Stories related to: ACLU

If you plan to go outdoors in Washington, DC, comb your hair first, because someone's probably going to see you. The capital is ramping up a video surveillance system that puts most others in the entire world to shame, the LA Times reports. Unsurprisingly, the 5,625-camera network has captured the attention of privacy and civil-liberties advocates, and they're not happy. More »

Controversial civil-rights lawyer Hans von Spakovsky, who last week withdrew from consideration for appointment to the Federal Election Commission, pens a post-mortem of his own candidacy in the Wall Street Journa l. Asserting that “character assassination … has become the norm” for conservatives in confirmation battles, von Spakovsky says calling out Justice left-wingers was a key part of his downfall. More »

A federal judge has ordered the CIA to release a 2002 memo believed to outline interrogation methods that may amount to torture. The ACLU, which brought the suit sparking the order, claims that the memo details harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, and calls it "one of the most important torture documents still being withheld by the Bush administration." The judge will decide whether to make the memo public on Monday, reports Reuters. More »

New technology will allow screeners at Los Angeles International Airport to scan passengers with a device that effectively looks beneath their clothes, the LA Times reports. The “whole body imaging” machines are drawing mixed reviews—a TSA spokesman praised the "brand-new security tool," but an ACLU rep compared a scan to a “high-tech strip-search.” More »

The US plans to significantly widen its law-enforcement database by taking DNA samples from illegal immigrants picked up by federal authorities and from all people arrested for federal offenses, the Washington Post reports. The feds currently collect genetic information only from those convicted of federal crimes. The expanded policy follows the lead of 13 states. More »

The judge who (tried to) shut down Wikileaks by issuing an injunction against the whistleblowing site has changed his mind and lifted the order, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Judge Jeffrey White said his original order, designed to protect a Swiss Bank's information, raised "serious questions of prior restraint and possible violations of the First Amendment." More »

Legal action resulting in the closing of whistleblower site Wikileaks.org has backfired for the Swiss bank that sought to protect confidential information about their clients, the AP reports. Popular outrage over the closing of the site over its posting of documents from Bank Julius Baer has cause the widespread circulation of those documents on privacy advocacy websites, as well as on Wikileaks own mirrors. More »

The Supreme Court has dismissed the ACLU's legal challenge of President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program, reports the Los Angeles Times . The ACLU had said that by issuing a secret order that allowed wiretapping without abiding by a 1978 law, the president was directly disobeying US law. The court today issued a one-line order declining to hear the suit. More »

A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit that charged a flight-planning company owned by Boeing with helping the CIA fly terror suspects to secret overseas dungeons. He ruled such a case could reveal state secrets, and that "proceeding would jeopardize national security and foreign relations," reports the San Francisco Chronicle . The lawsuit was filed by the ACLU on behalf of five foreign nationals who say they were kidnapped by the CIA and flown to secret prisons where they were tortured. More »

A federal judge said he suspects the CIA lied to his court about tapes showing the harsh interrogations of two al-Qaeda leaders, the New York Times reports. The CIA claims no records exist concerning the tapes, which were destroyed in 2005. But the judge, currently deciding a Freedom of Information Act request concerning the videos, says that's not credible. “I just can’t accept it,” said Manhattan Judge Allen Hellerstein. More »

A new federal ID law has 17 states in an uproar over the cost of new driver's licenses and a rushed timetable, the AP reports. Michael Chertoff laid out final details of the REAL ID program today, including an extended timetable with one short deadline: Residents of states that don't request an extension for complying by May will not be able to use a driver's license to get through airport security. More »

Nervous fliers, beware: Some 600 security guards at 40 US airports are scanning crowds for passengers who exhibit unusual stress or fear. The federal program aims to create “a new layer of unpredictability” at checkpoints, says the TSA administrator, but has civil rights advocates crying foul and security experts unconvinced. Still others say behavior detection is more likely to nab common criminals. More »

The Supreme Court enters its second session with Bush appointees John Roberts and Samuel Alito tomorrow, which means it will likely resume last session’s rightward slant, Reuters says. Before the court will be big cases on Guantanamo inmates’ right to habeas corpus, the legality of the lethal injection death penalty, and a variety of cases weighing civil liberties against security. More »

The Patriot Act violates the Constitution by allowing unreasonable searches and seizures, violating separation of powers, and denying free speech, a federal judge ruled today in striking down parts of the revised legislation. Judge Victor Marrero said investigators must obtain court approval before ordering ISPs and phone companies to turn over confidential information without notifying customers, the AP reports. More »

A legal center that champions the Christian right is scoring victories and becoming “a very, very significant player in constitutional law,” one analyst says. The American Center for Law and Justice has made waves in the legal world by defending prayer at high school football games and supporting a pharmacist who doesn’t want to sell the morning-after pill, the Chicago Tribune reports. More »

Activists are battling Washington over a list that tagged some 20,000 people as suspected terrorists last year, the Washington Post reports. Yet only a fraction of them were arrested, prompting critics to doubt the list’s value. Cases of a civil rights activist held for hours and a Cleveland resident detained repeatedly for unnamed “national security reasons” are adding fire under the political pot.    More »

Young men will want to hike up their sagging pants, and women cover up bra straps and exposed thongs if Atlanta’s City Council adopts a proposal to amend the city’s indecency laws, the Journal-Constitution reports. The measure, which would fine violators for exposing boxer shorts, thongs and bras, is discriminatory and won't stand up in court, the ACLU warns. More »

A lawsuit sparked by two protesters wearing anti-Bush T-shirts has forced the White House to reveal its guidebook on dealing with dissenters, the Washington Post reports. The manual calls for a "protest area" separate from event sites and roaming "rally squads" to drown out demonstrators who infiltrate the audience. Chants of “USA! USA! USA!” are preferred. More »

A set of city ordinances intended to check illegal immigration was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge yesterday,  the AP reports.  The measures had imposed fines on businesses that hired illegal workers and required rental tenants to register with the city and buy permits. More »

Although it raises a "cascade of serious questions," a federal appeals court will not hear a case about the NSA's warrantless wiretapping program because the plaintiffs can't prove they've suffered direct harm. In a 2-1 decision, the Sixth Circuit court dismissed the case, brought by the ACLU and several other parties, without addressing its merits, the Times reports. More »