aclu

Student Sues School District Over Illegal Search of Her Facebook Page

Louis Peitzman · 03/10/12 04:39PM


A 12-year-old Minnesota girl has joined forces with the ACLU to sue her school district. Minnewaska School officials penalized the girl, known only as "R.S.," for information she posted off of school property to her private Facebook page. At one point, she was "intimidated" into giving up her password so that administrators could see the rest of her posts.

How to Photoshop Your Way to a $425,000 Payoff

Lauri Apple · 12/17/11 02:00PM

Former University of Northern Colorado student Tom Mink (right) (ha, just kidding—left!) just received a $425,000 settlement from a bunch of Colorado cities for improperly searching his home and confiscating his computer after he'd created "Junius Puke," the Photoshop at right of UNC finance professor Junius Peake.

Facebook Mysteriously Ditched by ACLU Veteran

Ryan Tate · 10/04/11 01:13PM

There's an interesting little riddle under discussion in Washington, DC right now: Why did a former senior ACLU lawyer decide he didn't like working for Facebook's lobbying operation? I mean, isn't Facebook known for safeguarding individual liberty and privacy at any cost?

Sober Student Forced to Take Breathalyzer Test Sues

Lauri Apple · 09/21/11 06:11AM

During a school picnic, an assistant principal who apparently had never been to a park before spotted an empty liquor bottle lying on the ground and immediately knew, just knew, that this one eighth grader with no history of drinking whatsoever had left it there. Nobody drinks in the woods.

Idaho Town Terrorized by Guy in Bunny Suit

Brian Moylan · 08/02/11 01:29PM

The police in Idaho Falls have asked 34-year-old William Falkingham to stop wearing his bunny suit in public after getting complaints that he was scaring children. What about this guy's First Amendment rights?

Gawker v. Christie [Updated]

John Cook · 07/25/11 11:11AM

Today, with the help of the New Jersey ACLU, Gawker filed a civil complaint against the office of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie under the state's Open Records Act. We're seeking records of Christie's communications with Fox News chairman Roger Ailes. Christie claims they should remain secret under the state's executive privilege. We disagree.

Jerk-Off Mags Behind Bars: The Debate Rages

Seth Abramovitch · 06/01/11 02:52AM

South Carolina's Hill-Finklea Detention Center for barring its inmates from enjoying the kinds of pornographic materials you and I take for granted every. Single. Day. [Note: The ACLU has responded, saying ABC's report is false. Updates below.]

Child Online Protection Act gets sent to time-out a third time

Melissa Gira Grant · 07/24/08 06:20PM

Defeated a third time this week: the Child Online Protection Act, a 10-year-old law deemed unenforceable twice by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and once by the Supreme Court. The American Civil Liberties Union argued that though the law is written supposedly to prohibit minor's access to "harmful" materials online, it could land your average sex blogger selling CafePress g-strings up to six months imprisonment for not blocking underage Web users from their site. Though the guidelines for what's considered "harmful" have been deemed overbroad, it's anticipated that the Bush Administration will seek another appeal. Better hurry if he wants to block Obamaporn before he rolls out of office. (Photo by Silveira Neto)

Internet Archive refuses to secretly hand over user info to FBI

Jackson West · 05/08/08 03:00PM

With the help of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle successfully challenged an FBI request to secretly hand over information about the site's users. The FBI had sent Kahle a "national security letter" which requested personal information about a particular user and put Kahle under a gag order. Approximately 200,000 of the secret requests, which need no judicial approval, were issued between 2003 and 2006 after the NSL program was expanded by the Patriot Act. Kahle's case is one of only three the ACLU is aware of where NSL requests were successfully overturned in court. (Photo by David Silver)