House Passes Measure Threatening Women's Access to Abortion

A Step Towards Justice

ACLU Sues Government Officials on Behalf of American Citizen Illegally Detained in East Africa

TSA Fixes Search Policy After ACLU Sues

Justice Denied: Voices from Guantánamo

You Told Us! Now, Tell Us More!

Prom Drama in Alabama

One Big Disappointment, Lots of Victories




THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THE ACLU!

Your involvement is the life-blood of our organization and makes possible all that we do to defend our most basic liberties.

Prom Drama in Alabama

Cynthia Stewart, a junior at Tharptown High School in northern Alabama, feels like any other 17-year-old girl does about prom—she's been dreaming about going to the big event for years. As a member of the prom planning committee, she created the theme that the other students agreed upon for the upcoming March 25 dance. She also sold candy and magazine subscriptions, raising over $200 for the event. The only difference between Cynthia and the other students excitedly planning months in advance for the prom? Cynthia is a lesbian, and the date she wants to bring is her girlfriend.

Students at Tharptown High School are required to get the school's permission if they want to bring any non-student to prom. Since her girlfriend goes to a different school in the area, Cynthia asked for the principal's okay. He said no. When Cynthia's aunt and guardian, Kathy Baker, appealed the decision to the school board, they turned her down. So last week, Kathy and Cynthia went to see local civil rights attorney Henry F. Sherrod III—who just happens to be on the board of the ACLU of Alabama.

The ACLU sent a letter to the school last  week, demanding that the school allow Cynthia to bring her girlfriend to the prom.  While we're still waiting to hear directly from the school, the principal has made some statements to local media that he will relent.  Thankfully, this leaves Cynthia plenty of time to decide on a corsage.

>>Learn more about this case.

back to top

One Big Disappointment, Lots of Victories

The loss in Maine earlier this month, where voters rejected a law that would have given same-sex couples the right to marry, was deeply disappointing and discouraging.  But despite this disappointment, there were many victories for LGBT equality in elections across the country last week.

Washington

Washington state approved Referendum 71. The success is exciting on a number of levels. First, because it means the benefits offered to domestic partners in Washington will be expanded to include all the same protections offered to married couples. It's also a larger symbolic win — Washington is now the first state in the nation where same-sex relationship protections have been affirmatively approved by voters.

Kalamazoo, Michigan

In spite of fear mongering from opponents of equality, Kalamazoo's anti-discrimination ordinance was retained by the voters in a landslide, with 62 percent in favor. In addition, all six city commissioners who voted for the ordinance were re-elected (the seventh did not run for re-election). This victory, in concert with last year's victory in Gainesville, Florida, is repudiating the anti-trans scare tactics used by our foes. Voters see through these misleading messages and vote against discrimination anyway.

Maine

In Maine, despite amazing efforts by the NO on 1 campaign and a host of coalition partners, we lost. Yet, this is just round one. For those who don't know the history, Maine voters also rejected an LGBT nondiscrimination law twice at the ballot box before passing it in 2005. In that multiyear effort, Maine leaders stayed committed to the values of equality and fairness, working and reaching out until the voters got it and agreed. That will happen again in Maine. Opponents of marriage equality may be victorious today, but they should know we haven't given up. We will be back.

>>Learn more about the ACLU’s work to promote equality.

back to top

Do you know somebody who would be interested in getting news about the ACLU and what we're doing to protect civil liberties? Help us spread the word about ACLU Online — forward this newsletter to a friend.

	>>Take action: Urge our country's leaders to reject anti-choice efforts to hijack health care by signing our petition today.

By Louise Melling, Director, ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project

As the Senate begins to work in earnest on its version of health care reform, the reproductive freedom of millions of American women is on the line. That's because, as you know, anti-choice extremists in the House succeeded in their effort to make vitally important health care legislation a vehicle for advancing their anti-choice agenda.

Pro-choice advocates had hoped beyond hope that abortion would be treated like any other health care service during health reform. Throughout their lives, women access a broad continuum of reproductive health care services—including contraceptive services, prenatal care, and abortion—and had every reason to expect a principled approach to health care reform that would reflect that reality.

But politics and ideology came together in a toxic mix when the House of Representatives added the Stupak-Pitts amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act. If this amendment is part of the final health care legislation, anyone who participates in the health care exchange will be prohibited from buying a plan that covers abortion care if they receive a federal subsidy.

This isn't, as its sponsors claim, an attempt to make sure health care legislation maintains the "status quo" when it comes to federal funds not being spent on abortions. It is an effort to dramatically alter the landscape. It would, among other things, leave many women who now have abortion coverage without it after reform.

The anti-abortion agenda is now in full view. The ACLU strongly condemns the Stupak-Pitts amendment and is calling on our members to take action to ensure that the provision does not survive.

>>Take action now! Urge our country's leaders to reject anti-choice efforts to hijack health care by signing our petition today.

back to top

A Step Towards Justice

Last Friday, Attorney General Eric Holder officially announced that the five defendants who have been charged in the 9/11 attacks will be tried in federal court, rather than in the unconstitutional Guantánamo military commissions.

This is a clear victory for the rule of law, and we thank all of you who have supported the ACLU in our efforts to shed light on the injustices of the military commissions proceedings at Guantánamo Bay.

But, this victory is bittersweet because Holder indicated that some detainees would be tried in the unlawful military commissions system.

The ACLU will continue to push for the complete closure of Guantánamo and an end to the military commissions and any system of indefinite detention. In the meantime, take the time to celebrate this victory for the rule of law.

>>Take action now! Join us in urging Attorney General Eric Holder to move all the Guantánamo military commissions cases to federal court — a system of justice that upholds our values and laws.

back to top

ACLU Sues Government Officials on Behalf of American Citizen Illegally Detained in East Africa

Last week, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of Amir Meshal, an American citizen who was arrested and secretly imprisoned in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia for four months. He was held in secret, without access to a lawyer or any process to contest his detention, and was never charged with a crime. He endured more than 30 harsh interrogations by U.S. officials during his detention.

A New Jersey native, Mr. Meshal was studying Islam in Mogadishu, Somalia in December 2006 when hostilities broke out. Unable to flee the country by air because the airport had been disabled due to bombing, Mr. Meshal fled to neighboring Kenya by boat and wandered in the forest for three weeks seeking shelter and assistance before being arrested by a joint U.S.-Kenyan-Ethiopian task force. He was detained and turned over to U.S. officials, who interrogated him and sought to coerce him into confessing that he was connected to or had supported al Qaeda—connections and actions that Mr. Meshal steadfastly denied. One FBI agent threatened to send him to Egypt, where the Egyptians “had ways of making him talk.” Another FBI agent threatened to send Mr. Meshal to Israel, where—the interrogator said—the Israelis would “make him disappear.”

Mr. Meshal’s lawsuit charges that four U.S. government officials violated his Fifth Amendment right to due process and Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable search and seizure. Mr. Meshal also claims that two of these officials—agents of the FBI—threatened him with torture and disappearance in violation of his rights under the Torture Victim Protection Act of 1991.

“The harsh treatment that Mr. Meshal endured should never be experienced by anyone, let alone an American citizen at the hands of his own government,” said Nusrat Choudhury, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project. “American citizens don't relinquish their constitutional rights or their right to be protected from threats of torture and disappearance by U.S. officials when they're overseas.”

>>Learn more about this case and the ACLU’s work to end extraordinary rendition.

back to top

TSA Fixes Search Policy After ACLU Sues

	Steven Bierfeldt was de-tained by the TSA as he was boarding a flight and carrying $4,700. The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the TSA's role in law enforcement. As a consequence, the TSA has changed their policy. >>Read Steven Bierfeldt's blog post.

Following a lawsuit filed by the ACLU, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has revised its policies governing airline passenger screening to make clear that TSA agents are authorized to conduct searches related to safeguarding flight safety, not to engage in general law enforcement.

These policy changes are a victory for civil liberties, and the ACLU has moved to drop the lawsuit now that the agency’s new directive addresses the unconstitutional policies which the lawsuit challenged.

In June, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of Steven Bierfeldt, who was detained on March 29, 2009 at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and interrogated by TSA officials for nearly half an hour after he passed through a security checkpoint X-ray machine with a metal box containing $4,700 in cash.

Mr. Bierfeldt was carrying the cash in connection with his duties as the Director of Development for the Campaign for Liberty, a political organization that grew out of Congressman Ron Paul's presidential campaign. Mr. Bierfeldt repeatedly asked the agents to explain the scope of their authority to detain and interrogate him and received no explanation. Instead, the agents escalated the threatening tone of their questions and ultimately told Mr. Bierfeldt that he was being placed under arrest. Mr. Bierfeldt recorded audio of the incident with his iPhone.

In the lawsuit, Mr. Bierfeldt and the ACLU sought a court order requiring the TSA to bring its search policies into line with constitutional requirements for passenger privacy, arguing that passengers moving through pre-flight screening can only be subject to searches aimed at keeping weapons and explosives off airplanes. Mr. Bierfeldt’s experience proved that TSA searches had taken on a much broader scope.

In September, eight days before the government’s response to the ACLU lawsuit was due, the TSA issued a new directive governing passenger screening searches. The new policy states clearly that “screening may not be conducted to detect evidence of crimes unrelated to transportation security.”

In October, the TSA issued a second directive addressing the issues raised in the ACLU’s lawsuit, stating that “traveling with large amounts of currency is not illegal,” and that to the extent bulk quantities of cash warrant searching, it is only to further security objectives.

“It is a huge victory for civil liberties that TSA agents no longer have free reign to conduct sweeping, baseless searches and detain passengers who don’t pose a threat to flight safety,” said Bierfeldt. “I do not believe I should give up my constitutional rights each time I choose to travel by plane, and I certainly do not want another innocent American to have to endure what I went through."

>>Read Steve Bierfeldt’s response to the TSA’s new policy.

>>Learn more about this case.

back to top

Justice Denied: Voices from Guantánamo

	>>Watch Now: Justice Denied: Voices from Guantánamo

	>>Learn more about this landmark case.

You Told Us! Now, Tell Us More! In the last issue of ACLU Online, in honor of the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s seminal work, The Origin of Species, we asked: Do you think "intelligent design" should be taught as an alternative to evolution in science classes in public schools? Over 90% of ACLU supporters responded, No, "intelligent design" is inherently a religious concept and the teaching of it promotes the views of a particular religion in public schools.   We want to know what you think about gene patenting. Do you think companies should be able to ‘own’ human genes? Take the poll. back to top

Join us on...

Dear ACLU Supporter,

The anti-abortion agenda is now in full view. Anti-choice extremists think they have won a massive victory in their attempt to limit access to abortion. Let’s prove them wrong.
 
Hundreds of thousands of people are telling President Obama, Senate Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi to protect the reproductive freedom of millions of American women. Will you join them?

Urge our country’s leaders to reject anti-choice efforts to hijack health care by signing our petition today.

As the Senate takes up health care reform, we need the personal leadership of President Obama, Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi to make sure health care reform legislation doesn’t undermine the reproductive rights of women all across the country.
 
As you may know, anti-choice forces in the House led by Representatives Stupak and Pitts succeeded in making the House health care bill a vehicle for advancing their agenda.
 
This isn't, as its sponsors claim, an attempt to make sure health care legislation maintains the "status quo" when it comes to federal funds not being spent on abortions. It is an effort to dramatically alter the landscape of reproductive rights for women all across the country.

Health care reform should improve women’s health and lives, not interfere with their ability to get the health care they need. But politics and ideology came together in a toxic mix when the House of Representatives added the Stupak-Pitts amendment to the Affordable Health Care for America Act.

We can’t let the same thing happen in the Senate or in final legislation.

Urge our country’s leaders to reject anti-choice efforts to hijack health care.

If this amendment is part of the final health care legislation, anyone who participates in the health care exchange will be prohibited from buying a plan that covers abortion care if they receive a federal subsidy, even if they contribute their own private funds to pay part of the premium.

Please act right now by urging President Obama, Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi to protect women’s ability to make private health care decisions without government interference.

Thank you so much for acting to protect reproductive freedom.

Sincerely,

Vania Leveille
ACLU Legislative Counsel

© ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004

Hi Barry,

Bhopal is not just a human rights tragedy from the last century. It is a human rights travesty today.

Shortly before midnight on 2 December 1984, thousands of tonnes of deadly chemicals leaked from Union Carbide’s pesticide plant in Bhopal, central India. Around half a million people were exposed. Between 7,000 and 10,000 people died in the immediate aftermath and a further 15,000 over the next 20 years.

On 2 December 2009, the people of Bhopal will mark the 25th anniversary of the devastating leak. Amnesty International will act in solidarity with the people of Bhopal to highlight the ongoing human rights impacts of the 1984 leak.

As the factory site has not been cleaned up yet, more than 100,000 people in the area continue to suffer from health problems. Efforts to provide rehabilitation – both medical care and measures to address the socio-economic effects of the leak – have fallen far short of what is needed and victims still wait for the adequate compensation. The people of Bhopal have struggled to obtain even basic relief such as clean water. Over the past 25 years, the Indian government has shown its incapacity to deal with the issue as companies involved have evaded accountability and obstructed the efforts of victims to secure reparation.

Take Action

Please support Amnesty International’s campaign to seek justice for Bhopal.

Call on Dow Chemicals to decontaminate the former Union Carbide factory and its surrounding area
Call on the Indian Prime Minister to provide adequate medical, social, and economic rehabilitation to end 25 years of injustice for the people of Bhopal

Support the campaign on your social networking profile:

Change your Status to "Vigil on Dec 2 @ www.demanddignity.org to call for Union Carbide & Indian government to stop injustice in #Bhopal25"

Update your profile picture:

Copy the image above, or save it via this link:
http://files.amnesty.org/newsletters/images/my-community/images/bhopal_profile.jpg

Organize a Vigil on Dec. 2, 2009:

If you want to get more involved, you can organise a vigil on December 02. Please register the details of your event by emailing VigilForBhopal@... with the time, venue and your contact details. If you want to invite others in your local neighbourhood we will forward your event details to activists in your neighbourhood, otherwise, mark your event as private.

Thanks,
Online Communities Team

Join our Online communities

Facebook   African | Arabic | Asia Pacific Youth | Bangla | Latin American
Twitter       English | Spanish

Amnesty International

International Secretariat 1 Easton Street
London, xLON WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
Become a member | Donate | Take Action

How to Unsubscribe

You can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time. Alternatively, you can also unsubscribe from all amnesty.org newsletters.

Hi Barry,

Unless states take prompt, adequate action to address its effects, climate change could become a major threat to the realization of human rights, with those already living in poverty feeling the effects sooner and more acutely.

Join our Online communities

Facebook   African | Arabic | Asia Pacific Youth | Bangla | Latin American
Twitter        English | Spanish

Amnesty International

International Secretariat 1 Easton Street
London, xLON WC1X 0DW
United Kingdom
Become a member | Donate | Take Action

How to Unsubscribe

You can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time. Alternatively, you can also unsubscribe from all amnesty.org newsletters.

Dear ACLU Supporter,

Your support and determination helped the ACLU win an important first step for justice today.
 
In a victory for due process and the rule of law, the Obama administration just announced that the defendants charged in connection with the 9/11 attacks will be tried in federal court rather than in the Guantánamo military commissions.

It's an important step forward towards restoring core American values of justice and fairness. Unfortunately, it is accompanied by an announcement that the administration has chosen to prosecute some other Guantánamo detainees in the unsalvageable military commissions system.

You and the ACLU have stood together and insisted, if America is going to remain a nation of laws, those held at Guantánamo Bay must have their fair day in court.

Today's transfer of these high-profile cases is a significant step forward, and we are grateful for the leadership of Attorney General Holder and the Obama administration. At the same time, we must insist that justice cannot be served by trying any detainees in the discredited military commissions system.

Send Attorney General Holder a message of support for an important step forward, and urge him to try all terrorism suspects in our tried and true courts.

The ACLU has argued all along that our federal courts have proven to be fully capable of handling terrorism cases involving sensitive national security information while protecting the American values of justice and due process.
 
Through the ACLU's John Adams Project, a joint effort with the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL), we have provided legal assistance to today's transferees. We've sought to raise awareness of the serious deficiencies of the Guantánamo military commissions. And we've succeeded in stopping the military commissions from fast-tracking illegitimate guilty verdicts and subsequent death sentences.
 
The ACLU continues to call for the abolition of the deeply-flawed military commissions and to insist that holding any prisoners indefinitely without charges or trial flies in the face of fundamental American ideals. Justice can only be served in our tried and true courts. While today's announcement is a step in the right direction, we can't let up until all of the Guantánamo detainees are given fair trials.

Send Attorney General Holder a message of support for an important step forward, and remind him that justice can only be served in our tried and true courts.

With today's announcement that the 9/11 detainees' cases will be transferred to federal courts, the ACLU/NACDL John Adams Project will be formally discontinued. However, the ACLU will continue to fight for a fair and constitutional resolution of all detainees' cases.

Thank you for the support that has made today's forward progress possible—and for standing with the ACLU until Guantánamo is closed, the military commissions are shut down and indefinite detention is brought to an end.

Sincerely,

Anthony D. Romero Executive Director American Civil Liberties Union

© ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004

Dear ACLU Supporter,

Here’s a chance to test your knowledge about the state of civil liberties in America.

Do you know the answer?

In how many states is it legal to fire or refuse to hire someone because they are gay or lesbian?

Before you pick your answer, here’s all I will tell you. The fact that anyone, anywhere in America can lose a job due to sexual orientation or gender identity is an absolute outrage.

So please, take a moment to test your knowledge – and to learn more about what you can do to right this wrong.

Sincerely,


Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director
ACLU

© ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004

Dear ACLU Supporter,

Every day since President Bush signed the Patriot Act into law, this alarming and unconstitutional legislation has severely undermined American freedom.
 
It all began 2,932 days ago, when your representative in Congress voted to pass the Patriot Act. But we can end the damage this dangerous legislation has done today with swift action from you and thousands of other ACLU supporters.

This week, the House Judiciary Committee is working on a bill to reform the deeply flawed Patriot Act. Now, we need you to contact your Representative with a clear, unequivocal message.

Tell your U.S. representative that voting for the Patriot Act was a serious mistake and that action to end the damage this dangerous legislation has done is long overdue.

The Patriot Act has deep flaws that threaten your fundamental freedoms by giving the government the power to access your medical records, tax records, information about the books you buy or borrow without probable cause.

It also gives the government the power to break into your home and conduct secret searches without telling you for weeks, months—or they may never tell you.

We need reforms that effectively rein in the out-of-control government powers embedded in the Patriot Act. And those who voted for the act eight long years ago have a special responsibility to act.

Tell your U.S. representative to undo the damage the Patriot Act has caused for the past 2,932 days.

It’s crucial that every member of Congress—especially those who voted for the Patriot Act 2,932 days ago—hears our demand for real Patriot Act reform that:

• Protects the privacy of records by limiting the government’s use of National Security Letters to collect the records of innocent people far removed from an actual terrorism suspect.
• Protects the privacy of homes and businesses by restricting secret “sneak and peek” searches to emergencies and urgent circumstances.
• Protects First Amendment rights by requiring the government to convince a court that a National Security gag order is necessary.

Action on this critical issue could take place at any moment. Please contact your representative now.

Sincerely,

Anthony D. Romero
Executive Director
American Civil Liberties Union

© ACLU, 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004