American Civil Liberties Union Foundation

A civil liberties group is challenging a North Smithfield school system policy that charges students a fee to play sports. The Rhode Island affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union said Monday it had filed an administrative complaint with the state education department. It says the policy, which requires a $150 fee from students seeking to play sports, violates state law. It also asks the school district to return to parents any money they've already paid. School officials have said... Read Full Story

Privacy advocates slammed revamped Facebook privacy controls on Thursday, saying the change masks a move to get members to expose more information online. "These new privacy changes aren't so great for privacy," said Nicole Ozer, northern California technology and civil liberties policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) rights group. "It's great that 350 million people are being asked to think about privacy, but if what Facebook says is true about giving people more... Read Full Story

The American Civil Liberties Union has lost a quarter of its yearly donations after a major donor cut off $19 million in annual donations because of economic difficulties. David Gelbaum, a wealthy California conservationist, said he was indefinitely stopping the donations that had made him the New York-based group's largest anonymous donor. "For a number of years, your organization has received very substantial charitable contributions from me," Gelbaum said in a statement. "My investments... Read Full Story

The American Civil Liberties Union has dropped a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration that claimed a man was wrongly detained the St. Louis airport because he was carrying about $4,700 in cash. The ACLU dropped its suit Tuesday, saying the TSA has now made it clear agents can conduct searches related to flight safety, not engage in general law enforcement. The ACLU had filed the suit on behalf of Steven Bierfeldt, director of development for the Campaign for Liberty, an... Read Full Story

The American Civil Liberties Union has dropped a lawsuit against the Transportation Security Administration that claimed a man was wrongly detained the St. Louis airport because he was carrying about $4,700 in cash. The ACLU dropped its suit Tuesday, saying the TSA has now made it clear agents can conduct searches related to flight safety, not engage in general law enforcement. The ACLU had filed the suit on behalf of Steven Bierfeldt, director of development for the Campaign for Liberty, an... Read Full Story

The American Civil Liberties Union in New York has sued the federal government, seeking to make public the records related to prisoners held at an air base in Afghanistan. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, asks the court to order the Defense Department, the CIA and other agencies to reveal vital information about the detainees at Bagram Air Base. ACLU staff attorney Melissa Goodman said there is growing concern that Bagram has become the new Guantanamo. The Obama... Read Full Story

The American Civil Liberties Union has asked a federal judge to release "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch, arguing that he was put back in jail in retaliation for criticizing the government. A federal prosecutor countered Monday at a hearing in Boston that Hatch violated prison rules and should serve the rest of his sentence behind bars. Hatch was convicted in 2006 of failing to pay taxes on his $1 million "Survivor" winnings and sentenced to home confinement. He was taken into custody Aug. 18... Read Full Story

A coalition of immigration lawyers, civil liberties advocates and community activists is pressuring Metro Sheriff Doug Gillespie to abandon a controversial eight-month-old program that identifies illegal immigrants in jail for eventual deportation. The group, which includes the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, the local chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association and Democracia USA, a nonprofit organization, is seizing on two recent events and attacking the program with... Read Full Story

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Pittsburgh because it says the city is violating the civil rights of people who want to protest the Group of 20 summit. The ACLU sued Friday in federal court on behalf of six groups who say the city has failed to issue them protest permits. World leaders and representatives of the European Union will meet in Pittsburgh on Sept. 24-25 to discuss the global economic crisis. Thousands of protesters follow such summits to oppose policies they say harm... Read Full Story

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on Thursday voiced concern over the Pentagon and CIA's refusal to provide information on detainees at Bagram airbase, sometimes called the Afghan Guantanamo. The ACLU said in a statement it was seeking the names and nationalities of about 600 current detainees at Bagram, just north of Kabul. Additionally, the civil rights organization said it wants to know how many detainees there are, where they are detained and other essential facts. "There are... Read Full Story