Tag Archives: ACLU

MA Attorney General Martha Coakley We believe that the First Circuit’s ruling striking down the Defense of Marriage Act was correct and we look forward to the time when that discriminatory law is conclusively invalidated. Though the Supreme Court has chosen to take up the issue of DOMA’s constitutionality in another case – Windsor v. United States – my office …

The Supreme Court yesterday declined to hear the appeal of a lower court’s ruling that overturned an Illinois law against filming the police. The justices on Monday left in place a lower court ruling that found that the state’s anti-eavesdropping law violates free speech rights when used against people who tape law enforcement officers. The law sets out a maximum …

An en banc panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a ruling by three of its own judges, declaring that the Westboro Baptist Church can be banned from protesting military funerals from an hour before until an hour after the funerals take place. Westboro was represented by the ACLU. The case arose from an ordinance enacted by …

Vermont’s Wildflower Inn has been fined $30,000 for turning away a lesbian couple that wanted to hold their wedding reception there. The couple was represented by the ACLU, who convinced the Vermont Human Rights Commission that the inn had violated state law on public accommodations. The losing Alliance Defense Fund denounces the decision: “Every American should be free to live …

Last week Missouri’s voters approved a “Right To Pray” referendum that includes, among many others things, the “protection” of public school students’ God-given right to refuse to be taught evolution. Amendment 2 “is a lawyer’s dream” because of its vagueness, says Joshua Rosenau, programs and policy director of the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, California, which tracks efforts …

This morning the ACLU sent out a blistering denouncement of Rep. Paul Ryan’s track record on LGBT rights and civil liberties. Via press release: In response to Mitt Romney’s announcement of his vice presidential pick of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), the American Civil Liberties Union Liberty Watch 2012 campaign this morning released a brief report that reveals an appalling civil …

The Illinois Family Association, former home of Peter LaBarbera, has petitioned the Cook County Circuit Court in a bid to be added as a defender against two marriage equality suits filed earlier this year by the ACLU and Lambda Legal. The Thomas More Society, which has already been granted standing to defend against both suits, issued this press release today: …

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has backed down on his vow to block Chick-Fil-A from opening a new franchise across from City Hall. “I can’t do that. That would be interference to his rights to go there,” Menino said, referring to company president Dan Cathy, who drew the mayor’s wrath by going public with his views against same-sex marriage. The mayor …

The ACLU of New Jersey has launched a smartphone app that will secretly record your encounters with the police. The ACLU’s Alexander Shalom said the app is easy to use. “There’s really only three buttons that the user needs to deal with,” Shalom said. “There’s a know your rights button that educates the citizen about their rights when encountering police …

Two downstate Illinois county clerks have won the right to defend Cook County in the two marriage equality cases brought by Lambda Legal and the ACLU, both of whom did not object to the clerks having standing to intervene. The Cook County state’s attorney, the Illinois Attorney General, and Gov. Pat Quinn all said that they would not defend against …

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and Attorney General Lisa Madigan have said they want no part in defending against two lawsuits that demand marriage equality. So with the backing of an anti-gay group, two downstate county clerks have filed to intervene on behalf of Cook County, where the suits were filed. The request to intervene in the lawsuits was quietly filed …

The ACLU has filed a federal lawsuit against the state of North Carolina over its adoption ban for unmarried couples. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of six gay or lesbian couples from different parts of North Carolina who have one or more children each. It claims the state law violates the constitutional rights of children. State law prevents unmarried …

The ACLU is parking these mobile billboards outside Romney’s homes. “Come back home to civil liberties.” They’re going to need a lot of trucks!

Lambda Legal and the ACLU will today file a joint lawsuit demanding full marriage equality for the citizens of Illinois. A total of 25 couples from across the state are plaintiffs in the two lawsuits. Each couple tried to get a marriage license from the Cook County clerk’s office in May and was denied based on the Illinois Marriage and …

Score another ACLU victory in Missouri A U.S. district judge issued a preliminary injunction banning the use of filtering software by the Camdenton R-III School District. The American Civil Liberties Union had filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming it was deliberately restricting access to homosexual-themed websites while still allowing students to view what it describes as “anti-LGBT sites that …

They write on their site: This has been a big couple of weeks in the fight for the freedom to marry for same-sex couples. Yesterday, Washington became the seventh state to stand up for the fundamental right of same-sex couples to marry. And last week, a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional. …

The ACLU is suing the Obama administration to force the release of information regarding drone attacks that some argue have resulted in the defacto executions of American citizens without trial. The Justice Department contends that any American who joins a foreign terrorist organization has become an enemy combatant and therefore has surrendered rights as a U.S. citizen. Wednesday’s ACLU complaint …

After worldwide outrage poured into Ottawa, the Canadian federal government is backtracking on the invalidity of gay marriages by foreign visitors. Things aren’t quite settled, however. The federal government will consider changing the law to ensure non-residents married in Canada can obtain divorces, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said Thursday afternoon. Wading into a controversy that has quickly blown into an …