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Updated 09.24.08 No matter who
wins the 2008 election, the ACLU will have its work cut out. The steady
erosion of civil liberties -- carried out in the name of the “war
on terror” -- will take years to reverse. Among the most egregious
abuses of power: the mistreatment of military detainees and warrantless
searches.
What’s Happening Nationally
Military Detainees
The House and Senate both voted in October 2006 to allow the
Administration to:
- decide for itself what types of interrogation techniques
constitute “torture,” even when they are prohibited under the Geneva
Convention;
- continue trying “unlawful enemy combatants” before military
tribunals, which the U.S. Supreme Court rejected in June 2006 in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. READ
MORE»
- remove constitutional habeas protections that would allow
detainees to challenge the basis for their detentions in court; and
- permit the continued use of secret evidence and torture-induced
testimony against detainees.
Recently, however, the courts have begun to challenge the legal
rationale behind these abuses. In June 2008, the Supreme Court rejected
a centerpiece of the Bush Administration's crumbling Guantanamo policy
for the third time in four years when it reaffirmed detainees' right to
habeas corpus, enabling them to challenge the basis for their detention.
Read national ACLU Legal Director Steven R. Shapiro's statement
here.
Search and Seizure
In July 2008, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law The FISA Amendments Act of 2008. As a result, the secret warrantless surveillance program approved by President Bush in 2001 is now legalized. The federal government also gained additional spying powers, including the authority to monitor Americans’ overseas calls.
A few days later, the ACLU sued over the new law, representing a wide range of plaintiffs from Amnesty International to
The Nation magazine.
Find more information on this historic lawsuit, including legal documents,
here.
In June 2008, civil liberties and business groups testified at a hearing
before Congress about the Department of Homeland Security's practice of
routinely searching the laptop computers of travelers returning to the
U.S. Investigators at airports may scrutinize private emails, medical
information and financial records that have been stored in a traveler's
laptop, Blackberry or iPhone. Read comments on the ACLU's
blog.
PATRIOT Act
Reauthorized in 2006, the USA PATRIOT Act contains a number of
provisions that impact our due process rights. Read more on the
national ACLU website.
go»
What's Happening in Ohio
ACLU of Ohio Litigation
Warshak v. United States
In March 2005, the federal government began investigating a company
owned by Steven Warshak. The FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service
secured a sealed order under the Stored Communications, Act, enabling
them to secretly search and seize Mr. Warshak's email with the help of
several Internet service providers. Mr. Warshak filed a lawsuit claiming
Fourth Amendment violations.
READ MORE»
Elkins, et. al. v. Bucyrus City School District et. al.
In April 2008, nine Bucyrus Middle School students were subjected to an
illegal strip search by the school in an attempt to find cigarettes. The
search took place after four of the students were seen across the street
from the school, smoking. The students attempted to hide themselves
among five other students, and all nine of them were then detained by
the school and strip-searched. No cigarettes were found.
On September 17, 2008, the ACLU of Ohio filed suit challenging the
school district's illegal strip searches of the students. Read the
press
release.
Juvenile Waiver of Appointed Counsel
In October 2007, the Ohio Supreme Court, in a case known as In Re:
Spears, ruled that the waiver of counsel by a juvenile (Spears) was invalid because his rights were not adequately explained to him. The Court affirmed that the appointment of counsel is mandatory in all cases where a juvenile does not have a parent or guardian available for advice, and allows juveniles to waive counsel only if the decision is made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently.
The ACLU of Ohio, along with several coalition partners, filed an amicus brief in this case.
Click here to read the Court’s full decision.
Read more about juveniles’
access to counsel.
Legislation
On June 27, 2008, Governor Strickland signed Senate Bill 17 into law.
This new law requires individuals suspected of DUI to submit to testing
of their bodily fluids, without a warrant, when they’ve been convicted
of DUI at least twice before. The new law went into effect on September
30, 2008. Read our press release
here.
Read
testimony against this legislation delivered to the Ohio
House Criminal Justice Committee by ACLU of Ohio Legal Director
Jeff Gamso.
Resources
December 10, 2008 will mark the 60th anniversary of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
Do you know what to do if you are stopped by the police, taken to a
police station for questioning, arrested, or asked if the police can
enter your home? Read What to Do If You’re
Stopped by the Police
go»
To print a version for distribution
click here.
Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift, who represented a Guantanamo Bay
detainee in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld,
spoke at a Cleveland ACLU gathering on Oct. 8, 2006. To learn more about
Lt Comm. Swift and his work to bring justice to those detained by the
government, click on the links below.
Justice for Guantanamo
Ed Likover Memorial Lecture, Cleveland, October 8, 2006 - MP4 video file
The Cost of Doing Your Duty
New York Times, October 11, 2006
Detainees' Military Lawyer Forced Out of Service
National Public Radio, October 12, 2006
Students! Know Your Rights
Use this guide in conjunction with your school's handbook.
go»
Read “Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth
of an American Surveillance Society” explaining how our
activities are increasingly being tracked and recorded.
go»
Visit the
national ACLU’s web page on criminal justice.
Read Search & Seizure/Due Process related press releases and news articles in our
News Center.
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