Tag: ACLU

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron Asks State Court of Appeals to Reinstate Pro-Life Laws

Susan Berry, PhD

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron quickly asked the state’s Court of Appeals to stay a circuit court’s ruling that temporarily blocked the enforcement of two state pro-life laws. Cameron filed a Writ of Mandamus and Prohibition Thursday, requesting the Kentucky Court of Appeals lift a temporary restraining order against both the Human Life Protection Act, which bans nearly all abortions, and the Heartbeat Law, which prohibits the procedure once a fetal heartbeat is detected, generally at six weeks’ gestation. We've asked the Court of Appeals to Reinstate Kentucky's Human Life Protection Act and Heartbeat Law. Read more: https://t.co/lUqoQOj4pS pic.twitter.com/iFY4R3vSCE — Attorney General Daniel Cameron (@kyoag) June 30, 2022 The restraining order allows abortions to resume while the constitutionality of the law is litigated. “Every day that goes by that the Human Life Protection Act and Heartbeat Law are prevented from taking effect, more unborn lives will be lost,” Cameron said in a statement. “These laws represent Kentucky’s values and its support for life. We’re moving quickly to defend this important law and to have it restored.” In his request for emergency relief, Cameron emphasized to the Court of Appeals the urgency of reinstating the pro-life laws: Once an abortion has been performed,…

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Ohio Supreme Court Allows Heartbeat Law to Remain in Effect, Denies Abortion Providers’ Request to Allow Procedure to Continue

Susan Berry, PhD

The Ohio law that bans abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, generally at six weeks’ gestation, will remain in effect while a lawsuit filed by abortion providers continues against it.

The law took effect after the state Supreme Court denied a request by abortion providers for an emergency stay on the legislation to allow abortions to continue while the lawsuit proceeds.

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ACLU and Planned Parenthood File Lawsuit in Ohio Supreme Court to Block Enforcement of Heartbeat Law

Susan Berry, PhD

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Planned Parenthood, and a group of Ohio abortion facilities filed a lawsuit Wednesday in Ohio Supreme Court that seeks to overturn the state’s heartbeat law which began being enforced soon after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

The pro-abortion groups claim in the lawsuit Ohioans have a “fundamental right to abortion” under the Ohio Constitution, “as guaranteed by the Ohio Constitution’s broad protections for individual liberties under Article I, Sections 1, 16, and 21, and the equal protection guarantee under Article I, Section 2.”

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Federal Court Considers Whether to Count Undated Ballots in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Election

Bradley Vasoli
Pennsylvania Judicial Center

A federal appeals court this week blocked certification of the election results for the contest between Republican David Ritter and Democrat Zachary Cohen for Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas Judge.

Currently, Ritter is 74 votes ahead of Cohen, but the win would flip to the Democrat should the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decide to count 257 absentee ballots that lack handwritten dates on their return envelopes. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Pennsylvania is litigating on behalf of five of the voters who cast those ballots.

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Left-Wing Groups Sue Ohio to Prevent Abortion Law from Taking Effect

Peter D'Abrosca

A host of left-wing groups are suing in a last-minute attempt to halt the implementation of new abortion legislation. 

“Lack of access to abortion services … clearly decreases patient safety and threatens patients’ health,” a lawsuit filed by the Ohio American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says. “Continuing a pregnancy against one’s will can pose a risk to one’s physical, mental, and emotional health, as well as the stability and well-being of one’s family, including existing children.”

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Biden Appoints Far-Left Judge for 11th Circuit Court of Appeals

Peter D'Abrosca
Nancy Abudu

President Joe Biden has nominated a far-left judge for a seat on the bench of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. 

From Georgia, Nancy Gbana Abudu is a deputy legal director at the far-left Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit known for listing conservative organizations as “hate groups,” which once inspired a violent attack against the Family Research Council. 

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Ruling in Pennsylvania Election-Investigation Lawsuit Expected to Come Soon

Bradley Vasoli
exterior of Pennsylvania Judicial Court

Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court is expected to soon issue a decision on whether the state Senate Republicans’ 2020 election probe may continue.

Specifically, the judges must determine whether delivery of information subpoenaed by the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee would breach voters’ privacy rights as state Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) and other plaintiffs maintain.

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Virginia ACLU Sues Hanover School Board to Enforce Transgender Bathroom Law

Peter D'Abrosca

Claiming that transgender children are “unsafe” using school bathrooms of their sex assigned at birth, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia (ACLUVA) has filed a lawsuit against the Hanover County School Board.

“Today, the ACLU of Virginia filed a lawsuit in Hanover County Circuit Court against the Hanover County School Board on behalf of five families, due to the school board’s failure to adopt policies protecting transgender students in accordance with state law and the Virginia Department of Education’s model policies,” the group said in Thursday statement. “All plaintiffs have transgender children who attend public schools in Hanover County.”

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Report: Biden Considering $450,000 Payments to Illegal Immigrant Families Separated at Border

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The Biden administration is considering paying illegal immigrant families who were separated at the border under former President Donald Trump’s policies up to $450,000 per person, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The illegal immigrants filed a lawsuit claiming the federal government detention resulted in major psychological trauma, according to the WSJ. Most of the families were made up of one parent and child who could receive around $1 million in payouts, though the amount could vary by family depending on the circumstances.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represents some of the families involved in the lawsuit against the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services, the WSJ reported. Around 940 families filed claims and the number of those who might qualify for the settlement is expected to be lower.

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Commentary: Schools with Mask Mandates Didn’t See Statistically Significant Different Rates of COVID Transmission from Schools with Optional Policies

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Group of young students at table, reading and wearing masks

The ACLU on Tuesday announced it is bringing a lawsuit against South Carolina over its mask policy.

The Palmetto State is one of seven states—along with Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arizona, Utah, and Florida— that have policies in place banning schools from having mask policies. Thirteen states, meanwhile, have laws that mandate masks in schools. The majority of states (30) allow school districts to determine their own mask policies.

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Federal Judge Temporarily Blocks Trans Bathroom Law

Peter D'Abrosca

A federal judge appointed by former President Bill Clinton issued a temporary injunction stopping the state of Tennessee from enforcing its new bathrooms signage law. 

HB 1182 requires businesses that allow both biological sexes to use the same bathroom, locker room, or other typically-single sex area, to post signage reading “this facility maintains a policy of allowing the use of restrooms by either biological sex regardless of the designation of the restroom.” 

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ACLU Leads 113-Group Coalition Demanding Biden Stops Lethal Airstrikes

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The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote a letter cosigned by a coalition of 113 groups to President Joe Biden Wednesday, demanding he stops “lethal” airstrikes.

The U.S. airstrike program has resulted in wars, violent conflicts, civilian casualties, human displacement and indefinite military detention, the groups wrote in the letter addressed to President Joe Biden. The letter demanded the president end the program roughly two decades after it was initiated.

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Montana Attorney General Bans Critical Race Theory

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"End Racism Now" sign and "Black Lives Matter" in a crowd

The highest-ranking prosecutor in the state of Montana has declared Critical Race Theory to be a violation of state and federal law, and has banned the far-left theory in Montana’s schools, as reported by ABC News.

Attorney General Austin Knudsen (R-Mont.) made his announcement on Thursday, after he was asked for his opinion by the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction Erise Arntzen (R-Mont.). His declaration bans the concept not only from Montana’s schools, but from employee training as well.

The far-left American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) released a statement criticizing Knudsen’s decision, falsely accusing him of attempting to “impose an alternate version of American history – one that erases the legacy of discrimination and lived experiences of black and brown people.”

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Ohio Town Becomes ‘Sanctuary City’ for Unborn

Peter D'Abrosca

The city of Lebanon is Ohio’s first “sanctuary city” for the unborn, after the Lebanon City Council voted to unanimously to ban abortions. 

“The ordinance makes getting or assisting in an abortion a misdemeanor offense punishable by up to $2,500 in fines and up to a year in jail, according to City Attorney Mark Yurick,” Fox19 reported. “It also bans providing money or assistance to anyone seeking an abortion, even if the abortion takes place outside of the city limits.”

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Under Pressure from Activists, Biden Admin Agrees to Bring in Thousands of Refugees a Month

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The Biden administration will admit more than 7,000 migrant refugees into the U.S. monthly as part of negotiations in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union over a Trump-era rule prohibiting migrants from obtaining asylum during the pandemic, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

Former President Donald Trump implemented public health order Title 42 which allowed border officials to rapidly expel migrants from the U.S. and prevented them from applying for asylum due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AP reported. The Biden administration’s concessions would change how border officials rely on Title 42 and potentially allow more migrants to seek asylum in the U.S.

The Biden administration and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) agreed to “a streamlined process for assessing and addressing exemption requests brought by particular vulnerable families and other individuals,” ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said, according to the AP.

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ACLU Asks Biden Admin to Shut Down ICE Detention Facilities

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Illegal immigration

The American Civil Liberties Union asked the Biden administration to close 39 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in a letter Wednesday.

People in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody reportedly experienced sexual abuse, forced sterilization, increased use of force and solitary confinement, according to the organization. The ACLU wants ICE facilities with previous reports of inhumane treatment and those located in remote locations to be closed.

“Closing detention sites should be an easy decision. Millions of taxpayer dollars are being wasted to maintain thousands of empty beds and keep asylum seekers and immigrants in inhumane and life-threatening conditions,” ACLU Senior Advocacy and Policy Counsel Naureen Shah said in a statemen

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Georgia Senate Introduces Bill Making It a Felony to Block Traffic During a Protest

Peter D'Abrosca

After a summer of rioting nationwide, Georgia lawmakers have introduced a bill that would make it a felony to block a sidewalk or a street after being directed to disperse by a police officer.

According to the text of SB 171, “purposely or recklessly obstructing any highway or street in such a way as to render it impassable without unreasonable inconvenience or hazard and fails or refuses to remove the obstruction after he or she receives a reasonable official request or the order of a peace officer to do so,  shall be guilty of a felony and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by an imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five years or a fine of not less than $1,000.00 nor more than $5,000.00, or both.”

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Minneapolis City Council Member Wants Facial Recognition Banned, Says It ‘Exacerbates Bias’

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Minneapolis City Council member Steve Fletcher wrote an amendment to the city’s code of ordinances that would ban facial recognition technology in the police department and all city departments.

The basis for the ban is that facial recognition technology “has been shown to be less accurate in identifying people of color and women,” according to the amendment.

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ACLU Warns of ‘Unchecked Power’ After Facebook, Twitter Suspend Trump

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President Donald Trump

A legislative counsel member from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Friday warned that the suspension of President Donald Trump’s social media accounts wielded “unchecked power” by large tech companies, Breitbart reported.

Kate Ruane, a senior legislative counsel at the ACLU warned in a statement that the decision to suspend Trump from social media platforms could set a precedent for big tech companies to silence less privileged voices.

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Investigation Finds Georgia Officials Decline to Prosecute or Correct the Double Voters They Catch

RealClearWire

More than 1,700 Georgians were singled out for illegally casting two ballots in 2020 elections – including last month’s hotly contested presidential race – but their fraudulent votes weren’t canceled out, according to state election officials. And so far, none of the cheaters has been prosecuted, raising concerns about continued fraud as Georgia prepares to vote again in twin U.S. Senate runoff elections next month.

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Fulton County, Georgia Dominion Voting Systems Technician Files Affidavit Alleging Absentee Ballot Irregularities, Potential Fraud

Corinne Murdock

A Fulton County voting technician stepped forward as another whistleblower, alleging severe mishandling of mail-in ballots. The Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) certified technician, Bridget Thorne, swore in an affidavit that the ballots weren’t handled securely at State Farm Arena. 

Thorne stated that their testing and calibration process involved printing series of “test ballots” on actual ballot paper, making them “indistinguishable” from live ballots.

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Virginia GOP to Mark Herring on Ballot Fraud: ‘You’re in Contempt!’

Corinne Murdock

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) filed a lawsuit last week against Virginia’s Attorney General (AG) Mark Herring for failing to communicate changes to the witness voter requirement.

In August, Herring agreed with a federal judge to drop the witness voter requirement. It appears that these changes weren’t communicated well across the state. The RPV cites accounts of voters confused because their ballot language contradicts their voter instructions.

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Liberals Praise Trump-Appointed Judge for Blocking Tennessee’s Heartbeat Bill

Anthony Gockowski

Pro-abortion advocates praised a Trump-appointed judge for blocking Tennessee’s Heartbeat Bill from becoming law.

U.S. District Judge William “Chip” Campbell in Nashville blocked the pro-life measure just hours after Gov. Bill Lee signed it into law Monday. Campbell’s mother, Beth Campbell, serves as a Republican National Committee member for Tennessee, the Tennessee Republican Party confirmed.

“An activist judge barely waited until the ink was dry to promote his own pro-choice view. We cannot allow the lives of unborn children to be jeopardized by radical judges. As your Senator, I will only vote to confirm justices who stick to the Constitution,” said Manny Sethi, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate.

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Liberal Group Calls on Nashville Police Chief to Resign, More Council Members Support Move

Anthony Gockowski

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Tennessee called on Metro Police Chief Steve Anderson to resign in a statement released Wednesday.

“Over the last ten days, tens of thousands of Nashvillians have stood together in peaceful protests to express their outrage over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. These powerful protests highlight the outrage over the enduring and deep-rooted problem of racist policing and structural racism in the United States,” the group said in its statement.

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City of Minneapolis, State Patrol Sued for Attacks on Journalists During Riots

Anthony Gockowski

A class-action lawsuit was filed this week against the leaders of the Minneapolis Police Department, the Minnesota State Patrol, and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety for their “attacks” on journalists during last week’s riots.

“The press is under assault in our City. Over the past week, the Minneapolis Police and the Minnesota State Patrol have tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, shot in the face with rubber bullets, arrested without cause, and threatened journalists at gunpoint, all after these journalists identified themselves and were otherwise clearly engaged in their reporting duties,” states the lawsuit.

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Lawsuit Seeks Release of Detainees at Shelby County Jail After COVID-19 Outbreak

Anthony Gockowski

A new lawsuit seeks the release of inmates at the Shelby County Jail who are at “high risk of severe injury or death from COVID-19.”

As of Friday afternoon, the jail reported 160 confirmed coronavirus cases among detainees, but 156 have already recovered, according to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. Another 68 employees have tested positive for the virus, 46 of whom have recovered. Only one current hospitalization was reported among both employees and detainees.

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Organization Claims Minnesota Legislative Committees Meeting in Small Groups to Avoid Open Meetings Law

Anthony Gockowski
ACLU Minnesota John Gordon

A legal organization said members of the Minnesota Legislature are holding committee meetings in small groups in order to avoid triggering the state’s “Open Meeting Law.”

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Minnesota said legislators have been deliberately meeting in small groups so they can bypass the law, which generally requires that all meetings be open to the public.

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Model Developed by UT Prof Claims Jails Will Act as ‘Volcanoes’ for Spread of COVID-19 as State Prison Sees Massive Outbreak

Anthony Gockowski

A new model developed by a professor at the University of Tennessee and other academics suggests that most models on the coronavirus pandemic have failed to consider one important variable: jail populations.

Most standard COVID-19 models predict that America will experience about 101,000 deaths during the course of the pandemic, but that number increases by 98 percent to 200,000 deaths when jails are accounted for, the new model claims.

The model was developed by Dr. Nina Fefferman at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Eric Lofgren at Washington State University, and Dr. Kristian Lum from the University of Pennsylvania, in collaboration with Aaron Horowitz and Brooke Madubuonwu of the ACLU’s data analytics team.

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Legal Groups Sue ICE to Force Release of Illegal Immigrants in Ohio

Anthony Gockowski

A group of legal organizations has sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seeking the release of illegal immigrants detained in Ohio.

The ACLU National Prison Project, the ACLU of Ohio, and the lam firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP announced Friday that they have filed a lawsuit against ICE “on behalf of immigrants detained in crowded facilities in Geauga and Seneca Counties.”

The lawsuit seeks the release of illegal immigrants who are in civil detention and at high risk of serious illness or death in the event that they contract COVID-19.

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Governor Bill Lee Signs Several Election Bills Into Law

Anthony Gockowski

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed several election-related bills into law last week, which were passed by the General Assembly before it took a two-month recess caused by the coronavirus.

The most controversial bill signed by Lee scales back restrictions on community voter registration efforts that were put in place in 2019 by the Republican-controlled Legislature. The new bill removes “misdemeanor penalties for not completing certain administrative requirements” and eliminates fines for submitting an abundance of incomplete voter registration forms.

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LaRose Draws Heat for Moving Primary Election Date, a Move Called ‘Anarchy’ and ‘Executive Fiat’

Jason M. Reynolds

Skeptics are calling Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s June 2 primary election date theoretical, saying the Legislature, not he, has the power to move the date.

Adjectives that are being thrown around include “anarchy” and “executive fiat.”

LaRose is already dictating the rules 88 county boards of elections should follow, the Ohio Capital Journal said. These LaRose rules include the dictate that county boards of election should not accept any new voter registrations ahead of the not-yet-official June 2 election.

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