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The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Thursday against the Trump administration, alleging that White House officials “unlawfully conspired to violate” protesters’ rights when US security forces forcefully cleared Lafayette Park earlier this week. Police fired smoke bombs and pepper balls at peaceful protesters in order to make way for US President Donald Trump’s walk to a photo-op at a historic church. The lawsuit accuses US Attorney General William Barr and other senior officials of wrongful action, describing the dispersal as a “coordinated and unprovoked charge into the crowd of demonstrators.” “The President’s shameless, unconstitutional, unprovoked and frankly...

The ACLU and its Texas chapter have withdrawn their lawsuit against seven Texas towns that had declared themselves sanctuaries for the unborn and adopted ordinances outlawing abortion within their city limits. In February, the ACLU filed suit in East Texas against the cities of Waskom, Naples, Joaquin, Tenaha, Rusk, Gary, and Wells on behalf of two pro-abortion plaintiffs: the Texas Equal Access Fund and the Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity. Now, three months later, the groups are dropping their suit, and pro-life groups across Texas are claiming it as a victory for the unborn. In a post on their website,...

Five Central American asylum seekers ordered to remain in Mexico by federal authorities will be able to reunite with their families in Massachusetts until their immigration cases are decided, a federal judge in Boston ruled Thursday. . . . American authorities have said the “Remain in Mexico” policy has helped significantly reduce illegal border crossings. Civil rights groups complain it violates constitutional rights.

Many on the left have accused originalism of being nothing but a cover for conservatives’ preferred policy outcomes, but Vermeule’s proposal illustrates how restrained originalists have been. “The Republic” often alarms first-time readers. Not only is Plato’s dialogic style foreign to us, the character of Socrates makes bizarre and even wicked proposals as he outlines a supposed ideal polity, such as a communism not only of property, but also of wives and children. Many readers, including some philosophers, have taken Plato literally and seriously, and therefore condemned him as a proto-totalitarian. Something similar seems to have happened in response to...

For centuries, Americans have taken to the streets when they’ve had grievances to share. We’ve taken to the streets to make our voices heard, to effect change, and to feel and display the power and solidarity of mass gatherings. But with physical distancing and shelter in place orders prevalent throughout the U.S. and the world, how do we responsibly exercise our First Amendment right to protest, which remains as essential as ever? Undoubtedly, there is a medical imperative to keep ourselves and our neighbors safe, and our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. At the same time, public debate about urgent political...

In January, former vice president Joe Biden was right there on the frontlines to call President Trump a racist and a xenophobe for closing off travel to and from China once he learned of the novel coronavirus's origins in Wuhan. A couple months later, and we clearly see how much worse the outbreak in the U.S. could have been had he not given that order. Biden sees it too. That's why he did an about-face and came out in support of Trump's China travel ban a few weeks ago. Then Biden suggested Trump hasn't done enough in holding China accountable....

The American Civil Liberties Union is suing the Commonwealth of Virginia over a law that requires someone to sign the envelope of another person's absentee ballot if that ballot is submitted by mail. Under Virginia law, any voter who submits an absentee ballot by mail must open the envelope containing the ballot in front of another person, fill out the ballot, and then have that other person sign the outside of the ballot envelope before it is mailed back. "In the midst of the pandemic and during a stay-at-home mandate, the witness requirement amounts to an unconstitutional burden on the...

After the service, two police officers entered the church in full mask and gloves and asked to speak with the pastor.CHINCOTEAGUE ISLAND, Virginia, April 9, 2020 (Liberty Counsel) — Police served a summons to the pastor of Lighthouse Fellowship for holding a church service for 16 people spaced far apart in a sanctuary that seats 293. The charge is violating Virginia Governor Northam’s COVID Order 55 with a penalty up to a year in jail and/or a $2,500 fine. Liberty Counsel is representing Pastor Kevin Wilson and Lighthouse Fellowship Church. Last Sunday before the service, a local police officer entered...

Attorney General William Barr expressed concerns in an interview on Wednesday that “draconian” measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus will come at the cost of freedom for the American people. “I’m very concerned about the slippery slope in terms of continuing encroachments on personal liberty,” Barr said. “I do think during the emergency, appropriate, reasonable steps are fine.” Barr said in the Fox interview that the Justice Department will continue to track any actions that “restrict people’s liberty.” The restrictions have not only limited personal freedom, but have also devastated the American economy, with millions of jobs lost...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) requested the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) release prisoners who are vulnerable to coronavirus to prevent an outbreak in federal prisons. The letter, addressed to Attorney General Bill Barr and BOP Director Michael Carvajal called on the agencies to “take immediate action to safeguard” the prisoners, specifically those who are elderly or have chronic health conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has designated these demographics as most susceptible to serious illness or death. The union requested the officials “increase the use of compassionate release” to...

Opponents criticized an Iowa bill that would require schools to notify parents before teaching LGBTQ content to children. Lawmakers introduced the Republican-sponsored House File 2201 in January, a bill that would require schools to annually notify parents about any kind of material that discusses gender or sexual orientation. This would then give parents the opportunity to inspect such material and pull their children out of certain classes. The bill is one of 13 pieces of legislation introduced in the Iowa state Legislature that opponents are calling anti-LGBTQ, CNN reported Friday. Republican Iowa state Rep. Jeff Shipley says that the bill...

Subtitle: The bill sought to block physicians from providing puberty blockers and gender confirmation surgery to transgender children under 16. The South Dakota Legislature on Monday effectively killed House Bill 1057, which sought to block physicians in the state from providing puberty blockers and gender confirmation surgery to transgender children under 16. By a 5-2 vote, the state Senate Health and Human Services Committee sent the bill “to the 41st day,” which means a bill has been effectively killed because the state’s part-time Legislature has only 40 working days. "It's gone," Quinncy Parke, 17, who is transgender and testified against...

At the urging of conservative advocacy groups, Republican legislators in more than a dozen states are promoting bills that focus on transgender young people. One batch of bills would bar doctors from providing them certain gender-related medical treatment; another batch would bar trans students from participating on school sports teams of the gender they identify with. The proposed laws, if enacted, “would bring devastating harms to the transgender community,” said Chase Strangio, a transgender-rights lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. He warned that the medical bans — now pending in Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota...

SAN DIEGO -- A federal judge ruled Monday that the Trump administration is operating within its authority when separating families stopped at the Mexican border, rejecting arguments that it was quietly returning to widespread practices that drew international condemnation. The American Civil Liberties Union argued that the administration was splitting families over dubious allegations and minor transgressions including traffic offenses. It asked the judge in July to rule on whether the government was justified in separating 911 children during the first year after the judge halted the general practice in June 2018.

An American citizen detained overseas by the U.S. military has asked the American Civil Liberties Union to sue the Trump administration for holding him as an enemy combatant. The unidentified man spoke with ACLU attorneys this week and said they could challenge his detention in federal court, the ACLU wrote in a court filing entered Friday. “The Trump administration illegally denied an American his rights to access a lawyer and a court for nearly four months, but those efforts have finally failed,” said ACLU attorney Jonathan Hafetz. “Now that our client has secured the judicial review that the government attempted...

On the one hand, there has never been a better time for people with Down syndrome to be alive; advances in science, education, and medicine means they are living longer, healthier, and more independent lives than ever before. Yet on the other hand, despite this fact, people continue to argue that it’s acceptable to deny someone with Down syndrome his or her right to life — simply because of a disability. Even many of the people whose lives are allegedly dedicated to advocating for those with disabilities seem to think preborn children with Down syndrome should be targets for abortion,...

President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani earlier this week upheld what has become a conservative tradition: attacking billionaire philanthropist George Soros. “Don't tell me I'm anti-Semitic if I oppose him,” Giuliani, a Roman Catholic, said in an interview with New York magazine that quickly went viral. “Soros is hardly a Jew. I'm more of a Jew than Soros is. I probably know more about — he doesn't go to church, he doesn't go to religion — synagogue.” Among those who did tell Giuliani he was, at the least, spreading anti-Semitic propaganda, was Jonathan Greenblatt, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League....

The American Civil Liberties Union already is preparing the paperwork to sue Michigan over legislation to ban brutal dismemberment abortions. The legislation has not become law yet, but pro-life advocates hope that it will soon. On Monday, the Michigan Values Life committee submitted about 380,000 voter signatures to the state on a petition that would allow the pro-life measure to become law, the AP reports. “This is a wonderful Christmas present to the unborn. Michigan values life, and it’s time for an end to these violent late-term dismemberment abortions,” said Right to Life of Michigan President Barbara Listing. The pro-life...

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is calling for men's restrooms to include tampons in order to prevent discrimination against "every person who menstruates." "While free menstrual products are not uniformly provided in women’s restrooms, they are almost never available in men’s restrooms, even for pay," the group said in a statement Tuesday. "Men’s restrooms are also less likely to have a place to dispose of these products conveniently, privately, and hygienically." The left-leaning legal group argued that it wasn't a "full or accurate portrayal" to say that women are the only ones who "menstruate, get pregnant, or breast feed...

WARREN, Ark. (KATV) — Bradley County residents are up-in-arms after they received a letter last week saying the county will no longer display a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn, a tradition that has been around for at least 50 years. more here: bradley-county-courthouse-removes-nativity-scene-citing-letters-from-aclu