

CONTACT: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Inga Sarda-Sorensen, Director of Communications
(Office) 646.358.1463 (Cell) 202.641.5592
isorensen@theTaskForce.org

Task Force Profoundly Disappointed in California Supreme Court Decision Upholding Proposition 8

More than 18,000 marriages of same-sex couples that took place before ban remain intact

WASHINGTON - May 26 - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is profoundly disappointed in today's California Supreme Court ruling upholding Proposition 8, a ballot measure approved by a slim majority in November 2008 that amends the California Constitution to eliminate the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. The court did allow the 18,000 marriages of same-sex couples that occurred prior to the enactment of Proposition 8 to remain intact.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

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The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force builds the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, building the organizational capacity of our movement and generating groundbreaking research through our Policy Institute.

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Links:

Posted in civil liberties, Equality/Justice, gay marriage, prop8

ACLU Sues Knox, Nashville Schools for Blocking Gay Websites

Knox County Schools are facing a lawsuit in federal court over the way their internet is filtered.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued Knox County and Nashville schools for blocking non-pornographic gay-oriented websites but allowing websites that condemn homosexuality and promote programs that aim to alter one's sexuality to heterosexual.

A Fulton High School Librarian who also sponsors the school's Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) is one of the plaintiffs in the case.

Posted in civil liberties, Education, glbt

Judge: Some Detainees Can Be Held Indefinitely

WASHINGTON - A federal judge has ruled that the United States can continue to hold some prisoners in military detention indefinitely without any charges.

U.S. District Judge John Bates' opinion issued Tuesday night limited the Obama administration's definition of who can be held. But he said Congress in the days after Sept. 11, 2001 gave the president the authority to hold anyone involved in planning, aiding or carrying out the terrorist attacks.

Posted in civil liberties, guantanamo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2009
1:04 PM

CONTACT: ACLU

Rachel Myers, (212) 549-2689 or 2666; media@aclu.org

Obama Administration to Revive Fatally Flawed Military Commissions

Decision Strikes Blow to Due Process and Rule of Law

NEW YORK - May 15 - In a striking blow to due process and the rule of law, the Obama administration has decided to revive the fatally flawed military commissions system to prosecute certain Guantánamo detainees, according to news reports.

The following can be attributed to Anthony D. Romero, Executive Director of the American Civil Liberties Union:

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The ACLU conserves America's original civic values working in courts, legislatures and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in the United States by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

ACLU Links:

Posted in civil liberties, Equality/Justice, guantanamo

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 6, 2009
2:14 PM

CONTACT: National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Inga Sarda-Sorensen, Director of Communications
(Office) 646.358.1463 (Cell) 202.641.5592
isorensen@theTaskForce.org

Maine Becomes the Fifth State to Grant the Freedom to Marry to Same-Sex Couples

WASHINGTON - May 6 - The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund issued the following statement after Maine Gov. John Baldacci signed legislation today making Maine the fifth state to grant the freedom to marry to same-sex couples.

Statement by Rea Carey, Executive Director National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Action Fund

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National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Links:

Posted in civil liberties, Equality/Justice, gay marriage, glbt