"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
-- George Orwell

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword." -- Julius Caesar

"There is no 'slippery slope' toward loss of liberty, only a long staircase where each step down must first be tolerated by the American people and their leaders."
-- Alan K. Simpson

"We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason if we remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes which were, for the moment, unpopular."
--Edward R. Murrow

"Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak just because a baby can't chew it." -- Mark Twain

"In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak for me." -- Reverend Martin Niemoeller

News

• Torture Photo Release Decision Should Be Left To Courts, Says ACLU.   In an effort to encourage passage of a military spending bill, late Thursday President Obama told members of Congress in a phone call and a letter that he would use every "legal and administrative remedy" available to prevent the release of photos depicting detainee abuse overseas. A federal court had ordered the government to release the photos in an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, but stayed that order to allow the government to seek Supreme Court review.   2009-06-12
   
• Obama Administration Seeks To Keep Torture Victims From Having Day In Court.   The Justice Department today argued that the victims of the "extraordinary rendition" program should not have their day in court, asking a federal appeals court to block a landmark case the court had earlier ruled could go forward. In April, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary, Jeppesen DataPlan Inc., for its role in the Bush administration's unlawful "extraordinary rendition" program could proceed, but today the government asked the appeals court's full panel of judges to rehear that decision.   2009-06-12
   
• LGBT Legal And Advocacy Groups Decry Obama Administration's Defense of DOMA.   We are very surprised and deeply disappointed in the manner in which the Obama administration has defended the so-called Defense of Marriage Act in a brief filed today in Smelt v. United States, a lawsuit brought in federal court in California by a married same-sex couple asking the federal government to treat them equally with respect to federal protections and benefits. The administration is using many of the same flawed legal arguments that the Bush administration used. These arguments rightly have been rejected by several state supreme courts as legally unsound and discriminatory.   2009-06-12
   
• ACLU Files Lawsuit Seeking Disclosure Of Still-Secret Torture Documents.   The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit seeking the disclosure of still-secret records relating to the torture of prisoners held by the U.S. overseas. The requested documents include legal memos authored by John Yoo and Steven Bradbury, who were lawyers in the Bush administration Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), as well as documents sent by the Bush White House to the CIA. The government has failed to turn over the documents in response to a December 2008 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.   2009-06-11
   
• Court Gives Government More Time To Pursue Legal Options On Torture Photos.   The Second Circuit Court of Appeals today held that the government does not immediately have to turn over photos depicting the abuse of prisoners in U.S. custody overseas, but can have more time to pursue further legal options. The court had issued an April 27 mandate directing the government to turn over the photos in an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, but today recalled that mandate and stayed it pending resolution of the case by the Supreme Court.   2009-06-11
   
• Transportation Security Administration Refused To Hire Qualified Baggage Screener Because He Has HIV.   The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a complaint with the Transportation Security Administration on behalf of an Air Force Veteran who was refused a job as a baggage screener with the Transportation Security Administration because he has HIV.   2009-06-11
   
• ACLU Seeks Records About Laptop Searches At The Border.   United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) policy permits officials to search the laptops and other electronic devices of travelers without suspicion of wrongdoing, according to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU filed the FOIA request with CBP, a component of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to learn how CBP's suspicionless search policy, first made public in July 2008, is impacting the constitutional rights of international travelers.   2009-06-10
   
• ACLU Challenges Defense Department Personnel Policy To Regard Lawful Protests As "Low-Level Terrorism".   Anti-terrorism training materials currently being used by the Department of Defense (DoD) teach its personnel that free expression in the form of public protests should be regarded as "low level terrorism." ACLU attorneys are calling the approach "an egregious insult to constitutional values" and have sent a letter to the Department of Defense demanding that the offending materials be changed and that the DoD send corrective information to all DoD employees who received the erroneous training.   2009-06-10
   
• CIA Refuses To Disclose Interrogation Tape Documents.   In another attempt to avoid public and judicial scrutiny of the Bush administration torture program, CIA Director Leon Panetta argued that records related to the destruction and content of interrogation tapes should be withheld in their entirety. In documents filed yesterday in an American Civil Liberties Union Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, Director Panetta argued that the documents in question should not be released because they contain information about the actual implementation of "enhanced interrogation techniques," as opposed to abstract information about the techniques such as that included in Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) memos released earlier this year. Director Panetta also argued that the release of this information could be used as "ready-made" propaganda by our enemies.   2009-06-09
   
• Federal Court Says Religious Monument At Oklahoma Courthouse Is Unconstitutional.   A unanimous federal appeals court yesterday ruled that county commissioners in Haskell County, Oklahoma, unconstitutionally sought to promote their personal religious beliefs by erecting a Ten Commandments monument on the front lawn of the county's courthouse. The decision by the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals comes in a challenge filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Oklahoma on behalf of a local resident.   2009-06-09
   
• California School Apologizes For Illegally Banning Sixth Grader's Presentation On Harvey Milk.   A California school has apologized to a sixth grader for illegally censoring her classroom presentation about Harvey Milk last month, and school officials promise they won't engage in unconstitutional restriction of similar free speech in the future. The apology comes after the American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter on May 30 to the Ramona Unified School District about its violation of the student's free speech rights when it refused to allow her to give the presentation in class. Wrongly citing a school policy on sex education, the school had improperly required classmates to get parental permission to see the presentation during a lunch recess.   2009-06-09
   
• House Subcommittee Considers Bill To End "Life Without Parole" For Children.   A key House Judiciary Subcommittee held a hearing today on a bill to help end the practice of sentencing children to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This legislation, known as H.R. 2289, the Juvenile Justice Accountability and Improvement Act of 2009, would deny funding to states that refuse to offer a parole option to juvenile offenders and authorizes state grants to improve legal representation for youths charged with life sentences. The hearing was conducted by the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security.   2009-06-09
   
• Senate Questions Indefinite Detention Without Charge.   A hearing today held by a Senate subcommittee explored the legal and moral questions surrounding the continued use of indefinite detention for terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. In a speech given two weeks ago, President Obama signaled new laws could be needed to indefinitely hold Guantánamo detainees without charge or trial. The Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution heard testimony on the topic today from legal scholars and human rights advocates.   2009-06-09