Tag Archives: Group: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

WOUB.org: A Southeast Ohio school district is now facing a lawsuit over the district’s refusal to remove a portrait of Jesus hanging in the city’s middle school. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio and the Freedom from Religion Foundation filed the suit in US District Court against the Jackson City School District Thursday. | ACLU press release and complaint

PR Newswire on Sacramento Bee: Today, the United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of California granted intervention to the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Association (the “Association”) allowing the Association to continue as a party in the landmark case, Steve Trunk, et al v. City of San Diego, et al. It overrules the ACLU’s attempt to have the Association excluded from the case.

“We support the right of all families to have equal respect, responsibilities, and protections under the law. We support marriage equality and support the movement to secure equal treatment under law for same-sex couples. We also support the freedom of churches and religious entities to decide how to administer marriage as a religious sacrament without government interference.”

Florida Courier: The Florida Supreme Court will hear arguments Oct. 2 in a possibly first-of-its-kind case pitting two lesbian partners who used in-vitro fertilization to have a child but later ended their relationship. The case could be unprecedented in Florida because the fertilized egg of one woman was implanted in her then-partner, who gave birth.

GOP USA: But just days ago, attorneys for the Mount Soledad Memorial Association learned that the ACLU has been negotiating with the Department of Justice without including the group that actually maintains the cross and memorial site. That sparked concern on Capitol Hill.

Democratic Underground: . . . judge Sophia Hall is a lesbian and claiming that means she should recuse herself in the case. The Cook County circuit court judge is handling a challenge to the constitutionality of state laws that define marriage as between one man and one woman.

Gina Miller at Renew America: Thanks to the Lord, the Illinois Family Institute has the support of the Alliance Defense Fund and the Thomas More Society. Through the Alliance Defense Fund, they will be filing a motion to intervene in this case to defend the Illinois marriage law against this wicked assault . . . Pray for the State of Illinois and for those who are fighting for the side of truth. Pray for the Illinois Family Institute, the Alliance Defense Fund and the Thomas More Society, and as always, consider sending financial support to these groups.

Hugh Hewitt and Joe Infranco at National Review: Hamlet, Shakespeare’s melancholy Dane, epitomized the man paralyzed by indecision, never sure how he should feel or act. With the decision to deny review in the case of California’s Mount Soledad Veterans’ Memorial, the U.S. Supreme Court’s long-awaited guidance on religious traditions feels like an extended version of that play.

Liberty Institute: U.S. Supreme Court Temporarily Denies Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial Cross Case

Religion Clause Blog: In the case, a 3-judge panel of the 9th Circuit held that the now federally-owned Mt. Soledad Memorial featuring a 43-foot high cross conveys a government message of endorsement of religion that violates the Establishment Clause. Subsequently the full 9th Circuit refused an en banc rehearing. However 5 judges, joined an opinion dissenting from the denial of en banc review.

Fox8: A same-sex couple from Davenport says they were banned from possibly renting a Moline reception hall this week, because they are gay.
The manager of the University Club in downtown Moline tells WQAD-TV that she refused to let the couple see or rent the space for a reception because of her religious beliefs.

NJ.com: A Bayonne city ordinance passed in early 2012 that requires groups to have insurance to meet on municipal property has proven controversial, with some residents questioning if the ordinance is being enforced equally.

Citizens Voice: The American Civil Liberties Union is taking issue with Luzerne County’s new administrative code, saying the county can require employees to identify domestic partners to prevent nepotism but can’t only require it for gay employees.

NY Daily News: A North Carolina police department has asked its chaplains to stop mentioning Jesus in prayers delivered at public events.

Missouri Family Policy Council: The Franklin County Commission has wisely made the decision to engage the Alliance Defense Fund to represent them in the lawsuit. ADF is the leading legal interest firm in the country on Free Exercise cases. Brett Harvey of ADF will serve as lead counsel. The ACLU is seeking $1 in damages from the lawsuit, along with their attorney fees which could amount to thousands of dollars.

August Free Press: It voted 7-4 to amend the proposed regulations to “grandfather in” existing health centers so that they are not required to meet the same architectural standards demanded of new construction.

Fox News: The Bureau of Motor Vehicles said Indiana Youth Group, along with two other groups, broke their contracts by reportedly offering low-digit plates as a thank you gifts for donations.

Today’s announcement by State’s Attorney Alvarez makes it clear that this lawsuit was an ‘inside job’ from the beginning, a crass political move to force same sex marriage on all Illinoisans without providing the residents of the other 101 counties an opportunity to be heard.

Chicago Tribune (includes video): The Cook County State’s Attorney’s office concedes in a court filing today that the state’s ban on same-sex marriages is unconstitutional, according to a spokeswoman.

TeutopolisPress.com: State Representative David Reis (R-Ste. Marie) is calling upon Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to recuse herself and the resources of her taxpayer-funded state office from supporting two lawsuits questioning the constitutionality of Illinois’ gay marriage ban

EdWeek.org: The ACLU said the Camdenton R-III School District has agreed to stop blocking the sites, submit to monitoring for 18 months to confirm compliance and pay $125,000 in legal fees and costs.

McClatchy: The N.C. Supreme Court in 2010 banned second parent adoptions for same-sex couples, the ACLU said. A second parent adoption occurs when one partner in an unmarried couple adopts the other partner’s biological or adoptive child. | ACLU press release and complaint: Fischer-Borne v. Smith

Salt Lake Tribune: The American Civil Liberties Union of Utah believes a decision by the Davis School District to limit elementary students’ access to a book about a lesbian couple raising children is unconstitutional.

STLToday: The new policy calls for volunteers from Franklin County to sign up for the invocation between the first and 15th day of each month to pray at the next month’s meetings. The county won’t ask volunteers for their religious affiliation, nor review the content of their prayers in advance. But, under the policy, volunteers can’t use the opportunity to proselytize or disparage other faiths.

ACLU Blog (includes ad video): This week we let you know about an exciting new ad campaign created by a coalition of retired military leaders and veterans – Stand With Servicewomen. The ads target the unfair ban on servicewomen using their insurance to pay for abortion services if they become pregnant as the result of rape. Today, the second ad, “Honor” featuring Lt. Gen. Robert Gard, a three-star general

Public News Service (includes audio): When legislation that imposes strict new rules on abortions in Michigan comes up on the floor of the state House of Representatives this week, several groups that support women’s reproductive rights plan to be there to protest.

WBEZ91.5: “You don’t do end-runs around the people by going to courts and having things struck down in this way,” said Peter Breen, head of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, a conservative non-profit law firm. “I don’t see they’re gonna be successful here.”

WCTV.tv: The Brevard County case is unprecedented in Florida because the fertilized egg of one woman was implanted in her then-partner, who gave birth. The couple began raising the child together, but a legal battle began after a break-up that included the birth mother moving to Australia with the child.

Chicago Phoenix: “As we feared, civil unions have not turned out to be equal to civil marriages,” Bernard Cherkasov, CEO of Equality Illinois, said in a statement. “In area after area, couples were either treated unequally or denied their rights. As we learned in history, separate does not make equal.”

MetroWeekly: Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan (D) will be joining Lambda Legal and the ACLU in arguing that Illinois’s civil unions law does not meet the state’s constitutional guarantees of equal protection, raising the question of what the Cook County clerk of courts — the named defendant — will do in its response to the lawsuits.

Christian Post: A Virginia County’s School Board has voted unanimously to temporarily remove a display of the Ten Commandments from a public high school, replacing it with a copy of a page from a history textbook.

One News Now: “Because yes, they do want the benefits — but what homosexuals want centrally is cultural approval,” explains the family advocate. “They want there to be no formal public recognition that homosexual unions are different from heterosexual unions.”

World Magazine: Smith added that IFI is working with the Alliance Defense Fund to see whether his group has standing to oppose the lawsuits and to evaluate the legal options. The situation “is discouraging for a lot of reasons,” said Laurie Higgins, a cultural analyst for IFI, not least because the Illinois news media are declining to address key issues. For example, she pointed out, gay rights proponents insist that marriage has nothing to do with gender or having children—but if marriage is just about subjective feelings, why should the government be involved at all?

Catholic Culture: The Archdiocese of Boston has agreed to go forward with the sale of a parish property without legal guarantees that the property will not be used to house clinics or laboratories engaging in abortion, euthanasia, or embryonic stem-cell research.

USA Today: The two lawsuits filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and advocacy group Lambda Legal challenge Illinois marriage law on a constitutional basis. | Lambda Legal PR and case information page | ACLU press release

The Republic: Franklin County Presiding Commissioner John Griesheimer appeared to have, at least temporarily, ceded to demands from the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri that he stop offering “sectarian” prayers at commission meetings.

Jackson Co. Times: In an effort which is being led by LaVon Pettis of Evangel Worship Center, many area churches are uniting in a stand to preserve religious liberties and traditions related to Baccalaureate services being part of the graduation process at public schools. T

ACLU Blog: Late last week, the ACLU joined a letter to the Social Security Administration (SSA) drafted by our coalition partners at the National Center for Transgender Equality. The letter expresses a shared concern over a lack of action from SSA on several policy matters of critical importance to transgender people and their families. The three areas addressed in the letter include . . .

eMissourian.com: Franklin County is being sued in federal court by an anonymous woman, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, over prayers given by county commissioners and members of the public at regular public commission meetings last year and this year. | Complaint: Doe v. Franklin County, Missouri, No. 4:12-cv-918 (E.D. Mo.)

Christian Science Monitor: A new bill in Illinois would require schools to adopt anti-bullying policies, but the Illinois Family Institute and Concerned Christians of America say that the law would challenge certain students’ religious and moral beliefs.

Deseret News: The Utah law sought to make website operators or content providers liable for any material that the state deems harmful to minors.

eMissourian.com: First there was nothing, then there was God, then there was silence and again nothing. It isn’t a biblical story, but rather how prayer has come and gone at Franklin County Commission meetings.

ACLU Blog: And while it is widely acknowledged that women are already engaging in combat, American servicewomen continue to be officially excluded from being “assigned” to direct ground combat positions by the so-called combat exclusion rule. This rule prevents women’s service from being fully recognized and stifles their career advancement.

eTurboNews: The American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii Foundation (ACLU) filed a lawsuit in US District Court today for denying marriage applications from four women who want to wed their fiancés who are serving time in prison.

One News Now: To accommodate the ACLU, the Lewisville Independent School District has decided to label it “student remarks” instead. Hiram Sasser of the Liberty Institute says that is unnecessary. “They’re concerned about using the words ‘invocation’ and ‘benediction.’ There’s nothing legally magical about using those words,” he asserts. “They want to be able to use those words to describe the opening remarks and closing remarks, where students are allowed to pray and [are] certainly free to do so.”

KPTM.com: It’s an 11-year-old battle between the Nebraska ACLU and Columbus Lakeview High School. The school told Fox 42 that it is tradition for the graduation ceremony to include prayer. The ACLU says prayer shouldn’t be allowed. Lakeview High parents and students say they won’t stop praying anytime soon.

ACLU Exec. Director Anthony D. Romero at the Huffington Post: Obama’s support for marriage puts him in direct opposition to Mitt Romney, who supports amending a federal anti-marriage constitutional amendment. Romney even said in a 2009 interview with CNN’s John King: “Marriage is a matter of national consequence. It’s a status, it’s not an activity, and as a result there should be a national standard. And my own view is that marriage is a relationship between a man and a woman.”

CNN’s Responses to Obama’s marriage announcement includes this: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus: “Because our children’s future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union …

WNDU.com: The ACLU says Indiana allows religious groups to perform marriages, but marriages performed by a non-religious group that trains and certifies secular celebrants are not recognized. | ACLU press release

Kansas City Star: The Kansas attorney general’s office paid outside lawyers almost $628,000 through April to defend anti-abortion laws enacted last year.

Dallas Morning News: The Lewisville school district has always allowed students to say prayers at high school graduations . . . “I don’t think there’s any legal requirement not to use ‘invocation’ or ‘benediction,’” said Hiram Sasser, director of litigation for the Liberty Institute, a Plano-based non-profit legal firm focused on religious issues. “They can have corresponding secular meanings.”

Religion Clause Blog: NECN News reported yesterday that federal district judge Michael Urbanski sent the case into mediation, suggesting that the parties consider whether the display could be modified by leaving out the four Commandments that mention God.

The Republic: A small Nebraska school district will continue its tradition of a student-led prayer during graduation despite pressure from ACLU Nebraska to end the practice.

Republic: Free-speech groups and a southwest Virginia school division are squaring off over a lawsuit challenging the display of the Ten Commandments in a public high school.

KTUU.com: A group of Anchorage voters has formally requested a recount of ballots associated with the city’s troubled April 3 election. The group — consisting of 10 Anchorage voters, and headed by Anchorage attorney Hal Gazaway — is asking that all ballots cast in 15 different precincts be recounted by hand.

Brookings Institution: The idea underpinning CISPA—that the government should sit at the center of the cybersecurity universe, collecting all of the information about cyberthreats, analyzing it, and dispensing solutions—will no longer work. There are too many data. The government can be an essential supporting actor in the effort to secure American networks and to prevent intellectual property theft. But it can’t, and shouldn’t try to be, the orchestra conductor.

Boston Globe: The state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union compiled the number and says it demonstrates that the civil union law is a “complete failure.”

WFMZ.com: The American Civil Liberties Union is taking on Pennsylvania’s new voter identification law.

NY Daily News: A 13-year-old who was disciplined by school officials for refusing to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance got a lesson in speedy liberty and justice for all Monday. In the morning, the American Civil Liberties Union sued in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh. In the afternoon, Brownsville Area School District capitulated.

Cumberlink.com: A middle school student who says she’s being punished for sitting during the Pledge of Allegiance is suing a western Pennsylvania school district.

Religion Clause Blog: At issue, though, are religiously motivated restrictions that will be included in the deed that will prevent the town, for 90 years, from using the property as an embryonic stem cell research facility; as a facility where abortions, assisted suicide, or euthanasia would occur; as a professional counseling facility where abortion, assisted suicide, or euthanasia are advocated.

Des Moines Register: Senate Democrats this afternoon narrowly rejected a Republican proposal that would prohibit poor Iowans from having a taxpayer-paid abortion in cases of rape or incest.

ChilliCothe Gazette: Five months after the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio threatened legal action against Union-Scioto Local Schools for allegedly not doing enough to address anti-gay bullying, the two sides are said to be close to an agreement that would stave off a lawsuit.

Anchorage Daily News: But the Assembly at the meeting delayed certification of the election until at least April 24, and Hall said the inquiry ought to wait too. The postponement allows for the Election Commission to finish counting the remaining 13,434 votes and issue recommendations on just what an investigator ought to be looking for, he said.

LIfeSiteNews: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed a notice of appeal April 17, asking a federal appeals court to vacate a decision by a Massachusetts federal judge declaring that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) violated the First Amendment in its contract with USCCB to provide case management services to victims of human trafficking, because the contract did not require USCCB to facilitate abortion and contraception.USCCB has also requested a stay of the lower court’s decision until the appeals court can rule.

Sun Journal: None of the public members used their allotted time to pray; however, several suggested the county look to the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian legal organization, to deal with any legal action the ACLU takes. The Alliance Defense Fund, which reportedly offered free legal services to Forsyth County, said it would not pay any legal fees awarded to the plaintiffs if the county lost.

KTUU.com: In more than 125 emails to city officials, some people are demanding that Anchorage Municipal Clerk Barbara Gruenstein be fired for her handling of the troubled April 3 city elections,according to Anchorage Assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson.

Reuters: A U.S. appeals court on Monday revived a lawsuit brought by members of the adult entertainment industry which challenges federal laws requiring pornography producers to report the ages of all performers.
| Free Speech Coalition v Attorney General, No. 10-4085 (3rd Cir. April 16, 2012) (Before SCIRICA, RENDELL, and SMITH, Circuit Judges. )

ACLU Blog: First, Zuhdi Jasser. He is highlighted in a recent report that describes a network of Islamophobia “misinformation experts,” as someone who “validate[s] and authenticate[s] manufactured myths about Muslims and Islam.” . . . Second, Robert George. George also has ties to the Islamophobia industry.

The Republic: A federal judge is giving Utah and free-speech advocates 30 days to work out a settlement over a state law that aims to protect children from harmful online material.

ACLU: Prior to this ruling, a transgender person was allowed to change the sex listed on his or her license, but only after undergoing risky and expensive surgery that is unnecessary for, and unwanted by, many transgender people. Starting in early 2011, the Alaska Division of Motor Vehicles stopped changing the sex on any transgender person’s licenses. But on March 12, a court ruled in the case of K.L. v. State of Alaska that this practice is unconstitutional.

KOB.com (includes video): The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the City of Roswell for two local street preachers who repeatedly get arrested for preaching in public.

Salt Lake Tribune: A controversial Utah law restricting material deemed “harmful to minors” on the Internet should be barred because it unconstitutionally restricts free speech and interferes with commerce, the American Civil Liberties Union of Utah plans to argue in U.S. District Court today.

Roanoke.com: Ever since the Giles County School Board voted 3-2 to put the Ten Commandments back in Narrows High School, members supporting the display have taken pains to point out that it’s just one part of a collection of historical documents.

KULR8.com: Six same-sex couples in the state of Montana are getting ready to present their case to the state Supreme Court Friday seeking the same legal rights as married couples. Their case reached the high court after a district judge ruled against them.

One News Now: “The provision that we challenged, which included a $50 fee requirement, a requirement to pay insurance and wait 14 days, all of those requirements were changed in the policy because of the lawsuit,” Scruggs reports.