Tag Archives: ACLU

KENTUCKY: Liberty Counsel Files To Block State From Paying ACLU Attorney Fees Awarded In Kim Davis Case

Via press release: Liberty Counsel filed a brief today in Rowan County Kentucky Clerk Kim Davis’ appeal of attorney’s fees awarded to the ACLU for suing Davis in 2015 when she stopped issuing marriage licenses while seeking an accommodation for her religious beliefs. Davis previously won her fight for religious freedom when U.S. District Judge David L. Bunning issued an …

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GEORGIA: ACLU Wins Battle For Protest Signs Against Mike Pence At Savannah St. Patrick’s Day Parade

The Associated Press reports: Protesters seeking to carry signs in an area being secured for Vice President Mike Pence to participate in the South’s largest St. Patrick’s Day parade won a brisk free speech fight Friday as city officials in Savannah backed off prohibiting signs and posters at the event. City officials reversed course and announced signs would be allowed …

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Charges Dropped Against Most Inauguration Protesters

Courthouse News reports: Federal prosecutors will drop charges against 129 of 188 people who were accused of felony rioting after President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said Thursday. Prosecutors will still press cases against 59 defendants they contend were most responsible for the demonstrations, which resulted in smashed windows, property damage …

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Dan Savage’s #ITMFA Swag Campaign Cuts Second $100,000 Check For Planned Parenthood And ACLU

Just in from Dan Savage: I’m thrilled to announce that ITMFA is sending a second round of checks to the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the International Refugee Assistance Project. This morning we sent off checks Planned Parenthood ($33,333.33), the ACLU ($33,333.33) and the International Refugee Assistance Project ($33,333.34)—money we raised selling ITMFA (“Impeach The Mother Fucker Already”) …

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ACLU Battles DOJ Search Warrants Seeking Information On 6000 Facebook Users Who “Liked” Anti-Trump Page

Law Newz reports: The ACLU-DC is trying to stop three search warrants that would let the Department of Justice snoop around protesters’ Facebook accounts over Inauguration Day protests. They filed in D.C. Superior Court on Thursday, saying the government’s demands violate the Fourth Amendment because they are so broad and threaten First Amendment speech. These warrants ask for too much …

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MICHIGAN: ACLU Sues State Over Gay Adoption

USA Today reports: The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit Wednesday against the state of Michigan challenging a law that allows adoption agencies to spurn potential LGBT parents under the guise of religion. Religious exemption laws let people, churches and sometimes corporations cite religious beliefs as a reason not to enforce a law — such as declining to marry a …

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ACLU Asks Court To Immediately Halt Trans Troop Ban

From the ACLU’s blog: Today we are filing a motion for a preliminary injunction asking the court to put an immediate stop to the President’s ban to ensure that the harms to our clients and the thousands of other transgender individuals serving our country are rectified immediately. Individuals like our client Staff Sgt. Kate Cole should not have to worry …

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Civil Rights Groups Sue Over Trump’s Trans Ban

Politico reports: A pair of advocacy groups said Monday they are going to court to overturn the Trump administration’s ban on transgender troops serving in the military, in the latest legal assault on the controversial directive. The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit on behalf of five transgender service members. The lawsuit, filed by the Maryland branch of the ACLU, …

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ACLU Sues DC Metro Over Ban On Milo’s Book Ads

From the ACLU’s blog: Can the government ban the text of the First Amendment itself on municipal transit ads because free speech is too “political” for public display? If this sounds like some ridiculous brain teaser, it should. But unfortunately it’s not. It’s a core claim in a lawsuit we filed today challenging the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s (WMATA) …

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ACLU Sues Four Federal Agencies For Plans On How They’ll Implement Trump’s “Religious Liberty” Order

Via press release from the ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against four federal agencies demanding documents from the Trump administration that provide clarity on how the administration plans to implement its ‘religious freedom’ executive order. The ACLU initially filed records requests with the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, …

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ACLU Sues Trump Over Voter Fraud Commission

Reuters reports: The American Civil Liberties Union on Monday said it had filed a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump’s election commission, saying it had failed to follow federal law governing public access and transparency for such advisory groups. The ACLU said in a statement that the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity had already held its first meeting without …

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ACLU Files FOIA Demand For Records On Comey’s Firing

Via press release: The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Justice Department and FBI asking for all records related to President Trump’s dismissal of FBI Director James Comey. “White House interference with any FBI investigation is incompatible with democratic safeguards, and that’s especially the case when the investigation involves the president or …

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ACLU Blasts Firing Of James Comey: This Raises Serious Alarm Bells For Our System Of Checks And Balances

Via press release from the ACLU: The independence of the FBI director is meant to ensure that the president does not operate above the law. For President Trump to fire the man responsible for investigating his own campaign’s ties to the Russians imperils that fundamental principle. Regardless of how one judges the performance of James Comey in either the Hillary …

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The ACLU Mocks Trump’s “Fake News” Religious Order As An “Elaborate Photo-Op” Not Worth Suing Over

BOOM. Via press release from the ACLU: Today’s executive order signing was an elaborate photo-op with no discernible policy outcome. After careful review of the order’s text we have determined that the order does not meaningfully alter the ability of religious institutions or individuals to intervene in the political process. The order portends but does not yet do harm to …

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Dan Savage Donates $100K To The ACLU And Refugee Relief With Proceeds From ITMFA Merchandise Sales

Dan Savage writes at The Stranger: This morning I had the distinct pleasure of mailing off checks to Planned Parenthood ($33,333.34), the ACLU ($33,333.33) and the International Refugee Assistance Project ($33,333.33)—money we raised selling ITMFA (“Impeach The Mother Fucker Already”) buttons, t-shirts, hats, stickers, coffee cups, and lapel pins at www.ITMFA.org. And I got to mail those checks out because …

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NCAA Awards Events To North Carolina Despite Objections Of Civil Rights Groups To Fake HB2 Repeal

ABC News reports: The NCAA has awarded coveted men’s basketball tournament games and other events to North Carolina, effectively ending a boycott that helped force the state to repeal parts of a law that limited protections for LGBT people. The governing body announced decisions Tuesday for events through 2022, two weeks after the NCAA said it had “reluctantly” agreed to …

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MINNESOTA: Hate Group Drops Lawsuit Seeking To Bar Transgender Students From School Locker Rooms

Via press release from the ACLU: An organization that filed a federal lawsuit last year to bar transgender students from using locker rooms consistent with their gender identity today announced that they have voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit. The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Minnesota had intervened in the case on behalf of a transgender girl, identified as …

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ACLU Named Grand Marshal Of New York City Pride

Via press release: NYC Pride announced today its four Grand Marshals scheduled to lead the 48th NYC Pride March on Sunday, June 25, 2017. The American Civil Liberties Union, Brooke Guinan, Krishna Stone, and Geng Le will lead this year’s critical demonstration of LGBT Pride and protest. ● The American Civil Liberties Union has been the United States’ uncompromising defender …

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KENTUCKY: Federal Court Rejects ACLU’s Demand For Legal Fees In Case Against County Clerk Kim Davis

The Huffington Post reports: The American Civil Liberties Union will not be able to recoup legal fees it incurred in a lawsuit against Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who spent five days in jail after refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, a federal court has ruled. On Monday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Edward Atkins denied an ACLU …

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ACLU Demands That Four Federal Agencies Release Documents On Anti-LGBT “Religious Liberty” Order

Via press release: The American Civil Liberties Union has today demanded documents from four federal agencies concerning a potential executive order that would sanction religiously motivated discrimination against LGBT people, members of minority faiths, women, and people seeking reproductive health care. “The American people deserve to know whether this administration plans to protect the rights of all Americans or whether …

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