ACLU

One Nation Under God reports ACLU and other atheist group activity that threatens our religious liberty by engaging in a religious cleansing of American society.

 

 

 

 

 

After ACLU complaint about Catholic workers refusing to perform abortions, legal fund offers help

Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2010 / 07:53 am (CNA).- Responding to an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) request for a government investigation into and action against Catholic hospitals which refuse to provide abortions, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty has said it will offer pro bono legal help to any hospital or individual threatened for refusing to perform an abortion.

In a July 1 letter the ACLU wrote to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), claiming that religiously-affiliated hospitals’ refusal to provide abortions violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid.

“Religiously affiliated hospitals across the country inappropriately and unlawfully deny pregnant women emergency medical care,” the ACLU claimed.

The ACLU letter also highlighted the disciplinary action taken against Sr. Margaret Mary McBride, who approved a direct abortion at a Catholic hospital in Phoenix and was later removed from her hospital post and declared excommunicated. read more

 

ACLU Again Refuses to Ask U.S. Supreme Court to Review Ten Commandments Case

Read this Liberty Alert online at www.LC.org

The ACLU has allowed the time to expire without filing a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court requesting review of the Ten Commandments case in ACLU v. Grayson County, Kentucky. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling, which upheld the Ten Commandments in the “Foundations of American Law and Government Display,” now stands. Since 2005, this is the fourth time the ACLU has lost a Ten Commandments case and refused to ask the Supreme Court to review the matter.

The case began in 2002, when the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Grayson County and a federal judge ruled against the display. Mathew Staver, Founder of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law, presented the winning oral argument on behalf of Grayson County in April 2009 at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

 

ACLU presents inaccurate image of Catholic hospitals on abortion, say experts

A recent letter from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has asked the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to investigate and take action against Catholic hospitals who refuse to provide abortions. However, critics have said that the letter misrepresents the Church's teaching in its claim that Catholic hospitals are violating their patients' right to health care.

Analysts of the letter also told CNA, any law or regulation requiring Catholic hospitals to perform abortions would disregard the rights of conscience that the Obama administration has promised to uphold.

The ACLU letter, dated July 1, claims that refusal by religiously affiliated hospitals to provide abortions is a violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act and the Conditions of Participation of Medicare and Medicaid. CNA read more

 

ACLU Attacks Texas Sheriff for Refusing to Drive Inmate for Abortion

WEATHERFORD, Texas, May 24, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has threatened legal action against a Texas sheriff, claiming he violated an inmate's constitutional "right" to an abortion by refusing to transport her to an abortion clinic.

Sheriff Larry Fowler, however, said he would not use taxpayer funds to facilitate the deed.

"My personal feeling is I don't feel like the taxpayers of Parker County would think much of their sheriff spending taxpayer money to take people to abortion clinics," Fowler told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

"I don't think they would want me to even entertain that notion."

Lisa Graybill of the ACLU Foundation of Texas said that court precedent has established the "constitutional right of incarcerated pregnant women to access abortion care," in a letter to Parker County Attorney John Forrest. She also said that the woman's family had arranged the appointment and was going to pay for the abortion.

 

School Prom Canceled after ACLU Insists on Cross Dressing and Gay Dates

(LifeSiteNews.com) – A small town Mississippi High School has decided to cancel its school prom after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) demanded the school permit a female student to wear a tux to the prom and attend with her lesbian partner. 

Now the ACLU is suing the school, asking the courts to force the Itawamba County School District to hold the prom and permit 18-year-old Constance McMillen to attend with her lesbian partner and to cross-dress. (Read the lawsuit here)

Bryan Fischer, Director of Issues Analysis for the American Family Association, told LifeSiteNews (LSN) that he was taken aback by the “hypocrisy” of the ACLU.  Fischer said, “ACLU is always telling us how wrong it is to impose our values on others, but here its clear that they are perfectly willing to ram their values down the throats of an entire school district and all of its students.”

“Now they are even trying to get a federal judge to dictate to the school whether they hold a prom or not,” he added.

 

"NYCLU settlement ensures that the Salvation Army may not proselytize while performing government-funded social services"

In a settlement agreement announced today, New York City, Long Island and New York State government agencies have agreed to a system for monitoring The Salvation Army to ensure that it does not impose religion on recipients of its government-funded social services.

The settlement, approved Tuesday by a federal judge, is part of Lown v. The Salvation Army, a lawsuit filed by the New York Civil Liberties Union in 2004 in response to an effort by The Salvation Army to require social workers and other employees in its government-funded social services programs to identify their church affiliation, the frequency of their church attendance, and to sign an endorsement of The Salvation Army’s mission to “preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” read more

 

ACLU Sues to Block AK Personhood Initiative

In the latest in a string of court proceedings against personhood initiatives nationwide, the Alaskan branch of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is backing a lawsuit against state officials for giving voters an opportunity to decide on a ballot initiative that would declare all human beings "persons."

The suit alleges that the proposed language does not adequately present to voters the possible consequences of its enactment, such as the outlawing of abortion, and thus Lieutenant Governor Craig Campbell should not have approved it.  Plaintiffs, including Vic Fisher, a former Alaska Democratic legislator, argue that the signature-collecting process should be halted immediately.

The proposed ballot measure states: "All human beings, from the beginning of their biological development as human organisms, including the single-cell embryo ... shall be recognized as legal persons in the state of Alaska."

The office of Alaska attorney general Daniel Sullivan in October issued an opinion favoring introduction of the initiative in its current form, saying that whatever impact it may have on existing state law would be left to the interpretation of state courts.  The initiative's backers will begin collecting signatures next month, aiming for a spot on the 2012 ballot.

Alaska Civil Liberties Union executive director Jeffrey Mittman called the initiative "insane," and argued that the personhood language could have unforeseen consequences such as requiring unborn children to receive Permanent Fund dividend checks. read more LifeSite

 

Conn. ACLU demands end to graduations at church

The ACLU of Connecticut is warning the Enfield school board to stop holding graduation ceremonies at a Bloomfield megachurch, claiming the graduates and their families are unconstitutionally being subjected to religious messages.

The ACLU, the national ACLU's Freedom of Religion and Belief Project, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sent a letter Wednesday to the attorney for the Enfield Public Schools. They're threatening to sue if the district doesn't change the graduation location.

A message left seeking with the Enfield superintendent of schools was not immediately returned.

David McGuire, an ACLU attorney, says ceremonies for both Enfield High School and Ernico Fermi High School have been held for several years at The First Cathedral in Bloomfield. courant.com

ACLU sues school to allow teens to post sex photos on MySpace

Two sophomore girls have sued their school district after they were punished for posting sexually suggestive photos on MySpace during their summer vacation.

The American Civil Liberties Union, in a federal lawsuit filed last week on behalf of the girls, argues that Churubusco High School violated the girls' free speech rights when it banned them from extracurricular activities for a joke that didn't involve the school. They say the district humiliated the girls by requiring them to apologize to an all-male coaches' board and undergo counseling.

Some child advocates argue that schools should play a role in monitoring students' behavior, especially when dealing with minors. And the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that students can be disciplined for activities that happen outside of school, so long as the school can prove the activities were disruptive or posed a danger and that it was foreseeable the activities would find their way to campus.

But some legal experts say that in this digital era, schools must accept that students will engage in some questionable behavior in cyberspace and during off hours. read more Yahoo

 

ACLU continues it pro-porn push

Ohio's Supreme Court is to decide whether a law designed to protect children from online predators and Internet pornography is constitutional.

Phil Burress of Citizens for Community Values points out that organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are the ones that complain.
 
"In Fervor v. New York, a U.S. Supreme Court case in 1969, the ACLU argued that child pornography should be legal once it's produced, and that argument still permeates the ACLU today," explains Burress. "They believe that child pornography should be legal for anyone to buy, sell, or trade, and also [that] it has no age restrictions. In other words, they have argued that children have the same First Amendment rights as adults."
 
The plaintiff, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, contends the Ohio law is too vague. However, Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray opposes.
 
Burress says that this is the usual spin from the ACLU, which also argues that current state and federal laws banning obscene material goes too far. The family advocate adds that the absurdity of the ACLU arguments is plain because any normal human being understands that children need to be protected. OneNewsNow

 

Illinois Parental Notification on Abortion Sued by ACLU, Wants Law Overturned

Not content to run an operation that guides young women on how to avoid a parental notification law and have a secret abortion, the ACLU of Illinois has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the statute. The measure itself has been unenforced for years but was set to finally come into play this year.

The ACLU claims that having a teenage girl notify her parents that she wants to have a surgical procedure that would kill her unborn child and could possibly cause her medical and mental health problems presents "serious and irreversible
harm to teens."

The lawsuit, on behalf of Illinois abortion centers, says "most young women who seek abortions already involve their parents," which makes pro-life advocates in the state wonder why the ACLU would sue to overturn the parental involvement law.

The lawsuit cites emergency situations and gives examples of "teens whose
parents beat them, threw them out of the house, and/or forced them to become a parent against their will when they found out about the pregnancy."

However, the law already provides for a judicial bypass procedure whereby teenagers who face domestic violence concerns don't have to involve their parents in the abortion decision.

The ACLU should know because it is already exploiting that aspect of the law. read more LifeNews

 

The ACLU's Real Agenda in the Mojave Desert

At issue in Salazar v. Buono is the five-foot-tall (estimates vary) cross that is the latest in a series of crosses erected on Sunrise Rock since 1934 in California’s Mojave National Preserve. The original was built by World War I veterans with the Veterans of Foreign Wars who had gone to the desert for their health and decided to honor their fallen comrades and the rest of America’s war dead by erecting a wooden cross. The current one, made of pipe, was built in 1998 by a local resident, Henry Sandoz.  The cross is in a remote region seen by few. But one of those is Buono, a former Park Service employee and ACLU member who told the ACLU that although he moved to Oregon, he comes down and sees the cross “two to four times a year.” That was enough for the ACLU to file a lawsuit in 2001 demanding that the National Park Service tear down the cross.  read more Townhall

 

Voters Seeing Red Over ACLU Attack

General Douglas MacArthur famously noted that "old soldiers never die; they just fade away." Sometimes, though, before they fade away, they get angry. And a case being argued in the Supreme Court Wednesday has veterans seeing red, white, and blue-but mostly red.

Unsurprisingly, the case will go to the court courtesy of an ACLU lawsuit.

The object at the center of the case is a small, unadorned cross sitting in a remote part of the Mojave Desert Preserve in Southeast California. A veterans' group erected this memorial cross on private land in 1934 to honor the dead of all wars.

Driving by this secluded location today, however, you'll see a curious-looking plywood box hiding the memorial, the way someone might cover a condemned building. That box is there because one person filed suit, with the help of ACLU attorneys, claiming he was "offended" by the memorial cross. One offended man has somehow trumped the wishes of millions of veterans.

If a federal appeals court has its way, the box and the memorial soon will be gone forever. Fortunately, the U.S. Supreme Court will review the ruling at the request of the Department of Justice, and in this case, millions of veterans, speaking through The American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, have added their voices in support. In fact, the American Legion Department of California and the Alliance Defense Fund have joined forces and filed a brief in support of the Department of Justice, asking the Supreme Court to dismiss the lawsuit. read more Townhall

 

National and State ACLU File Suit to End Ab-Only Funding in Mississippi

The ACLU continues to advance the agenda of pro-abortion groups, rid all school-aged children from hearing abstinence-only education. This posted at RH Reality Check:

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Mississippi today asked a federal court in Mississippi to end government funding of religion in the state’s abstinence-only-until-marriage program.  The case was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District on behalf of a teen and two community members who attended a state-sponsored abstinence summit in May of this year.

“The state of Mississippi cannot sponsor overtly religious events as part of its abstinence-only-until-marriage program,” said Brigitte Amiri, Senior Staff Attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.  “This is not the first time the state has crossed the line in its abstinence programming, but we hope it will be the last. Instead of preaching, the state needs to start teaching youth how to make responsible and healthy decisions throughout their lives.”

As part of National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month, the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) holds an annual teen abstinence summit each May.  After last year’s summit, which included overt religious messages, the ACLU sent a letter to MDHS asking for assurances that future events would remain secular.  MDHS did not respond to the ACLU’s letter and failed to address the legal concerns in this year’s event.

The 2009 summit featured religious themes and overtly Christian messages, including a lengthy presentation about the Ten Commandments by Judge John N. Hudson of the Adams County Court in Natchez, MS. Judge Hudson told the audience, “Abstain, God says, from promiscuous sex – thou shall not commit adultery. But why? Is not God being a killjoy? Did He not create this great gift which is so good and wonderful?  Why would He tell us not to do it? He’s not. He’s telling us that He created this great and wonderful gift for a special and unique committed relationship that is to last forever.”  The program also included several prayers and a performance to gospel songs by the Pilgrim Rest Mime Ministry. read more

 

New Mexico ACLU Defending Man Who Killed Pregnant Girlfriend, Unborn Child

The ACLU of New Mexico is defending a state resident charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend and her unborn child. Marino Leyba, Jr., stands accused of killing 17-year-old Sarah Lovato, her father and Lovato's nine-month-old unborn child.

Leyba reportedly shot Lovato twice in the back and once in the stomach and prosecutors say he purposefully targeted the unborn baby, whom the couple planned to name Isaac.

After killing her partner and her unborn baby, Leyba, a security guard who was off duty at the time, turned his gun on Bennie Lovato, Sr., 50, and shot him three times.

Although the baby died, Lovato can't be held accountable for killing the child because New Mexico is not one of the 35 states that has an unborn victims law in place allowing prosecutors to charge criminals with an additional crime when they kill or injure an unborn baby in addition to attacking his mother.

Leyba later admitted to his father that he shot Sarah Lovato, the baby, and her father

Now, Gary C. Mitchell of Ruidoso, the president of the board of directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, will be representing Leyba as he attempts to avoid prosecution by pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.

After the killing, state Rep. Larry Larrañaga, an Albuquerque Republican, said he planned to ask Gov. Bill Richardson to allow a debate on an unborn victims bill.

Larrañaga also introduced such a bill in 2005 but it was attacked by abortion advocates who do not want to acknowledge that unborn children can be victims of violent crimes. LifeNews

 

ACLU's 'rock-solid' anti-prayer case crumbles

One of three Florida school officials accused of violating a court order forbidding prayer in school has been exonerated.

 Santa Rosa County School District clerical assistant Michelle Winkler has had her day and court and has come out victorious. Winkler was accused of violating a court order that banned school officials from participating in religious activities on campus before, during, and after school hours when she asked her husband who is not employed by the school district to offer prayer at an event.
 
Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver seems surprised why the matter even made it to court. "And in fact in this case, Michelle Winkler was at an event after school at a Naval facility, off site, that was privately sponsored," he explains. read more OneNewsNow

 

ACLU to Lancaster Politicians: Stop Your Christian Prayers at Public Meetings

It's not that the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California wants Lancaster officials to stop praying all together at the beginning of meetings, but to stop singling out that Jesus guy.

“The City Council is clearly showing bias toward one religion by leading council and planning meetings with Christian prayers,” said Peter Eliasberg, Manheim Family Attorney for First Amendment Rights at the ACLU/SC in a statement. “Public officials are not only alienating a large swath of the non-Christian constituents they represent, but they are also clearly violating one of the most basic principles of the Constitution - that government must not favor one religion over others.”

In 2002, the California Court of Appeal upheld a Superior Court ruling that concluded that a prayer given by the city of Burbank “in the name of Jesus Christ” violated the First Amendment, says the ACLU. The court ordered the city to cease opening its meetings with sectarian prayers, and to inform anyone conducting a prayer that sectarian prayers are prohibited.

The ACLU's letter urges the high desert city to cease the practice or face legal action. Lancaster has until Friday to respond. laist

 

ACLU Asks Florida Court To Protect The Rights Of Pregnant Women To Refuse Medical Care

The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Florida today filed a friend-of-the-court brief opposing the state's decision to force a pregnant woman to remain hospitalized against her will.

"Women do not give up their right to determine the course of their own medical care when they become pregnant," said Diana Kasdan, a staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. "Faced with similar cases, courts throughout the country have made clear that pregnant women have a right to make decisions about their own health, including refusing medical care."

In March 2009, the Circuit Court of Leon County ordered Samantha Burton – a mother of two suffering from pregnancy complications – to be indefinitely confined to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital and forced to undergo any and all medical treatments deemed necessary to save her fetus. After three days of state-compelled hospitalization, Ms. Burton suffered fetal demise and was released from the hospital. 

"We should all be alarmed by Florida's wholly unwarranted intervention in Samantha Burton's care," said Randall Marshall, Legal Director of the ACLU of Florida. "Not only is it unconstitutional for the state to override a pregnant woman's decision to refuse medical treatment, but the medical community, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Medical Women's Association, and the American Medical Association, strongly advises against it." read more ACLU

 

ACLU backs religious hate group

An organization that supports American troops and their families is appalled that the American Civil Liberties Union has joined the controversial Westboro Baptist Church in challenging a Missouri community's ordinance that limits the access of funeral protesters.

Last week, the ACLU filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Maplewood, claiming that its ordinance restricting access to military funerals is unconstitutional. The suit is part of a broader effort by the ACLU to go after state and local laws that have been enacted in order to deal with the activities of Fred Phelps and his followers who began protesting at funerals of homosexuals but then expanded those protests to soldiers' funerals, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers."

Westboro members believe that America is being punished with the deaths of soldiers and others for its "tolerance" of homosexuality. Merrilee Carlson, president of Families United For Our Troops and Their Missionsays these ordinances are quite reasonable. read more OneNewsNow

Same old, same old - ACLU vs. public prayer

Attorneys are preparing for trial in another challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union against praying before school board meetings. The case was filed against a Louisiana school district.

Alliance Defense Fund attorney Mike Johnson tells OneNewsNow the trial will be held, although the court has issued a partial ruling in the case involving the Tangipahoa Parish School Board.
 
"Here we have a federal judge who has acknowledged very clearly that this is a practice -- a long-cherished American tradition -- that dates back to the very founding of our nation, and there is no reason that modern current leaders, public leaders of every public body in America, can't open with a prayer just like the founders did," he contends.

Johnson says some of the prayer standards were established in a 1983 court case.
 
"And the essence of that opinion was the content of public prayers is not important, so long as the public prayer has not been exploited," he explains. "In other words, the opportunity hasn't been exploited to favor or establish one religion over others."
 
The bottom line, according to Johnson, is that prayer must be uncensored. He looks forward to going to trial. OneNewsNow

 

ACLU wants La. to ban creationism and intelligent design in public schools

New rules for teaching science in Louisiana should include specific prohibitions on the teaching of scientific creationism and intelligent design, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.

The ACLU urged the state education board to revisit the issue.

The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted in January on the rules, which were drawn up to implement 2008 legislation.

That legislation allowed local school systems and teachers to introduce into science classes supplemental teaching materials in addition to state-approved textbooks.

The rules were published in the state register in April for public viewing and comment before they are formally adopted. read more AssocPress

 

ACLU talks about Prop. 8, court

Proponents debated Sunday during an American Civil Liberties Union presentation whether federal court challenges would help or harm the cause to legalize same-sex marriages across the country.

The discussion held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Desert, came during an address by ACLU attorney Lori Rifkin, who discussed legal strategies to pass same-sex marriage last December at the church.

Her visit follows the California Supreme Court's 6-1 ruling on May 26 to uphold the voter-approved Proposition 8, which outlaws same-sex marriage.

“We had all hoped that if I came back here it would be a very different discussion we would be having,” Rifkin said. “Unfortunately it's not.”

None of the event's attendees spoke in opposition to same-sex marriage. read more mydesert

 

Students Rebel at Graduation Against the ACLU’s Bullying Tactics - stand and recite Lord's prayer

Nearly 400 graduating seniors at Pace High School stood up in protest against the ACLU and recited the Lord’s Prayer during their graduation ceremony on Saturday. Many of the students also painted crosses on their graduation caps to make a statement of faith. This event follows a lawsuit the ACLU filed against the Santa Rosa County School District, claiming some of the teachers and administration endorsed religion. Liberty Counsel represents Pace High School Principal Frank Lay and school teacher Michelle Winkler.

The students at Pace High School were furious with the ACLU hijacking their free speech rights and decided to take a stand at graduation. As soon as Principal Lay asked everyone to be seated at the ceremony, the graduating class remained standing and recited the Lord’s Prayer. The ACLU has not taken any legal action yet but has stated that something should have been done to stop the prayer. read more Liberty Counsel

 

ACLU threatens legal action against Ramona school district over refusal to allow students to see presentation on Harvey Milk without parental permission

The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties is threatening to sue the Ramona Unified School District after a sixth grade student was forbidden from presenting a project on homosexual rights icon Harvey Milk to her classmates without first getting written permission from the parents of other students.

According to a press release from the ACLU, Natalie Jones, a sixth grader at Mt. Woodson Elementary School in Ramona, was told by school officials that her classmates must first get written permission from their parents before she could present a PowerPoint presentation about Milk to them. Officials at the kindergarten through sixth grade school of 530 students said school board policy governing the presentation of materials regarding family life or sex education required signed permission from the parents of the students involved.

According to the ACLU, “the school violated Natalie Jones’s free speech rights when it refused to allow her to give the presentation in class. Instead, the school improperly required classmates to get parental permission to see the presentation during a lunch recess.” read more ACLU

 

 

ACLU chief: Same-sex marriage 'a sure thing' for the nation

Given the recent flurry of states saying "I do" to same-sex marriage, nationwide legalization is "a sure thing," says the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"Clearly, the momentum is on our side," says Anthony Romero, 43, the first openly gay person (and first Puerto Rican) to head the ACLU in its 89-year history. "It's just a matter of time."

Just last week, Maine's legislature voted to legalize gay marriage, New Hampshire passed a law that awaits the governor's signature, and the District of Columbia voted to recognize out-of-state unions.

Massachusetts, Iowa, Vermont, and Connecticut allow gays to marry. In California, the state Supreme Court will rule on the repeal of Proposition 8, which bans gay marriage.

A Pennsylvania statute prohibits same-sex marriage, but two legislative efforts to add a state Constitution amendment banning such unions failed. In New Jersey, Gov. Corzine says he will sign a same-sex marriage bill if one reaches his desk. read more philly.com

 

TN: ACLU demands schools stop blocking “gay” Web sites

The American Civil Liberties Union said today it is demanding that 107 of Tennessee's public school systems - including Knox County and Metro Nashville - stop "illegally preventing students from accessing online information about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender issues."

The letters demand that the school systems cease blocking an Internet filtering category that prevents students from accessing political and educational information about LGBT issues on school computers.

"Students at Knox County and Metro Nashville schools are being denied access to content that is protected speech under the First Amendment as well as the Tennessee state constitution," said Tricia Herzfeld, staff attorney with the ACLU of Tennessee.

If the demand is not met by April 29, the ACLU says it will file lawsuits. read more KnowNews

 

ACLU attacks Ohio city for pro-family ordinance

A Christian legal association is offering to defend an Ohio county if it is sued by the American Civil Liberties Union. 

Butler County in southwest Ohio wanted to do the best for children available for adoption. Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) attorney Byron Babione picks up the story.
 
"Recently the director of their children's services there revised the policy on adoption to put a preference or premium on placing children with married parents -- that is with a married mother and father -- over and above other arrangements," he explains.
 
He points out research shows that to be in the best interest of a child.
 
"And then the ACLU loudly proclaimed their disagreement with the policy because they didn't think that a married mother and father is [sic] any better than any other arrangement and that it should not be given a preference over other family arrangements," Babione points out.
 
ADF has informed county officials that the organization will represent them free-of-charge if the ACLU files suit. Babione concludes the county's policy does not infringe upon anyone's rights, but rather advances the rights of children. OneNewsNow

 

ACLU Continues Cross-Removal Efforts

Thomas More Law Center Brief Seeks To Preserve War Memorial On Behalf Of Retired War Hero, Others

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has appealed a case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the hopes of removing a cross that is part of a California veterans memorial.

The case, which was originally dismissed by a federal judge in 2008, centers on a cross that serves as the centerpiece for the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in La Jolla, Calif. Six concentric walls around the cross will eventually hold 3,200 plaques honoring war veterans; around 2,400 are already in place. 

In 2004, the Thomas More Law Center stepped in and defended the cross just weeks before it was to be taken down pursuant to an agreement between the City of San Diego and a self-proclaimed atheist who sought to remove it. Now, the law center has filed a brief asking the court to consider the stories of several parties that want to see the cross stay.

The cross is located on federal land, and federal attorneys are defending the cross in the latest appeal of the case. read more Bulletin

California: School Board Upholds Parental Rights Over Objections of the ACLU

The board of trustees of the Vista Unified School District voted unanimously to require that pupils obtain parental permission before leaving campus for "confidential medical services." It is well understood that the term "confidential medical services" is a euphemism for abortion. The American Civil Liberties Union vehemently opposed the decision of the board. The legal director of the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, David Blair-Loy, stated, "With this action, the Vista School Board has not only defied the laws of the state of California, but they have needlessly put vulnerable teenagers in serious danger."

Not so, says Brad Dacus who is an attorney and president of the Pacific Justice Institute. "The Education Code says that school authorities may excuse pupils for the purpose of obtaining confidential medical services without obtaining the consent of parents," said Dacus who attended the meeting and addressed the board. "The legislature knows the difference between 'may' and 'shall' even if the ACLU does not," he continued.

The ACLU is threatening to bring a lawsuit against the school district if it keeps the policy. Pacific Justice Institute vows to fight back in court if necessary should the ACLU instigate litigation. "If asked, PJI will defend the district without charge in the courts," Dacus commented further. PacificJustice

ACLU: Children should have secret abortions, schools should facilitate

ACLU Urges Vista Unified To Change Parental Notification

 

Supreme Court will rule in dispute over 8-foot cross challenge by ACLU

The Supreme Court agreed Monday to step into a long-running legal fight over an 8-foot cross that stands as a war memorial in the vast Mojave National Preserve in California.

The justices said that in court arguments set for this fall, they will consider throwing out an appeals court ruling that ordered the cross be torn down.

The American Civil Liberties Union and a former National Park Service employee have been challenging the cross' continued presence on national parkland for nearly eight years. A cross has stood on the site since 1934, when a local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars erected it atop an outcropping known as Sunrise Rock.

Congress has transferred ownership of the land on which it sits to a private party.

The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals twice said the cross must come down. It invalidated the 2004 congressionally approved land transfer, saying that "carving out a tiny parcel of property in the midst of this vast preserve - like a donut hole with the cross atop it - will do nothing to minimize the impermissible governmental endorsement" of the religious symbol.

The case is Salazar v. Buono, 08-472. AssocPress

 

Louisiana’s Angola prison, pressured by ACLU, removes religious references from monument

Officials at a Louisiana prison, already under fire for allegedly denying Catholic and Muslim inmates access to religious materials, have agreed to remove a biblical reference from a monument outside the prison gates.

Cathy Fontenot, a spokeswoman at the maximum-security State Penitentiary at Angola, said officials submitted work orders to have what was known as the "Philippians Monument" stripped of the religious references after a complaint was lodged last year by the Louisiana arm of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The monument featured a verse taken from Philippians 3:13 dealing with "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead."

Fontenot said the language will remain, but the verse's citation will be removed.

On the opposite side of the book-like monument, there was a "Prayer of Protection," which the ACLU complained about and is being removed. read more BeliefNet

 

ACLU, Planned Parenthood Sue Government over Rights of Conscience

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union are suing the government over rules that protect health care providers' freedom of conscience.

The Department of Health and Human Services put the regulations in place last month to reinforce federal laws that protect doctors from being forced to participate in abortion and other anti-life practices.

“We consider right of conscience to be the biggest issue we face," said Dr. David Stevens, executive director of the Christian Medical Association. "If we lose this one, soon there will be no Christian health care personnel debating the other ethical issues like cloning or physician-assisted suicide.”   

The Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) and Christian Legal Society have intervened in the case.

“Medical professionals should not be forced to perform abortions against their conscience,” said Matt Bowman, legal counsel for ADF. CitizenLink 

 

ACLU Asks Court To Stop Misuse Of Taxpayer Dollars In Trafficking Victims' Program

The pro-abortion law firm sued the Department of Health and Human Services over allowing the Catholic bishops to institute a pro-life policy in lieu of abortions. Instead, the Catholic bishops provide comprehensive case management services to survivors including medical and mental health services.

The ACLU issue the following press release:

The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to require the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that funds distributed through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act are not being used to impose religiously based restrictions on reproductive health services.  Since 2006, HHS has allowed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to limit, based on its religious beliefs, the types of services trafficking victims receive with taxpayer dollars.

"Human trafficking is basically a form of modern-day slavery," said Brigitte Amiri, staff attorney with the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.  "There are many organizations that are deeply committed to assisting trafficking victims; our government should ensure that these organizations can provide the full range of needed services, including reproductive health care."

Through the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, the federal government distributes funds to cover an array of services needed by the more than 14,000 individuals, predominantly women, who are brought into the United States annually and exploited for their labor, including in the commercial sex industry.  Many trafficking victims experience extreme violence and sexual assault at the hands of their traffickers.  Some become pregnant as a result of rape and some contract sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, according to today's legal papers.

"For more than two years, the Bush administration has sanctioned the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' blatant misuse of taxpayer dollars," said Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief.  "It has allowed USCCB to impose its religious beliefs on trafficking victims by prohibiting sub grantees from ensuring access to services like emergency contraception, condoms, and abortion care."

Since April 2006, HHS, which administers funds allocated by the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, has awarded USCCB grants ranging from $2.5 million to $3.5 million annually to support organizations that provide direct services to trafficking victims. As part of its sub granting program, USCCB prohibits, based on its religious beliefs, grantees from using federal funds to provide or refer for contraceptive or abortion services. USCCB sub grants to service organizations throughout the country, including to providers in Massachusetts.

"We are asking the court to stop this misuse of taxpayer dollars and to protect the health and safety of trafficking victims," said Sarah Wunsch, staff attorney with the ACLU of Massachusetts. "Trafficking victims need comprehensive and compassionate care to gain their freedom and lead safe and healthy lives."

Also read from LifeNews: ACLU Sues Bush Admin For Letting Catholic Bishops Spare Women Abortions
CNSNews: ACLU Sues HHS over Anti-Human Trafficking Partnership with Catholic Bishops

 

Atheist Group Files Lawsuit Against Prayer at Presidential Inauguration

The 34-page legal complaint similarly seeks to enjoin Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, Jr., from adding the phrase "So help me God" to the presidential oath of office.

The head of an atheist group that has filed a lawsuit against prayer at Barack Obama's presidential inauguration says the government is picking a winner between "believers" and "those who don't believe" and subjecting atheists and agnostics to someone else's religious beliefs.

Dan Barker, co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, has joined with Michael Newdow, who fought to have the words "under God" removed from the Pledge of Allegiance, in a federal lawsuit seeking to enjoin the Presidential Inaugural Committee from sponsoring prayers at the official inauguration. read more FoxNews

 

 

ACLU of Arkansas sues over adoption restrictions

More than a dozen families filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a new Arkansas law banning unmarried couples living together from becoming foster or adoptive parents.

The Arkansas chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of the families in Pulaski County Circuit Court seeking to overturn Act 1, which was approved by voters in last month's general election.

The Arkansas Family Council, a conservative group that campaigned for the ban, said it was aimed at gay couples but the law will affect heterosexuals and homosexuals equally.

Jerry Cox, the council's president, said he had expected a lawsuit to be filed if the measure passed.

"We are confident this lawsuit will fail and Act 1 will remain on the books," Cox said.

Rita Sklar, ACLU Arkansas' executive director, said the group wanted to file the lawsuit before the law takes effect Thursday. read more AP

 

ACLU 'emboldened' in prayer lawsuits

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed suit against the county because some of the prayers end with references to Jesus. Mike Johnson of the Alliance Defense Fund tells OneNewsNow the ACLU recently offered to settle the lawsuit, but county officials declined.
 
"[The ACLU] said that if the commission will give in, that they will give up the opportunity for allowing prayer -- sectarian fashion -- or, let's be honest and frank about it, prayer in Jesus' name…if they'll give in on that and they'll give the ACLU, get this,$60,000 in attorneys fees, then they'll make their whole lawsuit go away," he explains. read more OneNewsNow

 

Arkansas ACLU Asks: Are You Hurt by Act 1?

ACLU solicits for plaintiffs to challenge new adoption law banning unmarried couples

The ACLU of Arkansas wants to hear from anyone who believes that they or their family will be hurt by the recent passage of Act 1 in the November election.

If you have questions about how this initiative, which bans unmarried couples from serving as foster parents or adopting children, could affect you or your loved ones, the ACLU of Arkansas has prepared a FAQ about Act 1, on its website. ArkansasMatters read more

 

NC: County to continue defending against ACLU’s prayer suit

From ADF

Forsyth County will continue to defend a suit that objects to prayers containing sectarian references before meetings of the county board of commissioners . . .

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit in federal court against the county in March 2007 on behalf of several county residents. The suit challenged the constitutionality of the board allowing pre-meeting prayers that contained specifically Christian references such “in Jesus’ name we pray.”

Commissioners voted 4-3 in April 2007 to defend the suit, splitting on party lines with Republicans in the majority. The board enlisted the help of the Alliance Defense Fund, which fights similar suits around the country. The ADF said it would defend the suit without cost to the county. read more WinstonJournal

 

ACLU Forces Town to add Second bar to Cross Used in Christmas

No More Cross in Town's Holiday Lights

 

Oklahoma: ACLU says ultrasound bill promotes cruelty

A bipartisan pro-life bill supported by both Houses of the state Legislature continues to face obstacles after lawmakers were able to override Gov. Brad Henry’s veto in April.

The Freedom of Conscience Act, Senate Bill 1878, was designed to go into effect on Nov. 1. New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights filed suit in the Oklahoma County District Court earlier this month on behalf of Nova Health Systems, a reproductive health clinic in Tulsa.

The American Civil Liberties Union contends that Senate Bill 1878, the Freedom of Conscience Act, “restricts a woman’s right to choose and promotes cruelty.” read more ACLU

 

ACLU sues over abortions for immigrant teens

The ACLU has issued this press release that reports:  ”The American Civil Liberties Union today asked a federal court to order the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to release documents outlining U.S. policy limiting refugee and undocumented teenagers’ access to important reproductive health services, including contraceptives and abortion. The ACLU filed today’s legal papers after ACF ignored a Freedom of Information Act request from the ACLU dated August 19, 2008.”

ACF issued the policy at issue after the media reported in June 2008 that Commonwealth Catholic Charities of Virginia fired four social workers who helped an unaccompanied, undocumented 16-year-old in its custody obtain an abortion and contraception. Commonwealth Catholic Charities receives funding through a federal grant administered for ACF by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The executive director of the Commonwealth of Catholic Charities defended the group's actions by stating in the press that facilitating access to abortion and contraception is "contrary to basic teachings of the Catholic Church." read more ADF

 

Will Federal Female Employees Be Safe from Cross-Dressing Men Using Ladies' Restrooms in the Obama Administration

Americans For Truth Responds

 

ACLU Commends Obama-Biden Ban on Discrimination Against LGBT Applicants for Jobs in the New Administration

Transition Protects Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in New Administration's Non-Discrimination Policy

The American Civil Liberties Union commends the Obama-Biden Transition team for including sexual orientation and gender identity in its non-discrimination policy as it prepares to assume power in January. Although President Bill Clinton signed Executive Order 11478, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, there are no explicit federal protections from gender identity bias in government hiring. read more ACLU

 

ACLU questions single-sex classes at Alabama middle school

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter today to the Mobile County Public School System challenging Hankins Middle School's policy of putting boys and girls in separate classes.

Allison Neal, a staff attorney for the ACLU in Alabama, said the policy violates the Constitution and Title IX, the federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in public schools.

 

"We think it's illegal, but in addition, we also think it's not going to help anything and takes time and money from things that we know do work," she said.

Mobile County schools Superintendent Roy Nichols received notice of the ACLU's complaint this afternoon as he was heading out of town on business. He said he did not know enough details about the complaint to comment on it specifically.

Nichols said the school system typically leaves it up to individual schools to decide whether to have all-boys and all-girls classes. blog.al

 

ACLU Files Lawsuit Challenging Passed Marriage Amendment in CA

The ACLU, Lambda Legal, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights filed a petition before the California Supreme Court urging the court to invalidate Proposition 8.  The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Equality California and 6 same-sex couples who did not marry before Tuesday's Election but would like to able to marry now.

The California Attorney General says the state will continue to honor the marriages of the 18,000 lesbian and gay couples who have already married in California. read more KMPF

 

ACLU Releases Presidential Transition Plan To Restore Civil Liberties

The ACLU has issued this press release that offers a “Plan Offers Guide To Recovering Freedoms Lost Under Bush.” It reports:

. . . The ACLU’s 83-page document proposes actions across a wide variety of topics, including national security, human rights, women’s rights, civil rights, drug policy, the rights of LGBT Americans, immigrants and prisoners, privacy and free speech . . .

To download and see the entire ACLU transition plan including suggested executive orders, mandates and directives from the president, go to www.aclu.org/transition AllianceDefenseFund

 

ACLU registers voters at Lower Shore jails

Volunteers from the American Civil Liberties Union visited two jails on the Lower Shore on Monday to help prisoners awaiting trial register to vote or apply for absentee ballots.

The volunteers visited the Worcester County Jail and the Somerset County Detention Center. The deadline for Maryland voter registrations is Tuesday.

Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler encouraged county sheriffs and jail wardens in a letter last month to support voter drives by the ACLU, the NAACP. According to Gansler, more than 8,000 people are in Maryland county jails awaiting trial. and many of them are eligible to vote.

ACLU registrar Amy Cruice emphasizes that the pretrial detainees are not felons, because they have not been proven guilty. read more Examiner

 

ACLU wages war against school choice

For the third time, the American Civil Liberties Union has challenged Arizona's school choice program.

The law permits private corporations to dedicate part of their tax liability for tuition scholarships at religious or other private schools. According to an Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) press release, the ACLU filed suit, claiming that including religious schools violates separation of church and state. Gary McCaleb, an attorney with ADF, disagrees.
 
"The other side says this violates the establishment clause, [that] it somehow establishes religion because some private schools are religious. We think not," he contends. "It's very clear in the law that private choice insulates even arguably government money from an Establishment Clause challenge." read more OneNewNow

 

ACLU asks high court to hear enemy combatant case

The American Civil Liberties Union is asking the Supreme Court to review whether the Bush administration has the authority to capture and detain suspected enemy combatants inside the U.S.

The petition was filed on behalf of Ali al-Marri, a native of Qatar (GUH'-tur) and the only enemy combatant seized and held on U.S. soil.

In a July decision, a closely divided 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the Bush administration has the authority to seize and detain anyone suspected of being an al-Qaida member. However, the court also ruled that such suspects must have an adequate opportunity to challenge their detention.

Al-Marri has been held in solitary confinement in a Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina, for more than five years. wxvt

 

 

ACLU pays to bus Nebraska college students to South Dakota for Anti-life Rally and Canvassing

 

ACLU Donates $1.2 Million to Anti-Marriage California Proposition 8

The American Civil Liberties Union, which has a long history of promoting the homosexual movement, has now taken up arms against the family by donating $1.2 to defeat Proposition 8, which, if passed in November, would reverse the California State Supreme Court's May 15 ruling that gave homosexuals the right to "marry."
 
Despite the fact that 61 percent of Californians voted in 2000 to define marriage as being between one man and one woman, this May the California Supreme Court overturned this decision, implementing homosexual "marriage" in the state.

Proposition 8 seeks to re-define marriage as the people of California defined it in 2000, but is facing strong opposition from the homosexual movement and radical organizations such as the ACLU. read more LifeSite

 

ACLU sues Fla. school district over prayers

 

ACLU readies for hundreds of arrests at RNC

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU-MN) has been planning for the Republican National Convention (RNC) for over 18 months. With the goals of ensuring free speech rights for demonstrators and providing legal representation for those arrested, the organization is assembling a team of attorneys and volunteers in preparation for the convention.

According to Teresa Nelson, legal counsel for ACLU-MN, over 40 attorneys have already signed on and more are being processed with the goal of having one attorney for every ten arrestees.
“Our hope is for very few arrests but we are preparing for the worst,” said Nelson. “We are expecting about 800 arrests during the convention.”

Many of those arrests are expected to come when the March on the RNC reaches the Xcel Energy Center during the opening day of the convention. An expected 50,000-70,000 people will begin walking towards the convention site at 1:00 p.m. from the State Capitol. Law enforcement officials are requiring that protesters be clear of Fifth Street in downtown St. Paul by 3:00 p.m. ACLU-MN officials fear that with so many people participating in the march, thousands could be still in the street when the deadline passes. MinnesotaIndependent read more

 

ACLU appeals federal decision in Ga. prayer case

Civil liberties attorneys Wednesday urged a federal appeals panel to block a suburban Atlanta county from allowing clergy to open meetings with Christian prayers, although the judges seemed reluctant to overturn a lower court's ruling upholding the practice.

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse a federal judge's July 2007 refusal to issue an injunction against Cobb County officials who began meetings of its Board of Commissioners and planning commission with invocational prayers from invited clergy.

As soon as the ACLU attorney began to argue that Cobb County went too far allowing religious prayer before meetings, the three-judge panel peppered him with questions. read more AP

 

ACLU To Lobby Florida School District To Abandon Abstinence-Only Sex Education

The American Civil Liberties Union recently announced that it plans to lobby the Volusia County School District in Florida to abandon its abstinence-only education program and to teach children how to prevent unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections, the Orlando Sentinel reports.

According to the Sentinel, Florida since 1991 has required its schools to teach human sexuality. Sex education -- including discussions on sex, pregnancy and STIs -- occurs mostly in middle school and 10th grade health classes.

The Volusia school district currently teaches students that "sex is risky" and that "abstinence is best," while the nearby Brevard School District recently began teaching students about birth control while stressing abstinence is the "expected standard." A committee of Volusia educators and community members will begin meeting in September and make a recommendation to the superintendent late this year.

George Griffin, head of ACLU's chapter in Volusia, said, "This is basic, lifesaving information that's being censored away from the kids." Pat Westbrook, an advocate who helped lead the effort to teach abstinence-only sex education in Volusia in the late 1980s, said ACLU's proposed changes were "disgusting" and could lead teens to make bad choices (Balona, Orlando Sentinel, 7/17).

 

Bush Signs Spy Bill, ACLU Sues

The American Civil Liberties Union filed suit Thursday over a controversial wiretapping law, challenging the constitutionality of the expanded spy powers Congress granted to the president on Wednesday.

The federal lawsuit was filed with the court just hours after Bush signed the bill into law.

The ACLU is suing on behalf of journalist and human rights groups, asking the court put a halt to Congress's legalization of Bush's formerly secret warrantless wiretapping program. The ACLU contends (.pdf) the expanded spying power violates the Constitution's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures.

On Wednesday, the Senate gave final congressional approval to a massive expansion of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, finishing a year of debate over how far the U.S. government should be able to conduct blanket surveillance using telecom facilities inside the United States. read more Wired

 

ACLU forces tiny Northern California school district to champion homosexual cause in its elementary and middle schools

Under threat of a lawsuit by the ACLU, a small, rural school district in Northern California has agreed to promote activities sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network in its two schools.

In late June, the Upper Lake Union School District reached a settlement with the ACLU of Northern California that, among other things, requires it to “implement the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s (“GLSEN”) ‘No Name Calling Week’ curriculum in all District schools,” “implement programs that draw attention to anti-LGBT bullying and effective responses, such as the GLSEN National Day of Silence and the Gay/Straight Alliance Network’s ‘Making your School a Hate-Free Zone,’ program,” and to “support the maintenance of a Gay/Straight Alliance club at the Middle School,” said a June 25 release from the ACLU of Northern California.

The settlement also requires the district to revise its parent/student handbooks to include anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies and to explain to students and parents how to file a complaint. The school district must also “provide copies of a National Education Association publication addressing LGBT sensitivity and discuss it with all staff. At each staff meeting, administrators will inquire about incidents of harassment and review the steps teachers and staff should take to intervene,” said the ACLU news release. read more CalCatholic

 

ACLU thwarted in Alaska case

To attract qualified teachers, the State of Alaska has long offered a property tax exemption to public schools for residential buildings used to house teachers.

Religious schools in Alaska will continue to receive a property tax exemption for housing they provide to their teachers.

To attract qualified teachers, the State of Alaska has long offered a property tax exemption to public schools for residential buildings used to house teachers.  In 2006, the state legislature extended that exemption to private and parochial schools.  Mat Staver, founder of Liberty Counsel, says the exemption is essential, especially for Christian schools.
 
"If they don't have these houses where these teachers can reside while they're teaching, they're not able to attract the teachers," he explains. "And if they're not able to attract the teachers, then the parents and the children [in Alaska] simply don't have educational choice."  So the state decided to allow those houses to be exempt as property tax exemptions -- "just like pastor's houses can be exempted in the church context," says Staver. read more OneNewsNow

 

Prayer at public meetings under attack...again

Christian legal experts are responding to efforts by "secularist" groups to stop invocations at public meetings in both Ohio and Wisconsin.

The American Civil Liberties Union is demanding that the Greenfield, Ohio, City Council stop opening its meetings with prayer. The Wisconsin State Legislature has received a similar demand from the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
 
Mike Johnson is senior counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), which has written both government entities to assure them of the legality of opening prayers. "Prayer before public meetings is one of our oldest and most cherished American traditions," Johnson explains. "And it's truly sad that some radical, secularist groups are trying to eliminate the practice." read more OneNewsNow 6.30

 

ACLU urges Naval Academy to end lunchtime prayer

At the request of nine midshipmen, the American Civil Liberties Union is urging the Naval Academy to abolish lunchtime prayer, renewing a debate about religion's place at the Annapolis military college.

The ACLU and its Maryland chapter said today they have written a letter to academy leaders on behalf of a group of students urging an end to a practice in which chaplains say grace before mandatory lunch for the academy's 4,200 midshipmen.

"The government should not be in the business of compelling religious observance, particularly in military academies, where students can feel coerced by senior students and officials and risk the loss of leadership opportunities for following their conscience," Deborah A. Jeon, legal director for the ACLU of Maryland, wrote in the letter, sent May 2 to Vice Adm. Jeffrey L. Fowler, the academy's superintendent.

A spokesman for the academy said prayer or devotional thought has taken place at meals for midshipmen since the academy's founding in 1845 and that there are no plans to end the practice. Prayers are nondenominational and have been rotated among representatives of different faiths. read more BaltSun 6.25

ACLU Joins Fight for Man Who Flew Flag Upside-down

 

ACLU and Planned Parenthood Declare War on Abstinence

The Los Angeles Unified School District doesn’t want Karen Kropf talking to its students. District leaders fear that what she says isn’t “balanced” and that she’s not a certified “expert” in the field. Really, though, they just don’t like her message about teenage sexual self-control and the limited protection of condoms. That, and they’re worried about what the ACLU might say, especially given California’s law against “abstinence-only” education.

...The motivations for the campaign are probably legion. Planned Parenthood and their allies stand to make millions of dollars: The federal funding that goes to abstinence education is funding that they would like to be receiving. But the financial interests are secondary. The war on abstinence is the latest battleground in the culture wars. Arguing that it is “one of the religious right’s greatest challenges to the nation’s sexual health,” Planned Parenthood insists that abstinence is “only one tactic in a broader, more long-term strategy” in the conservative arsenal. And Planned Parenthood sees itself as the great opponent to this supposed assault on sexual freedom.

It’s not alone in the fight. Federally funded comprehensive sex-ed is, apparently, a civil liberty, and the ACLU wants to make sure that every teenager receives it. The group’s website urges visitors: “Stop the Abstinence-Only Charade! Federally funded abstinence-only-until-marriage programs are ineffective, medically inaccurate, and some may even use taxpayer dollars to promote religion. The ACLU is calling for an end to federal funding.” read more FirstThings

 

ACLU Hosts Weeklong Online Symposium On LGBT Pride

In celebration of LGBT Pride, several of the nation's top lesbian gay bisexual transgender writers, leaders and supporters will participate in an online symposium beginning today on the ACLU Blog of Rights (http://blog.aclu.org) and on the Get Busy, Get Equal blog (www.aclu.org/getequal) featured on the ACLU's LGBT activist toolkit. Participants will be discussing a wide range of issues affecting the LGBT community ranging from the first marriages of lesbian and gay couples in California to the need for a federal law barring workplace discrimination based gender identity and sexual orientation to censorship of LGBT students in the nation's schools. read more ACLU

 

Court upholds ACLU-challenged ban on sex offenders in parks

Town government was within its rights to ban registered sex offenders from Woodfin public parks, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday in a case that could encourage other cities and towns to adopt similar rules.

Justice Edward Thomas Brady wrote in Thursday’s decision that it is reasonable for the town to keep offenders out of parks, and that the town ordinance does not violate any fundamental liberty of the plaintiff in the case.

Joe Ferikes, an Asheville attorney who represented Woodfin in the case, said the suit appears to be the first challenge to such an ordinance in the country.

Mayor Jerry VeHaun said several other counties and municipalities have asked for copies of the ordinance with an eye toward passing a similar measures.

“I can foresee a lot of other places adopting something like this,” he said. “Some have been waiting to see how this case came out, and some have gone ahead and adopted something.”

Town resident David Standley, twice convicted of sex offenses and now disabled, sued the town with the assistance of the American Civil Liberties Union. His suit said in part that the ordinance violated his right to travel. read more CitizensTimes

 

ACLU Announces $335 Million Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Fundraising Campaign to target conservative states

The American Civil Liberties Union announced by far the largest fundraising campaign in its 88-year history Monday, eying a dramatic expansion of its work on social justice issues in relatively conservative states such as Texas and Florida.

The campaign’s goal is $335 million, with $258 million already raised through behind-the-scenes solicitations over the past year, ACLU executive director Anthony Romero said.

Major donors include billionaire financier George Soros, who gave $12 million through his Open Society Institute . . .

In the press release the ACLU reports:

...The campaign has already raised more than $258 million - over $102 million in cash and pledges and $156 million in planned gifts - highlighted by 21 contributions of $1 million or more from the ACLU's staunchest supporters and several of the world's most noted philanthropists. These include two gifts of $12 million, one from George Soros, through his Open Society Institute, and one from the Sandler Foundation. Other leadership contributors include the Leon Levy Foundation, which donated $5 million, and Delaney and her husband, Wayne Jordan, who donated $4 million.

The ACLU has taken its affirmative agenda to the state and local levels by, among other causes, championing marriage equality in California and gay rights in Tennessee, working to restore voting rights for ex-offenders in Florida, advocating for migrant workers' rights in New Mexico, fighting the introduction of "intelligent design" curricula in Pennsylvania, defeating the use of national identity cards in Montana, overturning abortion bans in Mississippi, and ending profiling of Iraqis and other Arabs by law enforcement in Michigan.

read more ACLU 6.9

 

South Carolina's "I Believe" Faith Plate Under Fire From ACLU

ACLU launches new web site for LGBT folk

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has launched a new web site geared toward LGBT activists seeking equal rights and equal treatment under the law. It's called "Get Busy, Get Equal." The new web site has loads of information, is written from more of a legal than a social standpoint, and offers up tons of content to help both get the inexperienced LGBT activist up, organized, and running, as well as providing the experienced LGBT activist with a wealth of information and resources. read more Gather 6.2

 

Judge's Courtroom Poster of Ten Commandments Draws Fire From ACLU

The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday called for a judge to face charges for keeping a poster of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom.

In June 2005, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati ordered Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge James DeWeese to remove the Ten Commandments from his courtroom.

On Thursday, the commandments could still be found in DeWeese's courtroom, but in another version, 10TV's John Fortney reported.

Framed on one side of the judge's courtroom was the Bill of Rights. On the opposite wall was a poster titled, 'Philosophies of Law and Conflict,' which pits the Ten Commandments against seven moral relatives. read more WBNS 5.29

 

ACLU chastises Findlay schools for distributing Bibles

Findlay schools' practice of escorting students to a public sidewalk to receive a Gideon Bible is being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio.

In a letter sent Wednesday to Superintendent Dean Wittwer, the ACLU threatens legal action if the practice isn't stopped immediately.

"Gideon International has a right to distribute its Bibles on public property, but the school cannot be involved in sacrificing classroom time to help them hand out the Bibles. If students or their parents wish to receive information about a particular religion, they should do so outside of school time," Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU of Ohio, wrote in a statement Wednesday on the ACLU's Web site.

The ACLU said it learned of the school district's practice through an editorial published by The Courier on March 26, titled "Shaky ground."

The editorial questioned the district's practice of allowing fifth grade students to be removed from their classrooms and escorted onto public property where they received the Bibles. The editorial may be read at www.thecourier.com, under the opinion tab. read more Courier 5.29

The ACLU v. Good Judges

In recent years, the ACLU has litigated to uphold the rights of minors to receive abortions without parental consent and fought for legalizing prostitution and the “right” to distribute obscene material without penalty.

Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum believes appointing the right federal and local judges is more important than electing members of Congress or the President. In a forum last week, they explained why.

Activist judges have stopped children from saying the pledge of allegiance in their classrooms, stripped the Ten Commandments from displays in the public domain and kept religious symbolism out of the public eye. Christmas has become “winter holiday” and the Boy Scouts of America have faced numerous lawsuits for refusing to hire gay scout leaders. 

At the Eagle Forum session, lawyers discussed the need for a stronger focus on activist judges and the role the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) plays in breaking down traditional American society through lawsuits. read more HumanEvents 5.28

 

ACLU suing middle school for single-sex classes

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a federal lawsuit to stop a middle school in Kentucky from offering all-boy and all-girl classes, and to challenge the 2006 Department of Education policy that has allowed these setups.

The lawsuit claims that the single-sex classrooms in Breckinridge County Middle School are illegal and discriminatory, calling into question a practice that many public schools nationwide have implemented in recent years.
"We are challenging the U.S. Department of Education regulations which have led schools across the country to experiment with sex-segregated classes," said Emily Martin, the lead ACLU attorney on the case. "We are saying that the rules the Department of Education set out are insufficient to ensure equality here." read more WashTimes 5.24

 

ACLU investigates Bible course at Virginia high school

The ACLU of Virginia has filed a Freedom of Information request to find out more about the Bible course that will be offered at Craig County High School in the fall.

The American Civil Liberties Union issued a press release May 21 that said it also wants to find out more from parents and others who were at the May 6 meeting when the course was approved by the Craig County School Board.

The ACLU release quotes Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis, who said that for now, "this is merely an inquiry. However, we are concerned that the course proposed by the Craig County School Board may not be an impartial study of the Bible, but an attempt to advocate for one set of religious beliefs to the exclusion of others in a public school." read more ourvalley 5.21

A blow to the ACLU - Supreme Court upholds a new federal law against the solicitation of child pornography.

The court, in a 7-2 decision, brushed aside concerns that the law could apply to mainstream movies that depict adolescent sex, classic literature or innocent e-mails that describe pictures of grandchildren.

The American Center for Law and Justice filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of United States v. Williams.  We filed this brief on behalf of our own organization as well as eighteen Members of the United States Congress.  Five of those Members of Congress sponsored an Act, known as the Protect Act, designed to protect children from the increasing problems of internet pornography.  Specifically, the legislation at issue prohibited pandering of child pornography online even if no sale of pornography took place.  Today, the Supreme Court in a 7-2 decision ruled in our favor. 

The statute prohibits any person from advertising, promoting, presenting, distributing or soliciting through the mails or computer, any material or purported material in a manner that reflects the belief that the material or purported material is an obscene visual depiction of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct or a visual depiction of an actual minor engaging in sexual conduct.  Michael Williams challenged his conviction alleging that prosecution for pandering material that one does not possess would be unconstitutional under the First Amendment Free Speech Clause.  The ACLU joined an amicus brief in support of Mr. Williams. read more American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) 5.18

 

ACLU Defends Youthful Terrorist Bombers

This Wall Street Journal story shows the outrageous conduct of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU is more concerned about the "rights" of terrorists under the age of 18 than they are of the lives lost when these kids set of bombs.

Is there no common sense left in the ACLU?

It Takes a Child to Raze a Village

Wall Street Journal, 5/16/08

"The United States has detained approximately 2,500 people younger than 18 as illegal enemy combatants in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay since 2002, according to a report filed by the Bush administration with the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child," the Washington Post reported yesterday. The Post notes that the American Civil Liberties Union "decried what is described as a ’lack of safeguards’ for youths captured by the U.S. military," although what that has to do with American civil liberties is not specified.

The paper also doesn’t offer any explanation for why America is holding these juveniles. But another Post story—which appeared on the same page of the print edition—offers a clue:

A youthful suicide bomber killed at least 23 people Wednesday in an attack against relatives of Col. Faisal Ismail al-Zobaie, a U.S.-backed police chief and former insurgent who has turned against his onetime comrades read more capoliticalnews

 

GLAD Congratulates ACLU - California Supreme Court decision embraces marriage equality for gay couples

Following the CA Supreme Court decision ruling that state marriage laws are unconstitutional GLAD issue this response to their subscribers.

Great news - California has joined Massachusetts as the second state in the union to embrace marriage equality.

The California court affirmed what we already know: that a society pledged to equality and fairness simply cannot deny same-sex couples access to the respect and security that marriage provides.
The Goodridge decision in Massachusetts broke a historic barrier and forever changed the standard by which all future efforts to treat LGBT citizens fairly will be judged. This decision solidifies that victory and we congratulate our colleagues at NCLR, Lambda Legal and the ACLU.
All eyes now turn to Connecticut where a decision could come out any day. California signals a rising tide of equality and other victories are within reach. GLAD is working with our New England Marriage Campaign allies to bring full and equal marriage to every state in New England.

 

ACLU of Minnesota demanded that the school district stop requiring students to stand during the pledge

Last week, the ACLU of Minnesota demanded that the district cease and desist from requiring students to stand during the pledge -- students have not been required to recite it -- and warned that the district could be liable for attorney's fees and costs.

The MCLU informed school officials that "staff involved in violating students' rights should face discipline." It also recommended "remedial steps," including a potential formal apology to the disciplined students.

Needless to say, district administrators apparently are moving to modify the policy "to address the protection of the individual's form of expression," in the words of the junior high's principal, Colleen Houglum.

Don't get me wrong. MCLU executive director Chuck Samuelson and his legal crew generally know their stuff, and I presume that they're right about the law on this one.

Why did he do it?

But Kim Dahl, Brandt's mom, discovered a revealing fact when she asked her son why he refused to stand. He had no answer, she told the Star Tribune, adding "he's just a normal 13-year-old."

She probably is right. Thirteen-year-olds typically like nothing better than to grab the limelight and thumb their noses at authority. read more StarTribune 5.14

 

Indiana Museum, ACLU Sue State Over Pornography Law

The Indiana Museum of Art has joined a civil rights group suing the state of Indiana over a law that would require any business selling pornography to register with the state, the Indianapolis Star reports.

Aimed at identifying businesses that sell "sexually explicit" material, the law, scheduled to go into effect July 1, would require any business selling anything "harmful to minors" to register with the state and pay a $250 fee.

The suit has been filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana and attorneys for several national organizations representing sellers of books, CDs, and DVDs. Ken Falk, legal director for the ACLU branch, said the law is vague and overly broad and violates the first amendment. What is harmful to a six-year-old for example, may be fine for a 16-year-old, which means that sellers would have to determine themselves what is harmful, then decide whether to register. read more artinfo

Mich. Supreme Court ruling protects marriage, taxpayers from ACLU demands

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled 5–2 Wednesday that the state’s constitutional amendment protecting marriage does not allow for the extension of taxpayer-funded benefits to the unmarried “domestic partners” of state and municipal employees.  ADF attorneys filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, arguing that the state can extend benefits to whomever it wishes so long as it doesn’t do so on the basis or a marriage-like status prohibited by the Michigan Constitution.

“The government should promote and encourage strong families.  Michigan’s marriage amendment does that; benefits for unmarried ‘domestic partners’ at taxpayer expense do not,” said ADF Legal Counsel Dale Schowengerdt.  “Marriage is under attack because certain special interest groups are trying to reduce it to little more than a benefits system for emotionally attached couples.  The court followed the law and prevented the ACLU from bypassing the will of the people as expressed in the Michigan Constitution.”

More than two years ago, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against the state, demanding that it offer benefits to the unmarried “domestic partners” of state employees.  In 2007, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the state’s constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between one woman and one man prohibits public institutions from offering benefits based on a union similar to marriage (www.telladf.org/news/story.aspx?cid=4000). read more AllianceDefenseFund

ACLU Will Challenge Florida License Plate With Cross…Of Course

Of course anyone could see this coming from a mile away. The ACLU oppose license plates that say “pro life”! Did Florida really think they could get away with putting an expression of faith on a license plate for people to purchase? Why, that is just another step in the march to tear down the wall of seperation of church and state that the ACLU have worked so hard to build from their imagination. Crosses are the most offensive thing on the ACLU’s list of offensive things! There is no way the ACLU will not challenge this without equal production of license plates expressing Buddist, Wiccan, Satanist, Islamic, and every other religion in existence. StoptheACLU

 

ACLU oversteps in Texas polygamy case

Last month, authorities near Eldorado received a phone call from a young lady claiming to be 16-year-old "Sarah Jessop," a child bride who was allegedly abused physically, emotionally and sexually by a much older male in the YFZ compound. This ranch is a compound owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, which broke away from Mormonism after the mainstream church renounced the sanctity of polygamous marriages.

In an attempt to gain press coverage for itself at all costs, the ACLU has offered to defend the FLDS in the hopes of reuniting the children with their parents. Their case banks on the fact that the whistle blower, "Sarah," may be nothing more than a hoax and that the authorities had insufficient evidence to raid the compound, let alone to separate hundreds of children from their parents. If the courts believe the lawyers of the ACLU and FLDS, it will set the FBI back by years, if not decades, in their mission to nail the corrupt, abusive, remorseless leaders of this group. read more SantaClara

 

ACLU challenges Oregon law to protect children from sexual predators

The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon has joined booksellers to challenge a state law restricting the sale or provision of sexually explicit material to children, saying it could affect constitutionally protected material.

The ACLU says the law approved by the 2007 Legislature is vague and could result in parents being charged for providing educational books to their children - or even an older child who gives material to a younger sibling. read more kcby

 

ACLU wins Bible lawsuit

Judge: Distribution during school hours unconstitutional

The Tangipahoa Parish School Board violated the First Amendment by allowing Gideons International to pass out pocket Bibles to Loranger fifth-graders during school hours in May, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Just hours after the decision became public, the School Board voted 8-0 to seek an appeal to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We are somewhat surprised, but very disappointed with the judge’s decision,” board attorney Chris Moody said after the vote.

The decision notches another legal victory for the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana, which has sued the board seven times over religion-in-schools issues, including the lawsuit that led to this ruling. 2theadvocate

 

Indiana Judge Dismisses ACLU Challenge, Upholds 'God' License Plate

A judge has upheld the issuance of Indiana license plates bearing the message "In God We Trust," dismissing a constitutional challenge by the American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana.

Marion Superior Court Judge Gary L. Miller wrote in a 13-page opinion that the plates were comparable to standard plates issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and were created specifically as such by the Legislature.

"Courts are not to second-guess the Indiana General Assembly when it comes to calculations of this sort," Miller wrote, contrasting the `In God We Trust' plates with other specialty plates that require the payment of administrative fees. FoxNews

 

Judge rules for ACLU in Jesus portrait case

Original display of a picture of Jesus in the lobby of the Slidell City Court was unconstitutional.

U.S. District Court Judge Ivan Lemelle ruled Wednesday the original display of a picture of Jesus in the lobby of the Slidell City Court was unconstitutional, and he ordered the city to pay the American Civil Liberties Union $1 in damages plus “reasonable” attorney’s fees.

Thursday morning, Slidell Mayor said that after talking with City Court Judge Jim Lamz, the city would appeal the ruling.

“I respectfully disagree with the judge’s ruling, but it is my intent to appeal,” Morris said.

The year-long constitutional case of the separation of church and state has garnered national press attention, the wrath of Slidell Morris, rallies and a general outcry in the Slidell community. read more StTameryNews 4.18

 

ACLU Calls for Independent Counsel to Investigate Bush

In a stunning admission to ABC news Friday night, President Bush declared that he knew his top national security advisers discussed and approved specific details of the CIA’s use of torture. Bush reportedly told ABC, “I’m aware our national security team met on this issue. And I approved.” Bush also defended the use of waterboarding.

The American Civil Liberties Union is calling on Congress to demand an independent prosecutor to investigate possible violations by the Bush administration of laws including the War Crimes Act, the federal Anti-Torture Act, and federal assault laws. read more StoptheAclu 4.14

 

ACLU Suit Behind Illinois House Dropping Support for Moment of Silence

Just five months ago, Illinois lawmakers voted in favor of a daily moment of silence in public schools. In October, an atheist, backed by the American Civil Liberties Union, filed suit. Now, 33 state representatives have changed their minds.

The Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act required Illinois public schools to start each day with a brief period of silence.

“That action actually passed the Senate chamber and the House chamber overwhelmingly, with bipartisanship support from both sides of the aisle,” said Sen. Kimberly Lightford, the Democrat who sponsored the bill.

She said she suspects the 33 lawmakers were pressured to change their vote when the state House voted on a new measure this week. state of americasfamily 4.13

 

 

ACLU wants to help defend alleged Sept. 11 mastermind

The American Civil Liberties Union, which for years has scorned Pentagon military commissions as "kangaroo courts," announced Friday it will try to provide top civilian defense attorneys for alleged terrorists facing trial at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba -- with special emphasis on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Former Attorney General Janet Reno is among top lawyers who have endorsed the $8.5 million effort, which will help coordinate and defray the attorneys' expenses.

ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said a major thrust will be to defend Mohammed, who military officials say has confessed to masterminding the Sept. 11 attacks and other terrorist acts, including the beheading in Pakistan of Wall Street Journal correspondent Daniel Pearl. read more Seattle Times 4.5

 

KY: Court decides for ACLU and bans Ten Commandments Display

A federal judge has permanently barred a Kentucky county from using the Ten Commandments as part of a "Foundations of American Law and Government" display.

U.S. District Judge Joseph H. McKinley said the Grayson County display has the "effect of endorsing religion." McKinley's ruling upholds a preliminary injunction issued in 2002 that resulted in county officials taking down the Ten Commandments, but leaving the frame on display.

No public money was used to set up the display in the county courthouse in Leitchfield, 75 miles southwest of Louisville.

The Rev. Chester Shartzer put up the display, without a public ceremony or public prayer. Two Grayson County residents and the American Civil Liberties Union sued in 2001, claiming the intent of the display was religious and therefore unconstitutional.

The display originally included the full text of the Mayflower Compact, the full text of the Declaration of Independence, the Ten Commandments, the full text of the Magna Carta, the Star Spangled Banner, the National Motto together with the Preamble to the Kentucky Constitution, the Bill of Rights, a picture of Lady Justice together with an explanation of the significance of each of the documents. read more kentucky.com 4.1

 

 

ACLU's absurd definition of 'the people'

There are two ways to change laws.

One way is tedious. You have to get a majority of citizens to share your views, motivate them to vote for representatives, get a majority of the representatives to vote for a bill, then get the president to sign it.

The other way to change laws is easy. You simply get activist judges to change the definitions of words that are in existing laws.

On March 18, the Supreme Court heard the case of District of Columbia v. Heller (07-290), a case regarding the Second Amendment, which reads:

"A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

The ACLU argued that the term "the people" should have its definition changed to mean "the state militia," as the ACLU website states under the section "Gun Control":

"We believe that the constitutuinal right to bear arms is primarily a collective one, intended mainly to protect the right of the states to maintain militias. … The ACLU therefore believes that the Second Amendment does not confer an unlimited right upon individuals to own guns." WorldNetDaily read more

 

 

ACLU asks Sacramento library board to relax pornography controls on public computers

The Sacramento Public Library Authority Board is being pushed by the American Civil Liberties Union to increase access to pornography on taxpayer-funded computers.

The board will consider the ACLU's demands at its meeting this Thursday, March 27, in the chambers of the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, 700 H St. The public meeting begins at 3 p.m.

Pacific Justice Institute is encouraging local parents and taxpayers to attend the meeting and urge the board to keep libraries safe for kids. Members of the media are also invited to attend, as this issue is expected to spark lively public debate.

A Pacific Justice Institute affiliated attorney will be present to counter ACLU claims that the First Amendment requires taxpayer-funded access to porn, and to remind the board of the many tragic instances where lax policies have resulted in sex crimes taking place at libraries. CalCatholic read more

 

 

San Diego to Honor ACLU

After sucking city dry, ACLU 'hate machine' to be honored?
Council members considering proposal for day praising activists

The ACLU at times has battled San Diego in court over a historic cross on a veterans' memorial and the use of city facilities by the Boy Scouts, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars of money from city taxpayers for its efforts.

Now the city is considering a plan to honor the organization.

San Diego City Councilwoman Toni Atkins and Council President Scott Peters have placed on the city council docket one of the most despicable and anti-Christian items in recent years. They are planning to declare American Civil Liberties Union Day in the city of San Diego," warned James Hartline, who himself is a candidate for the city council this year.

"The American Civil Liberties Union has done everything possible to destroy Christianity in the American culture and government. From tearing down crosses on public property to removing crosses and the Ten Commandments from governmental buildings, there has been no greater hate machine against our constitutional right to free religious expression in America than the ACLU!" Hartline said. WorldNetDaily read more

 

 

ACLU helps felons fight for voting rights

Terrence Johnson, a convicted felon, said he just wants to feel like an American and have the same rights as all citizens — the right to vote.

Johnson, a Shelby County resident, has filed a legal complaint in U.S. District Court in Nashville, along with two other individuals and with help from the American Civil Liberties Union. He wants to be able to have voting rights once again even though current unpaid child support and restitution is holding him back.

“I just feel like I’ve not been a part of any type electoral process at all post my conviction,” Johnson said. “I’ve completed by probation and everything. I want to feel like an American.”

According to the complaint, Johnson was convicted of wire fraud in 1999 and ordered to pay over $40,000 in restitution for his offense. He also owes about $1,200 in overdue child support for a daughter he now has custody of.

Current state law requires that a felon “shall not be eligible to apply for a voter registration card… unless the person is current in all child support obligations,” and “unless the person has paid all restitution to the victim or victims of the offense ordered by the court as part of the sentence.” Nashville City 3.21 read more

 

 

Florida ACLU urges opposition to marriage amendment

Officials from the American Civil Liberties Union, at a meeting Saturday at Lakes Regional Library in south Fort Myers, urged Southwest Florida residents to spread the word of opposition to a constitutional amendment that will appear on November's ballot.

The amendment would define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. ACLU officials are worried the ballot's language will make it difficult for unmarried couples who share benefits, many of them seniors, to continue that.

The issue is poised to come up this summer and fall as two sides are defined - groups such as the ACLU have joined with Florida Red and Blue opposing the amendment, while Florida4Marriage.org is joined by church groups in support of yes votes.

Florida4Marriage Chairman John Stemberger, an Orlando attorney, said the amendment is simply going to define marriage as between a man and woman and won't interfere with domestic partnership rights.

"It's not going to affect those," he said in an interview Thursday. "It's really a very dastardly and hardcore tactic to try to scare senior citizens." NewsPress 3.24 read more

 

 

ACLU Urges High Court to Uphold Free Speech Ruling

Increased Profanity Policing Unfair and Unconstitutional

The ACLU issued this press release:

The government should let parents do the parenting. Parents have access to all the tools they need to manage what their children see and hear, from channel blocking to language filters and don’t need the FCC looking over their shoulder/second-guessing their decisions. The Second Circuit was right that the FCC has overstepped its bounds and, in fact, the Constitution, and we believe the Supreme Court should uphold that decision.” ACLU.org

 

 

ACLU Intimidates and Seeks to Deny Free Speech to Christians

"It's very troubling for the government to dictate what kind of prayers Christians can or cannot offer in the public forum," says Dr. Gary Cass. "Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father in His name. To require Christians to not pray in the name of Jesus Christ is asking them to pray contrary to their faith. By what authority does the Government deny Christians their First Amendment right to pray according to the dictates of their conscience?"

Reverend Hashmel Turner, a member of the Fredericksburg, Virginia city council, was threatened with lawsuits by from many secular anti-Christian groups, including the ACLU, for his Christian prayers during a council meeting. Turner was apart of a rotation of all the council members who would take turns praying at the council meetings. His case is currently making it's way to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals on March 19, and would allow Christians the right to pray "in Jesus' name" in the public forum. This case will have a tremendous impact on city councils and state legislatures throughout the United States.

 "Just because somebody objects to praying in Jesus' name does not mean that should Christians must deny their faith to accommodate another person's opposing beliefs. This is discrimination," said Dr. Cass. "Over 80% of American's self-identify as Christians, but Hindu's, Muslim's and Jew's have all prayed in the public forum and no one has restricted the content of their prayers and the ACLU has not threatened them.

 "The majority of Christians are subjected to non-Christian prayers, why are Christians told what they can or cannot pray? This is simply anti-Christian bigotry and an attempt to deny free speech for Christians," said Cass. ChristianNewswire

 The Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is a non-profit organization devoted to protecting the rights of Christians to confidently live their faith. Dr. Gary Cass has degrees from Westminster Theological Seminary. He previously served as Executive Director of the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, an outreach of Coral Ridge Ministries founded by the late Dr. D. James Kennedy.

 

 

Judge keeps ban on parental-notification law for abortions

The ruling was a victory for the ACLU of Illinois, which won the original court order blocking the law.

A federal judge has ruled that a 1995 state law that prohibits minors from obtaining abortions without notifying a parent remains unconstitutional, despite the Illinois Supreme Court's effort to fix it.

U.S. District Judge David Coar last week refused to lift a federal court order that has blocked the notification law from taking effect, saying the law would place some minors in "legal limbo."

The law allows a judge to waive the notification requirement if a waiver is in the minor's "best interests," but it doesn't make clear how the minor may then obtain an abortion, Coar wrote in a 13-page opinion.

"The statute is contradictory and incomplete on its face," Coar said. Coar rejected several other challenges to the law. read more ChicagoTribune 3.4

 

 

Alaska: ACLU wants religious tax break thrown out

The Alaska Civil Liberties Union argued Thursday in court that it was unconstitutional for the state Legislature to block the city from taxing homes owned by the Anchorage Baptist Temple.

The contentious case strikes at the heart of the relationship between religion and politics in Alaska. It's a battle about whether church-owned property should be taxed, and the main player, the Anchorage Baptist Temple, has a large congregation and political influence.

The ACLU wants Anchorage Superior Court Judge Michael Spaan to throw out a 2006 state law exempting church-owned religious teachers' housing from property taxes. The properties affected are six homes owned by the Anchorage Baptist Temple that would otherwise pay a total of about $23,000 a year in taxes to the Municipality of Anchorage. read more AnchorageDailyNews 2.29

 

 

Why does the ACLU with so many other problems in the world that we face, take a destructive stance against the Boy Scouts?

It is this reporter’s opinion that the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is unneccessarily attacking American institutions.

It is the Boy Scouts that the ACLU now has in its crosshairs. The Scouts, it is claimed by adversaries, excludes children or adult volunteers based on their sexual orientation.

One can only ask, Why does the ACLU with so many other problems in the world that we face, take a destructive stance against the Boy Scouts? Why attack an organization that relies on the very values our Founding Fathers espoused?

Furthermore, the exclusion based on sexual orientation is a false claim. The scouts are against overt sexual conduct or statement by anyone — homosexual or heterosexual. Sexuality has no place in the Boy Scouts organization. read more NewsMax 2/28

 

 

ACLU pushes for criminal contempt charges against Bolten, Miers

The American Civil Liberties Union is pushing a Justice Department prosecutor to bring criminal contempt charges against White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers for failing to respond to subpoenas from the House Judiciary Committee.

The House last week approved resolutions calling for both criminal and civil contempt cases to be initiated against Bolten and Miers. President Bush, citing executive privilege, refused to allow Bolten and Miers to respond to the Judiciary Committee subpoenas, which were issued last year as part of the panel's probe into the firing of nine U.S. attorneys in 2006.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey and other Justice Department officials have stated that the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, Jeffrey A. Taylor, cannot bring criminal contempt charges against an administration official to a grand jury in a case involving executive privilege. Politico 2/19 read more

 

 

Philly's War on the Boy Scouts

As Michael Nutter was sworn in as the city's 98th mayor last month, he called for a new wave of public service to clean up drug-infested neighborhoods. If he is serious about renewing volunteerism, he'll start by putting an end to the city's campaign against the Boy Scouts.

On May 31, the Cradle of Liberty Council, the local Boy Scout chapter, will be evicted from its headquarters on 22nd and Winter Streets -- a space it has occupied since 1928.

The eviction isn't for a breach of contract. It comes at the behest of the City Council, which voted 16 to one last year to kick the boy scouts out unless they reverse the national Boy Scouts of America's ban on gays serving in the ranks or as scoutmasters or start paying "market rent" -- about $200,000 a year. Local chapters can't reverse national scouting policies. So it's a matter of paying up or moving out.

Throughout the city, there are about 56,000 Boy Scouts who spend countless hours cleaning parks, running food drives, and organizing meals for the needy. And, of course, helping young boys, many without strong male figures in their lives, develop skills that will serve them well in life. WallStreetJournal read more

 

 

ACLU Delivers Valentine's Day Gift: Marriage Lawsuit

Philadelphia - The fate of thousands of marriages solemnized via the Internet could be in jeopardy due to a Pennsylvania law which states marriage officiates ordained over the web may be illegitimate in the Commonwealth.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging a state mandate that requires any minister, priest or rabbi presiding over a wedding to be a member of a regularly established church or congregation.

The ACLU's challenge fights a recent judicial decision that state marriages are invalid if performed by a "clergyman" who obtained his or her ordination over the Internet.

"This is just another effort to undermine the sanctity of marriage," said Diane Gramley, president of the Pennsylvania American Family Association. "I have major problems with someone being ordained through the Internet. I can guarantee the [applicants] don't have to jump through the hoops necessary for someone who is seeking ordination from a true church body," she said. Bulletin 2/15 read more

 

 

Texas Governor Urges Protection for Boy Scouts of America

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, an Eagle Scout himself, is now the father of an Eagle Scout. And that's just one reason it worries him to see the Boy Scouts of America under attack.

He described the Boy Scouts organization as a moral beacon for the rest of the country, adding that's why it has become a target for the secular left.

The scouts have won court battles against the ACLU, which attempted to force the organization to accept homosexual scout masters and abandon adherence to a belief in God.

"Now, the secular left has shifted its attacks to public entities that have sponsored scout events at city parks, public schools, even the Department of Defense," Perry said. "They have gone after anyone with access to public funds to prevent them from providing space to the Boy Scouts.

"The venerable institution of the Boy Scouts of America, with its clearly-stated belief in God, adherence to a strict moral code and steadfast focus on shaping young men, is the trophy buck that the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) and their friends would like to hang above the fireplace," Perry said on Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington. read more CNSNews 2/11

 

 

ACLU and Planned Parenthood Undermining Parental Authority in San Diego

The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are pushing San Diego's school board to end longstanding policies which require parental notification when students are pregnant and contemplating abortion, and parental consent before students leave campus, including trips to abortion clinics. Yesterday, Pacific Justice Institute sent a letter to the school board, urging them to stand by their parent-friendly policies and offering free legal assistance if those policies are challenged in court. PacificJustice 1/31 read more

 

SoCal ACLU Passed Bush-Cheney Impeachment Resolution

The board of directors of the ACLU of Southern California has passed a
resolution calling for the impeachment of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick
Cheney for their abuses of basic civil liberties.

"President Bush has violated his oath of office to 'protect, preserve, and defend the
Constitution,' has subverted the system and structure of democratic government, and has
otherwise engaged in a course of conduct that warrants removal from office," the board's
resolution states.

The ACLU/SC board urges the House of Representatives to investigate impeachable offenses
by the President and Vice President. read more

 

 

Federal Court Asked to Uphold Constitutionality of Pledge of Allegiance Including Phrase “Under God”

This suit was not filed by the ACLU but by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. It is a similar advocacy group for atheists and agnostics. It has 12,000 members in North America focused on separating church and state.

Today the American Center for Law & Justice ( ACLJ) filed an amicus brief on behalf of more than 50 members of Congress asking a federal district court in New Hampshire to reject a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance because it contains the phrase, “under God,” which was added to the Pledge by Congress in 1954.   We are asking the federal court to uphold the constitutionality of the Pledge saying it is a patriotic exercise, not a religious one.

The Freedom from Religion Foundation and an unidentified family with three schoolchildren in Hanover and Dresden filed suit in the fall in U.S. District Court, Concord, to bar educators from engaging in a government establishment of religion.

This lawsuit is another troubling attempt to rewrite history and reject one of the founding truths of our country:  that our freedoms come from God.  The Pledge and the phrase “one Nation, under God” should not pose a constitutional crisis.  There is ample precedent – including from the Supreme Court – that underscores the fact that patriotic exercises with religious references are consistent with the First Amendment.1/18 read more

 

ACLU Backs Sen. Craig, Argues Sex in Public Bathroom Stalls is Private

In an effort to help Sen. Larry Craig, the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing that people who have sex in public bathrooms have an expectation of privacy.

Craig, of Idaho, is asking the Minnesota Court of Appeals to let him withdraw his guilty plea to disorderly conduct stemming from a bathroom sex sting at the Minneapolis airport.

The ACLU filed a brief Tuesday supporting Craig. It cited a Minnesota Supreme Court ruling 38 years ago that found that people who have sex in closed stalls in public restrooms "have a reasonable expectation of privacy." FoxNews 1/ 16 read more

 

ACLU Florida Calls For Bush/Cheney Impeachment

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Florida has followed the lead of the ACLU of Central Florida, the ACLU of Monroe County Florida, and the ACLU of the Treasure Coast (Florida), all of which followed the lead of the ACLU of Southern California in backing impeachment and calling for the National ACLU to do the same.

The ACLU was a prominent supporter of Richard Nixon's impeachment. In 2006 an ACLU panel argued for impeachment. In recent years, the national ACLU has lobbied against numerous offenses that appear quintessentially impeachable, but refused , despite intense lobbying by its members and others, to back impeachment. The national ACLU recently announced a new motto that many impeachment advocates view as a wish for the impossible (a reference to the current presidential administration): "One More Year, No More Damage." -scoop.co read more

 

The ACLU's war on the Boy Scouts

The U.S. Supreme Court in 2000 upheld the right of the Boy Scouts to select members and leaders without regard to state laws that bar discrimination based on sexual orientation.

That ruling hasn't stopped the ACLU. It has simply shifted tactics away from the courts and focused its energies on local and often mean-spirited campaigns to deny the Scouts places to meet and the ability to raise funds. Sadly, the campaign appears to be working. DenverPost

 

 

ACLU: Foul language a right

Sydney Gilman, 12, was letting her dog in from the backyard when she heard curse words being screamed somewhere in the neighborhood.

“I wasn’t really positive it was coming from ... a house,” she said. “I looked around and didn’t see anyone.”

The girl testified at a hearing Monday over a disorderly conduct citation issued to 31-year-old Dawn Herb, 924 Luzerne St., who is accused of yelling profanities at her overflowing toilet near an open window, then shouting profanities at an off-duty Scranton police officer who asked her to stop.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania has taken an interest in the case, and asked Wilkes-Barre attorney Barry Dyller to represent Ms. Herb and the ACLU. He declined to comment on whether he was being paid.

Mr. Dyller argued Monday that foul language, although not in the best taste, is protected by the Constitution. TimesTribune

Appeals court considers "God" in Pledge

A federal appeals court in San Francisco yesterday heard arguments in a lawsuit filed by a Sacramento, Calif., man who says the words "under God" should be removed from the Pledge of Allegiance because they are unconstitutional. WashTimes

 

God goes on trial in San Francisco

Yesterday, Seamus Hasson, president of the Becket Fund, will defend public school students who want to keep "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. DealWHudson, InsideCatholic read more

 

ACLU appeals ruling that pharmacists don't have to sell 'Plan B'

The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Northwest Women's Law Center are appealing a federal judge's ruling.

The ruling says that Washington state pharmacies don't have to sell "morning-after" birth control pills if their pharmacists have moral objections.

A federal court judge in Tacoma issued an injunction last month preventing the state from enforcing a rule that pharmacies make the drug available.

The organizations appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals this week, saying the ruling misconstrues legal precedent, and they asked the judge to stay the injunction while the appeal pends. king5.com

 

ACLU Disappointed in Congress for Promoting Teen Abstinence

The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed frustration in Congress for its passage of a $28 million increase in the Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) program. This increase is the second largest in the history of the program, despite recent studies revealing that such abstinence-only-until-marriage programs censor vital health care information, promote outdated and untrue gender stereotypes, discriminate against LGBT teens, and in some cases, promote religion in violation of the Constitution. aclu.org

 

 

 

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