ACLU

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ACLU Backs Girls Expelled for Facebook 'Death Threats'

Chat was just 'teenage banter,' says lawyer

(Newser) - Genuine death threats don't tend to come with "LOL" and a smiley face attached, notes the ACLU, which has filed a lawsuit on behalf of three expelled eighth-graders in Indiana. The 14-year-old girls were kicked out of school for a Facebook conversation in which they talked about which...

Tennessee's Anti-Evolution Bill to Become Law

Critics: Move 'undermines science education'

(Newser) - Tennessee was the site of the infamous Scopes monkey trial nearly 90 years ago (spoiler alert: creationists lost), but the state is still fighting evolution. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam said yesterday he'll allow a bill to become law that protects teachers who criticize evolution, as well as global warming...

Girl, ACLU Sue School Over Facebook Flap

Suit alleges invasion of privacy after she has to hand over password

(Newser) - Maybe this kind of thing will start sounding familiar soon? A 12-year-old girl in Minnesota is suing her school with the help of the ACLU because she says administrators made her hand over her Facebook password and pored over her account, reports CNN . The move came after the girl got...

23 States Considering Welfare Drug Tests

Lawmakers follow lead of Florida

(Newser) - Lawmakers in 22 states think Florida had the right idea with its law requiring welfare recipients to pass a drug test . States like Wyoming, Illinois, Maryland, and Colorado are all considering similar laws that would make a clean drug test a prerequisite for food stamps, welfare, and other forms of...

Atheists Raise $44K for Teen Prayer Foe

'Evil little thing' Jessica Ahlquist awarded scholarship

(Newser) - Rhode Island teen Jessica Ahlquist's fight against a school prayer banner didn't win her many friends in her strongly Catholic hometown—but it has won her a hefty college fund. Prominent atheists, who praise the 16-year-old for standing up to critics "with class and style," are...

Town Slams Teen Atheist's Fight Against Prayer

8-foot prayer hung in school in Cranston, RI, for 49 years

(Newser) - A 16-year-old Rhode Island atheist has her heavily Roman Catholic town of 80,000 in an uproar after she successfully sued her school to take down a eight-foot-tall prayer that hung in the school auditorium for 49 years, reports the New York Times . One state representative called Jessica Ahlquist “...

Cops Fired for Opposing War on Drugs

New York Times examines case of border patrol agent

(Newser) - Bryan Gonzalez was working as a Border Patrol agent in New Mexico when he made the fatal mistake of musing to a colleague that legalizing marijuana would end Mexico’s violent drug war. He was fired soon afterwards; his termination letter said he held “personal views that were contrary...

Judge Orders Florida to Stop Welfare Drug Tests

Says it will likely be ruled unconstitutional

(Newser) - A federal judge has ordered Florida to suspend its “suspicionless drug testing” of would-be welfare recipients, writing that “there is a substantial likelihood” that the law requiring such tests will be deemed unconstitutional. The ruling comes thanks to an ACLU lawsuit on behalf of one welfare recipient—an...

Alabama Town Enacts 'Jesus or Jail' Plan

Misdemeanor offenders can choose between church and jail

(Newser) - Petty offenders can choose between Jesus and jail time in Bay Minette, Alabama. The town kicked off Operation Restore Our Community this week, giving misdemeanor lawbreakers the choice between a year of church-going or fines and jail, Raw Story reports. Pastors invented the program because crime is caused by "...

Mississippi to Vote to Define Embryos as People

Redefinition could lead to murder charges for abortion

(Newser) - Mississippi conservatives have won the all-clear from the state Supreme Court, allowing them to put their abortion-busting initiative that would label embryos as "people" on the November ballot. The vote could totally shut down abortion rights by defining a "person" as existing from the "moment of fertilization,...

ACLU Sues Newark Over Zuckerberg Donation

Suit seeks transparency over $100M gift to school system

(Newser) - The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Newark on behalf of a parents group that wants to know exactly what the city plans to do with Mark Zuckerberg's $100 million gift to its school system . The ACLU is demanding that the city release all correspondence between the Facebook founder,...

ACLU, Gawker to Drop Suit Vs. Christie, Ailes

Governor's office releases schedule entry showing private dinner

(Newser) - New Jersey's ACLU says it will likely drop a lawsuit filed earlier today against New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie after Christie's office released records that seemingly indicate that he met with Fox News chief Roger Ailes last year. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of a Gawker...

Starving Performers Swarm Vegas Streets

Tough times drive costumed impersonators to Strip, challenging big hotels

(Newser) - Nevada's woeful economy has inspired dozens of jobless and under-employed men and women to dress up like celebrities, movie characters, and cartoon heroes in pursuit of a buck. But the gratuity-driven performances have created tension between Las Vegas' mighty gambling industry and free-speech advocates who defend the constitutional rights...

Florida To Drug Test Welfare Recipients Under New Law Signed by Rick Scott
Florida to Drug Test
Welfare Recipients
in case you missed it
Jun 4, 2011 7:00 PM CDT

Florida to Drug Test Welfare Recipients

ACLU files lawsuit saying law is unconstitutional

(Newser) - Governor Rick Scott signed a law this week requiring Floridians to submit urine, blood, or hair samples for drug testing before they could receive any cash aid from the state. Those testing positive will be banned from receiving aid for six months, though they can secure assistance for their children...

Illinois Senate Approves Anti-Westboro Bill

Bill would require funeral protesters to stay extra 100 feet away

(Newser) - Westboro Baptist Church could soon find itself foiled in Illinois. The state Senate passed a measure yesterday that broadens the protection granted to funerals, requiring any protesters to remain at least 300 feet away from the site rather than the currently required 200 feet. The original House bill, proposed by...

Judge Backs 'Boobies' Bracelets

School can't ban breast cancer bracelets, judge decides

(Newser) - It's OK for middle school students to wear bracelets proclaiming "I (heart) boobies!"—at least in the context of breast cancer awareness, a federal judge has decided. The popular fundraising bracelets "can reasonably be viewed as speech designed to raise awareness of breast cancer and to...

'Bigfoot' Files Free Speech Suit

Costumed filmmaker says NH stomped on his rights

(Newser) - An amateur filmmaker kicked out of a state park while impersonating Bigfoot says his rights have been stomped on. Jonathan Doyle dressed up as the mythical creature, ran around New Hampshire's Mount Monadnock, then shed the disguise and interviewed hikers about what they'd seen. Park rangers barred him from filming...

Miami Police Buy Spy Drone
Miami Police
Buy Spy Drone
Jan 7, 2011 11:15 AM CST

Miami Police Buy Spy Drone

Some residents have privacy concerns

(Newser) - Soon, America’s fearsome spy drones will prowl the sky in Kandahar, Waziristan, and … South Beach? The Miami-Dade Police Department has struck a deal to buy a drone, WSN-TV reports. Many residents aren’t particularly happy about this, but police are eager to have “an eye up there,...

Middle-Schoolers Sue Over 'Boobies' Bracelet Ban

Girls were suspended; ACLU joins the fight

(Newser) - The popular "I (heart) boobies!" bracelets may be silly—but that doesn't mean students should be suspended for wearing them, the ACLU asserts. The organization helped two middle-schoolers file a lawsuit against their district yesterday after the $4 bracelets, meant to promote breast cancer awareness, got them suspended,...

ACLU Clamoring for Criminal Probe of Bush

Slam ex-prez over authorizing waterboarding

(Newser) - The ACLU and some US officials are calling for a criminal investigation of George W. Bush after he acknowledged directly authorizing the use of waterboarding ("damn right") in Decision Points and throughout his book tour, the Huffington Post reports. “The admission cannot be ignored,” wrote the...

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