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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »TEXAS: ACLU Launches “I Pee With LGBT” Campaign In Opposition To Pending “Bathroom Bill” [VIDEO]
The Austin Statesman reports: A web-based ad, shot by Austin film director Richard Linklater, uses humor to attack arguments that the transgender bathroom bill is needed to protect privacy. The digital ad, which will appear in targeted buys on Facebook, includes a diverse cast — including two transgender Texans — to argue that Senate Bill 6 is about discrimination, not …
Read More »Ethics Group Offers To Sue Trump On Behalf Of Nordstrom Under California Unfair Competition Law
Raw Story reports: Norm Eisen, co-founder of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, has offered to help Nordstrom and other companies sue President Donald Trump for improperly using his executive position to hurt their businesses. In a tweet on Wednesday, Trump blasted Nordstrom for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s line of products. “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly …
Read More »ACLU Raises Record $24M Over The Weekend
Slate reports: The American Civil Liberties Union broke all its fundraising records this weekend as it became the main group challenging President Donald Trump’s immigration restrictions. The ACLU raised $24,164,691 this weekend from 356,306 online donations after Trump signed the order suspending the country’s refugee program and banning entry into the United States of citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries. …
Read More »BREAKING: ACLU Sues Trump Over Refugee Ban
Reuters reports: Immigration lawyers sued on Saturday to block President Donald Trump’s order halting the entry of refugees and foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries to the United States, saying numerous people have already been unlawfully detained. The lawyers from numerous immigration organizations and the American Civil Liberties Union sued in federal court in Brooklyn, New York, on behalf …
Read More »ACLU Unveils First Action Against Trump, Demands Feds Turn Over All Conflict Of Interest Documents
Via press release from the ACLU: The American Civil Liberties Union has taken legal action seeking documents on conflicts of interest and violations of the Constitution and federal law posed by President Trump’s and his family’s business interests. The organization also released a Seven-Point Plan laying out how it intends to challenge other Trump policies and protect the Constitution. The efforts are made possible by the organization’s new Constitution Defense Fund, …
Read More »LGBT Groups Condemn Repeal Of Charlotte Rights Ordinance, Demand Full Repeal Of Statewide Hate Law
From a joint statement issued this afternoon by the ACLU and Lambda Legal: “H.B. 2 was an unprecedented attack on the LGBT community, in particular against transgender people, and we are encouraged that its days are numbered,” said Sarah Gillooly, Policy Director for the ACLU of North Carolina. “It is imperative that the General Assembly hold up their end of …
Read More »FLORIDA: Federal Appeals Court Rules That Middle Schools May Form Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs
The Orlando Sentinel reports: A federal appeals court Tuesday overturned a lower-court ruling that supported the Lake County School Board’s decision to block middle-schoolers from forming a gay-straight-alliance club to combat bullying. In a battle dating to 2011, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling found that the Equal Access Act, which requires federally funded secondary schools to treat all …
Read More »ACLU To Trump: We’ll See You In Court
The Hill reports: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is warning President-elect Donald Trump that it will “see him in court,” threatening to use its “full firepower” if he tries to follow through on controversial campaign promises on immigration, torture and other issues. “These proposals are not simply un-American and wrong-headed, they are unlawful and unconstitutional,” Anthony Romero, executive director …
Read More »KENTUCKY: ACLU Files $233K Demand For Cost Of Suing Kim Davis Over Same-Sex Marriage Licenses
Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: The legal advocacy group that represented several couples in a lawsuit against Kim Davis — the county clerk in Kentucky who famously refused to issue marriage licenses after the Supreme Court struck down bans on same-sex marriage — is asking a federal court to award it $233,058 to cover legal expenses. In court documents filed …
Read More »NORTH CAROLINA: Arguments Begin At Trial To Halt Enforcement Of Hate Law, Judge Skeptical Of HB2
Dominic Holden reports at Buzzfeed: A federal judge expressed skepticism on Monday that North Carolina lawmakers were solving a legitimate safety problem when they passed a law in spring that bans many transgender people from restrooms in government facilities that match their gender identity. US District Court Judge Thomas D. Schroeder also seemed flummoxed at one point by how the …
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