This week, Rep. Peter King's hearings on "Muslim radicalization" dominated the news. We live-tweeted the hearing, and submitted testimony for the record.
Tuesday was International Women's Day, and to celebrate, we kicked off a women's rights blog symposium in honor of Women's History Month. We'll have a new post every weekday throughout March; see them all here.
Also this week: we sent a letter to Department of Justice urging it to investigate human rights abuses in Puerto Rico; we responded to the new executive order institutionalizing indefinite detention and restarting military commissions trials; and of course, a big win in Illinois, where the governor just signed a bill ending the death penalty there.
On a less serious note, did you see this week's Glee? We loved their treatment of the issue of sex ed—it was spot-on, and we think would be a great episode for adults and teens to watch together before having "the talk."
Issues of the Week:
Will Peter King's Hearing Carry Stigma Like Joseph McCarthy's?
Rep. Peter King's (R-N.Y.) hearing on "Muslim radicalization" yesterday was only the latest manifestation of discriminatory attitudes and prejudiced policies cropping up around the country that wrongly equate belief in Islam with terrorism. We've already watched in horror as local governments attempt to legislate against "sharia law" and unconstitutionally discriminate against people hoping to build mosques or Islamic centers in their communities. Rep. King's hearing serves to further divide Americans, instead of uniting us. Check out Washington Legislative Director Laura Murphy's , and our reaction to the hearing here and here.
Glee Rocks Sex Ed
Full disclosure: We're total Gleeks. We love the show and were so excited for this week's episode where Gwyneth Paltrow returns as a sex ed sub. And we were not disappointed! dove into sex education the way only Glee can — poking fun at the school's Celibacy Club and the sex-positive sex ed teacher, while still presenting poignant storylines like 's struggles -- well we don't want to spoit it for you -- all while rocking out to "". But Gleek or not, you can appreciate the episode's bottom line: teens — straight or LGBT — need good information at home and at school about making safe and healthy decisions about sex and they need caring adults to talk to.
ACLU Urges Justice Department to Investigate Human Rights Abuses in Puerto Rico
Those C-Span (or YouTube) nerds among you might've caught last week from the House floor. At the end of his remarks, he submitted the ACLU's report, Human Rights Crisis in Puerto Rico: First Amendment Under Siege, into the House record. We followed up on that report with a letter to the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, urging them to act on the allegations of human rights abuses against the people of Puerto Rico at the hands of the territory’s government.
Victory! Illinois Governor Signs Bill to End Death Penalty
It happened. Wednesday, at his office in Springfield, Ill., Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Senate Bill 3539, ending Illinois' dysfunctional and broken death penalty system. The measure ends an embarrassing history in Illinois, during which 20 men sentenced to death have been exonerated and released from the state's death row. was approved by the Illinois House and the Illinois Senate in dramatic votes in early January. With the governor's signature, the measure will become law July 1.
Addicted to Incarceration: A New Weekly Series
Today, the U.S. today has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world, and it's the highest it’s ever been in U.S. history. Our criminal justice system is failing on every count: public safety, fairness and cost-effectiveness. Across the country, the criminal justice reform conversation is heating up. Each week, we’ll feature our some of the most exciting and relevant news in overincarceration discourse that we’ve spotted from the previous week.
Don't Miss: The School-to-Prison Pipeline game Learn more about an alarming trend schools are pushing youth out of classrooms and into the juvenile and criminal justice system.
This is your week in civil liberties. Let us know if this is useful or if you'd like to see changes. Share your thoughts: ideas@aclu.org
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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.