Life in Congress last week wasn't as entertaining as it was in .
That is, unless you love hearing about Obamacare all the time.
Assuming you don't, there is actually a lot going on in Congress before everyone turns into a pumpkin and leaves town for Thanksgiving. Several of our amazing lobbyists and litigators will be speaking on panels this coming week, sharing their expertise on a whole slew of issues, including privacy, criminal justice, and NSA surveillance.
We'll jump right in:
Monday, November 18th
First Amendment/Open Internet
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee will hold a hearing to examine the seized Silk Road website, focusing on the potential risks, threats and promises of virtual currencies.
Tuesday, November 19th
First Amendment/Open Internet
Senate subcommittees will hold joint hearings on virtual currency.
NSA Surveillance
Georgetown will co-host an event titled "Surveillance and Foreign Intelligence Gathering in the United States: The Current State of Play." Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) will give the keynote address, and the ACLU's Jameel Jaffer will speak on a panel along with Director of National Intelligence General Counsel Robert Litt, and National Counterterrorism Center Director Matthew Olsen.
E-Verify
The ACLU is co-hosting a Hill briefing on E-Verify. The panel will include Alex Nowrasteh from CATO, Todd McCracken from the National Small Business Association, labor advocate Alison Reardon, and Legislative Counsel Chris Calabrese. It will cover a wide range of concerns with the E-Verify system including privacy, cost, and the burdens placed on small businesses and workers.
Electronic Privacy
Legislative Counsel Chris Calabrese will be on a panel hosted by the American Constitution Society titled "The Constitution and Privacy in a Time of Innovation." The panel will discuss recent Supreme Court decisions and congressional efforts to bring our laws up to speed with current technologies including email, location services, and more controversial advances of domestic drone use and DNA testing.
Wednesday, November 20th
Voting
The National Commission on Voting Rights will hold a field hearing in Atlanta, Ga. Laughlin McDonald of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project is serving as a Commissioner.
Border
Border coalitions from the four Southwest border states, including ACLU affiliates, have created a 200-panel quilt to memorialize Customs and Border Protection-related fatalities and other abuses. ACLU of New Mexico's Regional Center for Border Rights will participate in the National Mall unveiling of the Border Quilt on Wed., Nov. 20—as well as associated press and Hill events—to raise awareness of the "Revitalize Not Militarize" campaign.
Criminal Justice
Legislative Counsel Jennifer Bellamy will speak on a panel at American University Washington College of Law titled "Floyd v. City of New York: a Discussion of Stop-and-Frisks and Racial Profiling."
Thursday, November 21st
Human Rights/Disability Rights
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will hold its second hearing on the ratification of the treaty, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA)
The ACLU is co-hosting a Hill briefing on ECPA reform. The panel will include legislative counsel Chris Calabrese and representatives from the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Tax Reform, and the Center for Democracy and Technology.
Sentencing Reform
The Senate Judiciary Committee may hold a markup of S. 619, the Justice Safety Valve Act of 2013, S.1410, Smarter Sentencing Act of 2013 and S. 1675, the Recidivism Reduction and Public Safety Act of 2013.
Also Happening This Week
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014
The Senate will begin debate on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014 (S. 1197). The bill currently includes helpful transfer provisions of Guantanamo Bay detainees, as well as provisions concerning sexual assault in the military, and religious liberty.
School Discipline
On November 20-21, the Dignity in Schools Campaign will hold its annual Days at the Capitol lobbying event; bringing in parents, students, and teachers from at least fifteen states to raise awareness and end kids being pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system.
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News & CommentaryDec 2024
Civil Liberties
We Need to Know More About State Supreme Court CasesWe Need to Know More About State Supreme Court Cases
State Supreme Courts interpret laws that impact some of the most intimate parts of our lives. Communities have a right to know what’s on the docket. -
Press ReleaseDec 2024
Civil Liberties
New ACLU Report Reveals Most State Supreme Courts Fail to Meet Key Transparency MeasuresNew ACLU Report Reveals Most State Supreme Courts Fail to Meet Key Transparency Measures
NEW YORK — Nearly half of all state supreme courts across the country fail to regularly post new cases they are considering, with only six meeting four key transparency measures already implemented by the U.S. Supreme Court, according to a new report published today by the American Civil Liberties Union. The report identifies significant steps that state supreme courts should take to inform the public about their cases, which have only grown in importance as the federal judiciary has become more hostile to protecting core rights and advocates have turned to state protections and state court litigation in response. Based on an analysis of the practices and policies of the highest courts in each state, including D.C., the report “Scorecard for State Supreme Court Transparency: How Does Your State Stack Up?” ranks each state supreme court in five tiers based on compliance with four key transparency measures. These measures include posting new cases online in a timely manner, providing timely information about legal issues presented by cases, making dockets accessible and free for the public, and making merits briefing accessible and free for the public. “State courts regularly hear — and are the final word on — cases affecting abortion rights, voting rights, criminal justice reform, and more. Yet, in many instances, the highest state courts do not provide meaningful public access to information about cases affecting the rights and liberties of millions of people. We urge state supreme courts to bring more transparency to the critical work they do,” said Julie Murray, co-director of the ACLU’s State Supreme Court Initiative. “In the face of a federal judiciary increasingly unwilling to protect core rights and an incoming administration that threatens to exacerbate that problem, state courts are an important defense for our liberty. They should be leaders in transparency, too,” said Bridget Lavender, Skadden Fellow with the Initiative. The report emphasizes that state courts “play an outsized role” in many parts of the law, but their ability to “guard our liberties depends in significant part on whether those courts adopt transparent processes.” It further highlights that state supreme courts have led the way on enormously consequential decisions in recent years. In particular, some state supreme courts have recognized the right of same sex couples to marry, and did so long before federal courts. They have also declared the death penalty unconstitutional under state law despite contrary federal law, protected access to reproductive health care as a right even as that right was being stripped away at the federal level, and provided more robust protection to people subject to unreasonable searches and seizures. The report urges state supreme courts to take action to improve their transparency practices, taking notes from the courts that have already implemented these measures. It notes that regularly posting new cases and the issues they represent, and providing timely access to dockets and merits briefing allows the public, the press, and the legal community to track cases as they unfold, identify cases with statewide consequences, and understand what’s at stake. -
Press ReleaseNov 2024
National Security
+2 Issues
ACLU Urges House to Kill Bill that Could Give Trump Admin Power to Crush Dissent and Go After Political EnemiesACLU Urges House to Kill Bill that Could Give Trump Admin Power to Crush Dissent and Go After Political Enemies
WASHINGTON — The American Civil Liberties Union strongly urges the House of Representatives to vote NO on H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, which would grant Donald Trump and his handpicked secretary of the Treasury power to investigate and effectively shut down any tax-exempt organization — including news outlets, universities, and civil society groups — by stripping them of tax-exempt status based on an unilateral accusation of wrongdoing. “Passing this bill would hand the incoming Trump administration a dangerous new tool it could use to stifle free speech, target political opponents, and punish disfavored groups,” said Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at ACLU. “The freedom to dissent without fear of government retribution is a vital part of any well-functioning democracy, which is why Congress must block H.R. 9495 before it’s too late.” While there is a 90-day “cure” period in which a designated nonprofit can mount a defense, it is a mere illusion of due process. The government may deny organizations its reasons and evidence against them, leaving the nonprofit unable to rebut allegations. This means that a nonprofit could be left entirely in the dark about what conduct the government believes qualifies as "support," making it virtually impossible to clear its name. Last month, the ACLU and a diverse array of over 130 other tax-exempt organizations — including human rights, reproductive health, and immigrants’ rights groups — wrote to Congress urging them to vote no. The letter also explains that the groups do not oppose the provisions in H.R. 9495 that relate to preventing the IRS from imposing fines and penalties on hostages while they are held abroad. Indeed, these provisions have already passed the Senate on their own, and if the House of Representatives were to pass a version of this bill that did not include the text of H.R. 6408, it could be sent immediately to President Biden for his signature. -
News & CommentaryNov 2024
Civil Liberties
Donald Trump Will Return to the White House in January. The ACLU is Ready.Donald Trump Will Return to the White House in January. The ACLU is Ready.
Starting in 2016, the ACLU filed more than 400 legal actions against Trump and his administration. As Trump returns to the White House, we’re ready to return to the courts and Congress to fight for our civil liberties.