Aclu

Planned Parenthood, Aclu Challenge Abortion Laws In Three States

... Lake Tribune via Associated Press). Planned Parenthood has filed lawsuits challenging abortion laws in three states, saying they put unconstitutional barriers in the way of women who want to obtain abortions. The group, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and Center for Reproductive Rights, filed the lawsuits Wednesday. In North Carolina, they are looking to strike down the state’s ban on abortions performed after 20 weeks gestation except in the instance of a medical emergency. In Missouri, the groups are challenging laws requiring that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at hospitals and that abortions only be performed in ambulatory surgery centers. The groups argue that most women in the state need to travel to one clinic in St. Louis to get abortions. The laws are similar to Texas restrictions struck down by the Supreme Court in ...

State Aclu Condemns Trump’s Immigration Orders

... question the legality of Trump’s executive orders. Congress is supposed to offer checks and balances to the executive branch. Most of the federal funding provided municipalities comes from dollars appreciated by congressional lawmakers. “We think it’s basically political theater, not a legitimate strategy for national security. It embodies racial and ethnic bias,” Molly Tack-Hooper, a staff attorney at the state ACLU, said of Trump’s actions. Among Trump’s immigration orders is language that suggests an increase in deportation efforts and more local law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration officials. A disentanglement of local law enforcement from federal immigration policy is a common practice among some sanctuary cities, Tack-Hooper said. As a sanctuary city, Philadelphia, for example, will not hold undocumented individuals in custody for nonviolent crimes at the request of federal law enforcement officials. ...

2 Umass Dartmouth Professors Detained At Logan In Trump Immigration Crackdown

... suit in Federal District Court in Massachusetts seeking the release of two UMass Dartmouth professors, both lawful permanent residents of the United States, who the ACLU says are being unlawfully held at Logan Airport as a consequence of an executive order by President Donald rump. Both petitioners, Mazdak Pourabdollah Tootkaboni and Arghavan Louhghalam, are associate professors at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, Iranian nationals, and Muslims. They landed at Logan Airport at approximately 5:30 pm Saturday and according to an ACLU news release, had been detained since then. Just before midnight, UMass Dartmouth spokesman John Hoey said the two professors had been allowed to leave Logan and "university officials have been in contact" with them. Further information was not immediately available. According to the ACLU of Massachusetts complaint, the professors "have a constitutional right to return home to the United States after a brief trip abroad, and cannot be deprived of their lawful permanent status without justification and due process protections.". The ...

Aclu Accuses D.c. Police Of Violating Rights Of Inauguration Protesters

... of several hundreds of protesters after they were arrested by D. C. law enforcement last week on inauguration day. Monica Hopkins-Maxwell, executive director of the ACLU of the District of Columbia, said in a press statement. As more details emerge about the conduct of the Metropolitan Police Department on Inauguration Day, the ACLU of the District of Columbia is becoming concerned that law enforcement may have violated demonstrators’ rights in any of three ways: by indiscriminately corralling and detaining individuals, including journalists and legal observers, who were not involved in any criminal activity; by using pepper spray without justification on people who were not breaking the law or who had already been detained; and by holding individuals outdoors for excessive periods of time, in some cases up to eight hours, without access to food or bathroom facilities. D. C. prosecutors told CBS News  that 230 protesters would be charged with felony rioting charges, an offense ...

Judge Backs Aclu In Lawsuit Over Border Checkpoints

... operations.'. Those checkpoints have been a continued source of contention between the agency and residents of Arivaca, who say agency operations interfere with their lives. After the lawsuit was filed, the case was put on hold. Attorneys for the government said during that time the agency produced more than 13,000 pages of information. Based on some of what it got, the ACLU in 2015 issued a report saying that abuse of travelers at Southern Arizona checkpoints was at "epidemic levels.'. Homeland Security lawyers now want the FOIA lawsuit dismissed, contending they have provided everything they need to disclose. The ACLU responded that the search was inadequate. So a federal judge hearing the case tasked Velasco with reviewing the claims and what had been produced and coming up with a ...

Aclu And Other Groups Challenge Trump Immigration Ban After Refugees Detained At Airports Following Executive Order

... ACLU and Other Groups Challenge Trump Immigration Ban After Refugees Detained at Airports Following Executive Order. By ACLU. January 28, 2017 | 11:45 AM. WEB 17-tsaairport-1160 x 768.jpg. UPDATE (1/28/17): A federal judge granted the American Civil Liberties Union’s request for a nationwide temporary injunction that will block the deportation of all people stranded in U. S. airports under President Trump’s new Muslim ban. The ACLU, along with several groups, filed a lawsuit  this morning on behalf of two Iraqi men who were en route to the United States on immigrant visas when President Trump issued an executive order banning many Muslims from entering the country. One of the men, Hameed Khalid Darweesh, was traveling on an Iraqi special Immigrant Visa and had worked as an electrical engineer and contractor for the U. S. government from 2003–2010. Brandon Friedman, a former Obama administration official who commanded a platoon during the invasion of Iraq, said Mr. Darweesh had worked for him as an ...

After Thousands Protest Immigration Ban, Federal Judge Grants Stay To Detainees

... notes that the "court ruled on a habeas corpus petition filed by the ACLU on behalf of Hameed Khalid Darweesh and Sameer Abdulkhaleq Alshawi, who were denied entry to the U. S. upon landing at JFK airport." The men have been released, and the stay has also been extended to "100-200 others in airports across country." The stay will remain until hearing on Februrary 21 st. Speaking outside the courthouse, Deputy director of the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project, Lee Gelernt, declared: "No one can be sent back today.". 10 p.m. The ACLU has released this statement. A federal judge tonight granted the American Civil Liberties Union’s request for a nationwide temporary injunction that will block the deportation of all people stranded in U. S. airports under President Trump’s new Muslim ban. The ACLU and other legal organizations filed a lawsuit on behalf of individuals subject to President Trump's Muslim ban. The lead ...

Apple, Aclu Join Partnership To Research Artificial Intelligence, Create Best Practices

... of AI, among other things, was initially made up of tech giants Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, Google and IBM. Though Apple collaborated with the partnership since before it was announced last year, it wasn’t officially a member until now. Tom Gruber, Apple’s head of advance development of Siri, will represent the company. “We’re glad to see the industry engaging on some of the larger opportunities and concerns created with the advance of machine learning and AI,” Gruber said. “We believe it’s beneficial to Apple, our customers, and the industry to play an active role in its development and look forward to collaborating with the group to help drive discussion on how to advance AI while protecting the privacy and security of consumers.”. The partnership also announced six independent members will join the board of trustees. The members range from academic leaders and AI researchers to human rights advocates. In addition to creating best practices for AI, the partnership hopes to advance public perception of the technology. By diversifying the board, the ...

Now More Than Ever, The Protection Of The Aclu Is Needed

... ACLU is refining a 2014 law that required all police departments to establish written, anonymous complaint procedures, which are “recommended by all the national accrediting agencies” to allay fears of retaliation. The form is supposed to be “made available online and at another location outside the police department,” but 40 departments are out of compliance. The ACLU suggests a standardized complaint form be used by every police agency in the state, “so we can understand whether there is a meaningful process” that accurately and fairly reports complaints against officers. The ACLU has plenty of reason to give this their full attention. According to the ACLU, Connecticut residents have lost confidence in the police’s ability to monitor themselves” on issues such as racial profiling and lawful searches and seizures, said Mc Guire, who noted this was the most consistent message Nutmeggers complained about this past ...

Aclu Vows Eternal Vigilance, Gears Up For A Long Battle Against President Donald Trump

... “sanctuary cities”  that protect undocumented immigrants. Not surprisingly, the need to fight a multi-front war against the new administration has also impacted the ACLU’s general attitude toward the new administration. This was perhaps best summed up by the cover of its magazine’s newsletter, which contained a picture of President Trump and the prediction “See you in court” in large red letters. “It’s actually hard to identify an area where we’re working that is not facing some threat from the incoming Trump administration,” ACLU national legal director David Cole told NBC News. He later added, “The whole idea of the separation of powers is to ensure that each of the branches has a self-interest in checking each other. Judges tend to be establishment figures, whether they’re on the left or the right. Donald Trump is not an establishment figure.”. In a “7-Point Plan of Action”  released by Executive Director Anthony D. Romero on the day before Trump’s inauguration, the ACLU announced that it plans on filing Freedom of Information Act ...