ACLU

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Court Chucks CIA Rendition Case to Protect 'State Secrets'

Case pits human rights against national security, says judge

(Newser) - A federal appeals court has dismissed a case brought on behalf of five people who are charging that they were tortured in secret CIA prisons abroad. The sharply divided court ruled that the case against Jeppesen Dataplan, a Boeing subsidiary which allegedly assisted the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program, should...

ACLU Wants Court to Ban Assassinations

Argues that targeting a US citizen is unconstitutional

(Newser) - The ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights have made a bold move in their quest to get Anwar al-Awlaki off the CIA's "capture or kill" list. The rights groups filed a lawsuit yesterday asking a federal court to declare all assassinations unconstitutional, unless the target poses an imminent,...

ACLU: Feds Covered Up Role in Torture of US Citizen

Lawsuit tries to force CIA, FBI to come clean

(Newser) - The ACLU is suing the federal government for ignoring its Freedom of Information Act inquiry into the detention and torture of an American citizen overseas. Naji Hamdan, who spent 20 years in California before moving to the United Arab Emirates in 2006, was arrested in August 2008 and, according to...

Left-Right Coalition Presses US on Prison Rape

Groups criticize Eric Holder for delay in new rules

(Newser) - The issue of prison rape—and the Justice Department's delay in addressing it—has brought together an unusual coalition of conservative and progressive groups, the Huffington Post reports. Focus on the Family and the American Conservative Union joined the ACLU and George Soros' Open Society Policy Center yesterday in calling...

Radical Cleric's Dad Sues Over CIA Kill List

Suit challenges CIA's power to assassinate an American citizen

(Newser) - The father of Anwar al-Awlaki, the Muslim cleric linked to multiple terrorist plots , is suing the US government in an effort to get his son off the CIA’s “capture or kill” list. He’s hired the ACLU and the Center for Constitutional Rights to challenge the CIA’s...

Neb. City Suspends Law That Bans Renting to Illegals

Fremont law on hold until court challenges resolved

(Newser) - A law banning residents from hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants has been suspended by the city council of Fremont, Neb., days before it was to take effect. Council members voted 8-0 to suspend the controversial, voter-approved law until lawsuits challenging it are resolved, to save the city money...

Wal-Mart Sued Over Medical Pot Firing

Worker sacked for using prescribed pot for cancer

(Newser) - The ACLU is suing Wal-Mart on behalf of a Michigan man fired for using medical marijuana to ease the symptoms of sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor. Joseph Casias, a 30-year-old father of two, was fired after failing a drug test. Casias—a legally registered user of medicinal marijuana...

Nebraska Town Bans Renting to Illegals

Fremont passes tough new immigration law

(Newser) - Residents of Fremont, Nebraska have voted for a law aimed at driving illegal immigrants out of town. The law, which bans hiring or renting property to illegal immigrants, passed a referendum of the town's 25,000 people 57% to 43%. The ACLU has promised an immediate challenge to the law,...

ACLU Sues Arizona Over Immigration Law

Class-action suit hits 'shameful, un-American' law

(Newser) - The ACLU and several other civil rights groups yesterday sued Arizona over what one lawyer calls the state's "shameful, un-American" immigration law. The federal class-action suit charges that Arizona's law is unconstitutional, will lead to widespread racial profiling, and violates the free-speech rights of day laborers, the Los Angeles ...

ACLU Defends Cussing at Cops

Lawsuits fault police for arresting potty mouths

(Newser) - Swearing is legal, but some institutions—including Pennsylvania law enforcement agencies—need a reminder, the ACLU tells the Philadelphia Inquirer . The organization is suing on behalf of two Pennsylvanians who were arrested and charged with scofflaw offenses for swearing in public; one of them called a police officer a "...

Take That, Supreme Court: Mojave Desert Cross Stolen

Theft follows Court ruling that cross can stay put

(Newser) - Somebody unhappy with the high court appears to have taken the law into their own hands by making off with the controversial 7-foot-tall cross that the Court recently ruled could remain on display in the Mojave Desert. The cross, a memorial to soldiers who died in World War I, vanished...

Democrats' ID Card Plan: Get Your Fingerprints

'Biometrics' a big part of immigration reform proposal

(Newser) - Now it's the Democrats' turn to be accused of trying to violate civil liberties in the name of immigration reform. A crucial part of their plan calls for what amounts to a high-tech national ID card. It would have a "biometrics" component—namely fingerprints—and every worker would need...

School Pulls Lesbian's Photo From Yearbook

Because she was (gasp!) wearing a tuxedo

(Newser) - A Mississippi high school student's photo has been scrubbed from her senior yearbook. Ceara Sturgis' crime? The lesbian teen sported a tuxedo in her picture. “They didn't even put her name in it,” Sturgis' mother, Veronica Rodriguez, tells the Jackson Free Press . “They've got kids in the...

School Cancels Prom Over Lesbian Date

ACLU told Miss. school to let student bring girlfriend

(Newser) - Mississippi's Itawamba County School District has decided it would rather cancel an entire high school prom than host one where a lesbian student can wear a tuxedo and bring a female date. The district announced the prom was off after the ACLU pressured it to change its policy and allow...

Rights to Human Gene Patents Go on Trial

Do patents on breast, ovarian cancer genes, retard new research?

(Newser) - A Manhattan judge yesterday heard arguments on whether human genes should be covered by patents. A company called Myriad Genetics is being sued over its patents on two genes linked to an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer—BRCA1 and BRCA2. The suit alleges that women's health is harmed...

Supreme Court Sides With Obama on Torture Photos

New law prevents pictures' release

(Newser) - The Supreme Court threw out an appeals court ruling ordering the disclosure of photographs of detainees being abused by their US captors today, citing a recent change in federal law that allows the pictures to be withheld. The justices issued a brief, and expected, order directing the 2nd US Circuit...

First US Citizen Sues Feds for Rendition

NJ man alleges interrogation, coercion in Somalia, Egypt

(Newser) - A New Jersey man yesterday became the first US citizen to sue the federal government for "rendition," the extrajudicial transfer of terrorism suspects between countries. Arrested in Kenya in 2007, Amir Meshal was secretly flown to Somalia, then to Ethiopia, where he claims US agents repeatedly threatened him...

Boulder Cops Nix Naked Halloween Streak

Wacky local tradition draws big crowds, annoys authorities

(Newser) - Killjoy cops in Boulder, Colo., plan to shut down the town's annual naked Halloween run tonight, dispatching 40 police officers to the four-block course, backed up, believe it or not, by SWAT teams. Tolerated for nearly a decade, the run aroused police ire last year when the ranks of streakers,...

Loose FBI Rules Raise Privacy Fears

People are unfairly targeted, complain Muslim groups

(Newser) - The FBI has been given far too much leeway to gather information on individuals and groups, charge Muslim and civil liberties organizations. Guidelines in a newly disclosed FBI manual allow the bureau to probe people or organizations without any factual evidence against them. Agents are given broad powers to proactively...

Taser Tells Cops: Don't Aim at Chest
Taser Tells Cops: Don't
Aim at Chest
Oct 21, 2009 11:35 AM CDT

Taser Tells Cops: Don't Aim at Chest

Company cites 'extremely low risk' but insists stun gun is safe

(Newser) - Stun gun maker Taser has issued an advisory to police departments suggesting cops not aim at a suspect’s chest because it poses an "extremely low" chance of triggering an "adverse cardiac event." The company insists its product is safe, but if something goes wrong, "it...

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