03-18-2001 ACLU Newsfeed -- ACLU News Direct to YOU! ---------------------------------------------------------------- IN THE ACLU NEWSROOM **The Latest News Can Always Be Found At:** http://www.aclu.org/news/pressind.html * ACLU Endorses Improvements to Pennsylvania's Election Laws http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031501b.html * ACLU Says "Unborn Victims of Violence Act" Threatens Reproductive Freedom http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031501a.html * Citing 30-Year Pattern of Racial Profiling, ACLU And Rights Group Sue Cincinnati Police Officials http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031401c.html * Flag Desecration Amendment Reintroduced; ACLU Vows to Renew Grassroots Campaign Against Measure http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031301b.html * ACLU Joins Religious Leaders in Fight To Protect Religious Liberty and Stop Discrimination http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031301a.html * In First-Ever Challenge, CA Court of Appeals Upholds Library's Right to Provide Uncensored Internet Access http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n030701e.html * ACLU Endorses New Legislation To Protect The Innocent on Death Row http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n030701c.html * Other Recent ACLU News Releases ----------------------------------------------------------------- ACLU Endorses Improvements to Pennsylvania's Election Laws FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 15, 2001 PHILADELPHIA--Furthering its commitment to protecting the fundamental right to vote and the right to have one's voted counted fairly and accurately, the American Civil Liberties Union today endorsed significant changes to Pennsylvania's election law. "These changes, if fully implemented, would help insure that the right to vote is a meaningful right in Pennsylvania," said Larry Frankel, Executive Director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania in testimony today at a hearing of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives State Government Committee in Doylestown. In his testimony, Frankel described how Pennsylvania could improve its voter registration system and its procedures for insuring that registered voters are permitted to exercise their rights on election day. The ACLU called on the General Assembly to support Governor Thomas Ridge's proposal to create a centralized voting registration system. Frankel indicated that such a system should greatly enhance the implementation of Pennsylvania's Motor Voter law by making it easier for new voters and mobile voters to be registered. "Such a system would enhance the ability of all registered voters to exercise their franchise on election day," Frankel said in his testimony. "We urge the General Assembly to include funding for the Governor's initiative in the upcoming budget." To complement a centralized registration system, the ACLU suggested that Pennsylvania follow the lead of several other states and enact provisional balloting procedures. Such procedures permit voters, whose names have been mistakenly omitted from the voting lists sent to a polling place, to cast their votes. After the polls are closed, election officials determine whether these voters were eligible. If so, their votes are then counted. Provisional ballots would prevent the disenfranchising of voters whose registrations have not been properly recorded due to bureaucratic inefficiencies. Addressing the problems encountered by voters with disabilities was another recommendation of the ACLU. "Many polling places are not accessible to people in wheel chairs," Frankel noted. "Even those places that are accessible may have machines that are difficult to use by people with physical limitations. Little consideration is given to those with impaired eyesight who may have trouble seeing the information on a ballot or clicking in the correct place to cast a vote." Today's public hearing is one in a series being held throughout Pennsylvania to investigate what changes should be made to the state�s election law in light of last year's election. While Pennsylvania does not appear to have suffered from the extensive problems encountered in Florida, both Governor Ridge and the General Assembly have committed to reviewing and updating Pennsylvania's laws and procedures. Frankel�s testimony can be read online at: http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031501b.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- ACLU Says "Unborn Victims of Violence Act" Threatens Reproductive Freedom FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, March 15, 2001 WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today denounced the "Unborn Victims of Violence Act," saying its supporters seek to undermine the constitutional underpinning for reproductive freedom, rather than protect pregnant women. "Although proponents claim that this bill is intended merely to punish violent offenders, it is in reality a dangerous attempt to separate a woman from her fetus in the eyes of the law," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU National Legislative Office. "Such separation is the first step toward eroding a woman's right to determine the fate of her own pregnancy and to direct the course of her own health care." The bill, H.R. 503, was considered today by the House Judiciary Committee subcommittee on the Constitution. It was drafted with the assistance of the National Right to Life Committee and introduced by Rep. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). It would be the first federal law to recognize a fetus at any stage of development, from conception forward, as an independent "victim" of a crime with legal rights distinct from the woman who has been harmed by a violent criminal act. This legislation would amend the federal criminal code and the Uniform Code of Military Justice to create a new and separate offense if, during the commission of certain federal crimes, an individual causes the death of, or bodily injury to, what the sponsors of the bill call a "child in utero." The ACLU opposes this bill because it attempts to endow the fetus with legal rights distinct from the woman who has been injured by a violent act. It would thus dramatically alter the existing legal framework by elevating the fetus to an unprecedented status in federal law, undermining the foundations of the right to choose abortion. The ACLU fully supports alternative approaches to punishing violence against pregnant women, including enhanced penalties for cases in which a woman suffers not only harm to herself, but to her pregnancy. This bill, however, is an inappropriate method of imposing such punishment, Murphy said. "Proponents of this legislation rejected approaches that would have punished violence against women -- including violence that causes the loss of a pregnancy -- without creating new fetal rights," Murphy said. "It is no accident that anti-choice groups have drafted and circulated similar legislation all across the country. The proponents of this bill have built their careers around banning abortion. This bill is part of that agenda." Sen. Mike DeWine, R-OH, introduced the bill's counterpart in the Senate, S. 480, but no hearings have been scheduled. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Citing 30-Year Pattern of Racial Profiling, ACLU And Rights Group Sue Cincinnati Police Officials FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, March 14, 2001 CLEVELAND, OH--A coalition of civil rights groups sued the City of Cincinnati today in federal court, citing a 30-year pattern of racial profiling by police. The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Cincinnati Black United Front, was brought in United States District Court in Cincinnati on behalf of the African American members of both groups. The lawsuit seeks both a court order requiring the police department to alter its practice of targeting minority citizens for harassment based on their race, and money damages for certain plaintiffs. "What we are seeking is to correct a 30-year pattern of racial misconduct by the Cincinnati Police Department," said Scott Greenwood, who is General Counsel for the ACLU of Ohio, and who will act as lead counsel for the ACLU in the case. Papers filed with the court today paint a frightening picture of police harassment based on race. On a daily basis, African American citizens are routinely singled out for minor traffic citations, jaywalking tickets and other minor offenses. African Americans are far more likely than whites to be searched by the police as well. Even more serious are allegations that police tend to use excessive and deadly force against African American citizens far more readily than against whites. Between 1995 and 2000, for example, Cincinnati Police killed 13 suspects during the course of their arrest, all of them African Americans. Widespread abuse of minority citizens continues to this day, despite the fact that police having been repeatedly singled out for criticism in several government reports published as early as the 1970's. "This is a city with a serious problem," said ACLU Executive Director Christine Link. "In Cincinnati, racial bias touches almost every aspect of law enforcement. All Americans deserve equal justice under law, and today we are demanding no more and no less for the people of Cincinnati." Legal papers in the case are available in .pdf format at: http://www.acluohio.org/news/recent_developments.htm To learn more about racial profiling, see the national ACLU's "Arrest the Racism" feature online at: http://www.aclu.org/profiling/ and visit: http://www.aclu.org/issues/policepractices/hmpolice.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- Flag Desecration Amendment Reintroduced; ACLU Vows to Renew Grassroots Campaign Against Measure FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 13, 2001 WASHINGTON - As proponents once again reopened their drive to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban desecration of the American flag, the American Civil Liberties Union today joined with veterans and urged members of Congress to reject the proposed amendment once again. "This issue goes to the heart of what this country and our flag stands for," said Marvin Johnson, a Legislative Counsel for the ACLU. "The First Amendment is the very foundation of the freedoms the flag represents." The amendment has been introduced in various forms for the last 12 years. Contrary to what Senator Orrin Hatch, R-UT, told a news conference today, the margin of support for proposal has been dropping steadily in both the House and Senate. During the 106th Congress, for example, two Senators who had previously supported the amendment - Robert Byrd, D-WV, and Richard Bryan, D-NV - voted against the measure. If adopted, the constitutional amendment would be the first to restrict the freedoms guaranteed Americans by the Bill of Rights. Since the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791, the Constitution has been amended only 17 times, and one of those - Prohibition - was a mistake that had to be repealed by yet another constitutional amendment. The Bill of Rights have never themselves been amended. In recent years, thousands of veterans have contacted the ACLU to register their opposition to the amendment and to offer their help in dispelling the myth that veterans speak with one voice about the proposed amendment. Gary May, a highly decorated former Marine who lost both of his legs during combat in Vietnam, said it best in his testimony (http://www.aclu.org/congress/l042099b.html) before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year. "Freedom is what makes the United States of America strong and great -- it is what has kept our democracy strong for more than 200 years," said May, who serves as the Chairman of Veterans Defending the Bill of Rights, a coalition of veterans who oppose the proposed flag amendment. "The pride and honor veterans like me feel is not in the flag itself, but in the principles the flag stands for and in the people who have defended them." Another prominent veteran - General Colin Powell - also opposed the amendment last year. "The First Amendment exists to insure that freedom of speech and expression applies not just to that with which we agree or disagree, but also that which we find outrageous," said Powell, who now serves as the Secretary of State in the Bush Administration. "I would not amend that great shield of democracy to hammer a few miscreants. The flag will be flying proudly long after they have slunk away." To send a FREE FAX to your members of Congress, go to: http://www.aclu.org/action/flag107.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- ACLU Joins Religious Leaders in Fight To Protect Religious Liberty and Stop Discrimination ACLU Also Unveils New Web-Based Clearinghouse On Bush Government-Funded Religion Initiative At: http://www.aclu.org/congress/gfr.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, March 13, 2001 WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today welcomed the publication of "Keeping the Faith: The Promise of Cooperation, The Perils of Government Funding: Guidelines for Houses of Worship," a new resource for religious leaders who want to provide social services to their communities without jeopardizing their autonomy or the constitutional and civil rights of people in need. "In the months since President Bush announced his plans for a program to provide government funding to religious institutions, the Administration has been buffeted by questions and outright opposition from the left, right and center," said Laura W. Murphy, Director of the ACLU's Washington National Office. "Today's new publication from The Interfaith Alliance and the Baptist Joint Committee provides useful guidance to religious leaders who are struggling for answers on how to serve those in need without compromising their institutions." The ACLU also today launched a new web-based clearinghouse - Government-Funded Religion: What You Should Know - to provide a collection of actions, information and links to other websites to allow individuals concerned about the Bush initiative more information about the dangers of government-funded religion. The clearinghouse can be found at: http://www.aclu.org/congress/gfr.html The new site contains resources that question various elements of Bush's faith-based initiative. In addition to articles, op-eds and editorials that have expressed concerns about the Bush initiative, the clearinghouse will include documents produced by a number of different organizations, including the new "Keeping the Faith" publication. Also featured are quotes and perspectives from conservative religious leaders concerned with the new proposal such as Pat Robertson, Rev. Jerry Falwell and Louis Farrakhan. "Scores of religious leaders, columnists and editorial boards have raised serious questions about the Bush initiative," Murphy said. "We hope the new clearinghouse will serve as a comprehensive resource for people seeking to educate themselves on Bush's dangerous proposal for government-funded religion." ----------------------------------------------------------------- In First-Ever Challenge, CA Court of Appeals Upholds Library's Right to Provide Uncensored Internet Access FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday March 7, 2001 SAN FRANCISCO--In a resounding victory for civil liberties, an appeals court here has held that a parent may not force a public library to censor the Internet access of its patrons in order to control her own child's use of the Internet, the American Civil Liberties Union announced today. "The court's decision in this first-of-its-kind case is a true vindication for public libraries committed to preserving the First Amendment rights of their patrons," said ACLU of Northern California staff attorney Ann Brick, who helped argue the case for the library. The issue of censoring library Internet access will soon be before the courts again when the ACLU files its challenge to the recently enacted federal Children's' Internet Protection Act. The ACLU contends that the statute, which requires libraries that receive certain federal funds to install blocking software to censor Internet access, violates the First Amendment. That lawsuit is expected to be filed later this month. In the California case, the parent, known only as "Kathleen R." in legal papers, sued the City of Livermore when her 12 year-old-son downloaded a number of explicit pictures at the Livermore library and then took the disk to the home of a relative, and printed the pictures. The Alameda County Superior Court had twice dismissed the case, in which Kathleen R. first argued that the library's open-access policy constituted a "public nuisance," and then argued that the library has a constitutional obligation to censor Internet access. The appeals court's ruling, issued late yesterday, upheld the lower court's rulings dismissing the case. "The court's opinion is unequivocal in ruling that libraries may not be required to blue-pencil content on the Internet, nor may they be required to take over the role of parents in monitoring the library use of minors," Brick said. In 1998, in a related case, a federal appeals court in Virginia ruled that a library's policy of using blocking software to censor materials online "offends the guarantee of free speech." The ACLU represented Internet content providers in that case against the Loudoun County Library. In voiding the library's blocking policy, the judge noted that the software, which claimed to "filter" out only obscene material, blocked sites including the San Francisco Chronicle as well as the web site of the Maryland affiliate of the American Association of University Women. "Requiring the use of blocking software in public libraries creates, rather than solves, constitutional problems," said ACLU national staff attorney Ann Beeson, one of the attorneys filing the challenge to the federal blocking software law. "Libraries have never been in the business of policing what their customers read and they shouldn't start now." The ACLU's Brick argued the case in the Court of Appeal and submitted a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of the national ACLU, People for the American Way and the Freedom to Read Foundation, part of the American Library Association A previous news release about the Livermore Library case is online at: http://www.aclu.org/news/1999/n011499a.html A news release about the ACLU challenge to the federal mandatory blocking software law is online at: http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n021401b.html The case is Kathleen R. v. City of Livermore, No. A086349; the opinion is online at: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- ACLU Endorses New Legislation To Protect The Innocent on Death Row FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, March 7, 2001 WASHINGTON -- The American Civil Liberties Union today applauded the introduction of legislation that would address the national problem of innocent people being sentenced to death. "Countries that routinely provide nothing more than a sham defense for those who face execution are condemned by our government for human rights violations," said Rachel King, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "Yet today the only thing standing between many Americans and death row is an inexperienced, incompetent - or even a sleeping - lawyer. "The 'Innocence Protection Act' would help fix this injustice," King added, "by helping states provide competent legal services at every stage of a death penalty prosecution." The bill, sponsored by Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, comes at a time of unprecedented attention on the problem of sentencing and executing the innocent. The pro-capital punishment governor of Illinois, for example, last year announced a moratorium on his state's death penalty after the number of people released from death row after proven innocent, 13 exceeded the number the state executed 12. The ACLU said that there are two common traits among those who have been released from Illinois' death row: they have either been able to access crucial DNA evidence that exonerated them or the shoddy defense they initially received was augmented by volunteers who performed thorough investigative work that turned up evidence of their innocence. But not all death row inmates are allowed to use DNA evidence to prove their innocence. Last year, Virginia executed a man after refusing to test DNA evidence that could have proven his guilt or innocence. Virginia made headlines again last month when it released Earl Washington, Jr., who had been in prison since 1982 for a rape and murder he did not commit. Sen. Leahy's "Innocence Protection Act" would require that states provide inmates access to DNA testing, and require courts to hear legitimate claims of innocence based on that evidence, thus decreasing the likelihood of cases like those from Virginia. "We must not send another person to the grave without allowing a simple test that could once and for all resolve any questions of whether they committed a crime," King said. "Although the ACLU believes that the death penalty is wrong under any circumstances, we strongly agree with death penalty supporters who think that innocent prisoners must have the chance to exonerate themselves. Senator Leahy's bill will help guarantee that opportunity." ----------------------------------------------------------------- * Other Recent ACLU News Releases 03-14-01 -- Black State Lawmakers and FL ACLU Challenge State�s Failure to Help Ex-Felons Regain Voting Rights http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031401b.html 03-14-01 -- ACLU Endorses New Voting Reform Legislation As Best Way to Ensure Uniformity, Accuracy and Accessibility http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031401a.html 03-13-01 -- Free Speech Victory For NJ University Alumni Group in Magazine Censorship Case http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031301c.html 03-08-01 -- ACLU Sues Over Ten Commandments in Courthouse, Saying Biblical Text Violates Religious Liberty http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n031201c.html 03-07-01 -- Mentally Retarded Missouri Man Granted Stay of Execution; ACLU Renews Call for Clemency http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n030701d.html 03-07-01 -- Censorship is Latest Drug War Tactic as Government Seeks to Put "Rave" Dance Music Promoters in Prison http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n030701b.html 03-06-01 -- Federal Appeals Court Rejects Foster Care Policy That Discriminates Based on HIV/AIDS Status http://www.aclu.org/news/2001/n030601a.html ----------------------------------------------------------------- ONLINE RESOURCES FROM THE ACLU NATIONAL OFFICE ----------------------------------------------------------------- ACLU Freedom Network Web Page: http://www.aclu.org America Online: keyword ACLU ----------------------------------------------------------------- ACLU Newsfeed American Civil Liberties Union National Office 125 Broad Street New York, New York 10004 To subscribe to the ACLU Newsfeed, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED], with "subscribe news" (without the quotation marks) in the body of the message. --- You are currently subscribed to news as: [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] To unsubscribe, forward this message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
