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Farmers Branch, Texas Anti-Immigrant Ordinance Is Blocked While Challenge Continues (09/22/2008)
DALLAS – City officials in Farmers Branch, Texas today agreed not to fight a request from residents to block the city's latest anti-immigrant ordinance from taking effect while a legal challenge continues. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Texas and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) filed a request in federal court on the residents' behalf for a preliminary injunction blocking the ordinance. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas is expected to enter the injunction today.

ACLU Urges Supreme Court To Review Landmark Indefinite Detention Case (09/19/2008)
WASHINGTON – The American Civil Liberties Union today urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Bush administration's authority to indefinitely imprison a legal resident of the United States without charge or trial. The case was filed on behalf of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, who has been detained in solitary confinement at a Navy brig in South Carolina since June 2003. The ACLU is asking the Court to reverse a federal appeals court decision that gave the president sweeping power to deprive individuals in the United States of their most basic constitutional rights.

Transgender Veteran Wins Sex Discrimination Lawsuit Against Library of Congress (09/19/2008)
WASHINGTON - Today a federal judge ruled that the Library of Congress illegally discriminated against a Special Forces veteran when she was denied a job after announcing her intention to transition from male to female. In a groundbreaking decision, the court ruled that discriminating against someone for changing genders is sex discrimination under federal law.

ACLU Urges Senate Judiciary to Subpoena Interrogation Documents (09/18/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union calls on the Senate Judiciary Committee to vote to authorize a subpoena for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to produce the legal opinions that approved harsh interrogations of detainees held by the United States. The committee has repeatedly requested these documents and has seen very little cooperation from DOJ. The Justice Department has provided some heavily redacted documents, which Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-PA) have called inadequate. If authorized, the subpoena would legally require DOJ to comply with the committee’s request.

Advancement Project And ACLU Sue Michigan Secretary Of State Over Unlawful Voter Purging (09/18/2008)
DETROIT – Advancement Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Michigan and the law firm of Pepper Hamilton LLP filed a federal lawsuit late yesterday challenging two statewide voter purge programs that could potentially disfranchise hundreds of thousands of Michigan voters in advance of the November 2008 presidential election. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Detroit against Michigan Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land, Michigan Bureau of Elections Director Christopher M. Thomas, and Ypsilanti Clerk Frances McMullen.

Deaths in Custody Reporting Act Must Demand Accountability in Federal Immigration Detention Facilities (09/18/2008)
Today, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill that reauthorizes a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) program, called the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program, which is designed to report the deaths of prisoners and immigration detainees in local and state custody. The ACLU urges senators to strengthen the House-passed bill, H.R. 3971, the Deaths in Custody Reporting Act of 2008, by requiring federal detention facilities to report in-custody deaths to the attorney general.

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 Calls Immigrant Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008 Long Overdue (09/17/2008)
Washington, DC – Today for the second time in two weeks, the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to mark up a bill requiring the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to develop procedures to ensure adequate medical and mental health care for all detainees held by DHS Immigrant and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The ACLU urges the House Judiciary Committee members to vote for H.R. 5950, the Detainee Basic Medical Care Act of 2008, introduced by Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). This bill is the first congressional action to provide basic medical care of immigration detainees after months of compelling TV and newspaper exposes detailing deficient medical care and over 60 immigration detention deaths.

ACLU Launches Constitution Voter Campaign To Restore Lost Liberties In ‘08 (09/17/2008)
The American Civil Liberties Union launched a new campaign asking Americans to pledge to be Constitution Voters. The “I’m a Constitution Voter” campaign is a nonpartisan initiative to encourage activists to let candidates – including those running for president – know that the Constitution will be the first thing on their minds when they step into the polling booth this November. In addition to asking voters to sign a pledge to help make the Constitution a central issue in this campaign season, ACLU affiliates from coast to coast are holding events to commemorate Constitution Day and educate people about the rights and freedoms the Constitution protects.

ACLU Reaffirms Opposition To Unconstitutional FBI Guidelines (09/17/2008)
Following testimony before both the House and Senate Judiciary Committees this week, FBI Director Robert Mueller failed to dispel unease regarding new internal FBI guidelines governing investigations. Yesterday and today, members of both committees sought reassurances that the guidelines – which give overly broad authorities to agents – would not be abused by the bureau. Director Mueller said the guidelines would not be rewritten to include more safeguards but that protections would instead be written into overarching FBI policies.

ACLU Survey Reveals Elections Officials Lack Knowledge Of Voting Rules (09/17/2008)
COLUMBIA, SC – The American Civil Liberties Union today released the results of a survey of state elections officials which reveal widespread misunderstanding of the laws governing the right to vote of citizens with criminal records, endangering the voting rights of many in a presidential election year.

Appellate Court Declines to Overturn Arizona Employer Sanctions Law (09/17/2008)

ACLU And MALDEF File Lawsuit To Stop Farmers Branch Newest Anti-Immigrant Ordinance (09/15/2008)
DALLAS – Friday, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Texas filed a complaint in federal court charging that Farmers Branch Ordinance 2952 violates the U.S. Constitution and federal and state statutes. The ordinance, which requires all renters in Farmers Branch to register their presence with the City and obtain an occupancy license, is the city's third effort to restrict residency in Farmers Branch.

ACLU Asks Court To Strike Down Unconstitutional Spying Law (09/12/2008)
NEW YORK – The FISA Amendments Act is the most sweeping surveillance bill ever enacted by Congress and should be struck down as unconstitutional because it utterly fails to protect U.S. residents' privacy and free speech rights, according to a brief filed in federal court today by the American Civil Liberties Union. This is the first legal brief challenging the constitutionality of the new wiretapping law and is part of the ACLU's landmark lawsuit to stop the government from conducting surveillance under the law.

ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Voter Disenfranchisement In Mississippi (09/12/2008)
JACKSON, MS – The American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Mississippi filed a lawsuit in federal court today challenging the state's denial of voting rights to citizens with felony convictions. Although the Mississippi Constitution permits people who have been convicted of a crime to vote for president and vice president, election administrators are denying that right in practice. In today's filings, the ACLU asked the court to allow these citizens to register to vote in time to cast ballots for president and vice president this November.

New FBI Guidelines Open Door to Further Abuse (09/12/2008)
Washington, DC - Following a briefing today at the Department of Justice (DOJ), the American Civil Liberties Union reiterated its deep concern over new guidelines that would govern FBI investigations. The new guidelines would lower standards for beginning "assessments" (precursors to investigations), conducting surveillance and gathering evidence, and would replace existing guidelines for five types of existing guidelines: general criminal, national security, foreign intelligence, civil disorders and demonstrations.

Veterans Now Allowed To Register To Vote At VA Facilities (09/09/2008)
NEW YORK – In a victory for voting rights, the Department of Veterans Affairs reversed course Monday by lifting a ban on nonpartisan voter registration drives in its facilities. The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the ban as an unconstitutional infringement on the voting rights of over 100,000 veterans who live in the VA's nursing homes, homeless shelters and rehabilitation centers.

ACLU Renews Its Call For Investigation Into Civil Liberties Violations At RNC (09/04/2008)
ST. PAUL - In response to reports of widespread civil liberties abuses in connection with mass arrests, police raids on private homes and the detention of several journalists during the Republican National Convention (RNC), the American Civil Liberties Union renewed its call for an investigation into the actions of law enforcement there.

Corrections Department Returns Women Held In New Jersey Men's Prison To Women's Prison After ACLU Lawsuit (09/04/2008)
TRENTON – Nine months after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit challenging the transfer of women prisoners from Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, the state's prison for women, to New Jersey State Prison (NJSP), a men's supermax prison, the Department of Corrections (DOC) has transferred the women back to the women's prison.

ACLU Calls For Investigation Into Raids And Mass Arrests At RNC (09/02/2008)
MINNEAPOLIS - Amid charges of police misconduct during the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, the American Civil Liberties Union called for accountability for any unconstitutional actions there.