Join the ACLU of Ohio, members of the Occupy Movement, and constitutional and criminal defense attorneys in a discussion about movement-building and the First Amendment.

Join the ACLU of Ohio for a program featuring Dr. Ronnie Dunn and Commander James Copeland to discuss building safe communities and ensuring police accountability.

Join Tim Young, director, Office of the Ohio Public Defender, for a discussion of how we can help build a better criminal justice system.

Join the ACLU of Ohio and Karamu House for Word Warriors: Banned Brilliance of African American Authors, as community leaders read with passion from select works by these treasured African American intellectuals and writers.

Banned Brilliance is part of Banned Books Week, the celebration of the freedom to read, which was launched in response to a surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries.

Join Maria Smith, Housing Unit supervising attorney, Legal Aid Society of Cleveland, to examine barriers to subsidized housing and the progress being made to give individuals more access.

This is the fifth and final presentation in the 2011 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Join Jill Beeler, chief counsel, Juvenile Division, Office of the Public Defender, to discuss the challenges youth experience in the judicial system, especially when they do not have resources.

This is the fourth presentation in the 2011 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Join Dr. Morris Jenkins, chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Social Work at the University of Toledo, for a discussion of the “school to prison pipeline”, the national trend to funnel students out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

This is the third presentation in the 2011 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Join Carrie Davis, ACLU of Ohio staff attorney, to prepare for the next election and ensure your vote counts.

This is the second presentation in the 2011 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Join Tim Young, director, Office of the Ohio Public Defender, to examine Ohio’s indigent defense system and the barriers the financially disadvantaged encounter.

This is the first presentation in the 2011 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Click here to view the corresponding PowerPoint slideshow.

State legislators are considering a proposal to privatize and sell up to six Ohio prisons. While private prison operators promise states cost savings, various studies have called into question whether privatization saves any money at all. In addition, research has shown private prisons have higher incidences of assault, resist transparency and accountability, increase recidivism, and avoid paying taxes to local communities.

Join the ACLU of Ohio for a press conference introducing their new report, Prisons for Profit: A Look at Prison Privatization, outlining Ohio’s troubled history with private prisons.

Secrecy abounds in the world of national security, and ambiguous lines of authority make ensuring accountability difficult. However, with the increased use of fusion centers, massive data mining operations, and other programs one thing is clear – our government has its eyes on us.

The ACLU of Ohio and the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio) are sponsoring this brown bag lecture.

A sixteen-year veteran of federal law enforcement, German served as a special agent with the FBI, where he specialized in domestic terrorism and covert operations. German left the FBI in 2004 as a whistleblower regarding counterterrorism operations.

A professor of law and religion since 2001, Jay Wexler worked at the Department of Justice in the Office of Legal Counsel for two years. His book Holy Hullabaloos is a humorous travelogue in the tradition of Sarah Vowell’s Assassination Vacation that explains the basics of church-state law.

American society ignores the incarceration system, refusing to acknowledge, confront or address problems that lead to the disproportional representation of African Americans in prisons. We are so reluctant to address incarceration issues that we ban books that talk about race and incarceration, particularly those written by African Americans, from library shelves, bookstores and classrooms.

The ACLU of Ohio, the King Arts Complex, and the OSU Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center will reveal the cracks in the criminal justice system with Books Behind Bars: Banned Brilliance of African American Authors. This program weaves together facts about Ohio’s justice system with readings from banned literary works which discuss incarceration.

Join the ACLU of Ohio and Karamu House for selected readings from banned and challenged works that provide cultural commentary on incarceration.

Readers include:

• Prisscilla Cooper, CEO & president, Family Connection Center
• Mansfield Frazier, reentry advocate and writer
• Basheer Jones, community activist, poet, and radio personality, WERE
• Dontavius Jarrells, youth activist
• Peter Lawson Jones, Cuyahoga County Commissioner
• Dr. Rhonda Williams, director, Social Justice Institute, Case Western Reserve University
• Mexie Wilson, hip hop activist
• Mittie Imani Jordan, President of Restoration Fource, Inc. and Deuteronomy 8:3

State Senator Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) and Senator Nina Turner (D-Cleveland) joined the ACLU of Ohio at a press conference announcing the release of the “Reform Cannot Wait” report.

Join Hasan Kwame Jeffries, assistant professor of history at The Ohio State University and the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, will discuss the evolution of the civil rights movement and activism today.

This is the sixth in the 2010 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Prof. Jeffries’ new book, Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt, will be for sale at the event.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

Documents:
Outline of Cases Affecting Privacy, Technology, and Free Speech of Youth, Federle
Search and Seizure of Cell Phones and Other Digital Storage Devices, Jaquith

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This workshop podcast has been edited to remove non-recordable audio from role-playing exercises presented during the session.

Documents:
Advocating for Issues You Care About, Kunstel
Steps for Advocating, Kunstel
Winning a Civil Liberties Argument, Kunstel

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

Documents:
Summary of Kevin Keith v. the State of Ohio, Prude-Smithers

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

Documents:
Facts and Implications of Mapp v. Ohio
Facts and Implications of National Socialist Party of America v. Village of Skokie
Facts and Implications of Tinker v. Des Moines, Iowa Independent Community School District

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

Documents:
Entry Denied Toolkit– The tools you need to host your event
Denied: Case Profile for Professor Adam Habib
Denied: Case Profile for Professor Tariq Ramadan

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

Documents:
Facts and Implications of Tinker v. Des Moines

This session was offered as part of ACTION! A Conference for Civil Libertarians held July 30-31, 2010 in Columbus. Find conference highlights here.

Join Veronica Dahlberg, executive director of HOLA, a grassroots community-based Latino organization, for a conversation about the immigration challenges we are facing as a community and suggestions for effective reform.

This is the fifth in the 2010 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Join Julia Shearson, executive director for the Cleveland chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Cleveland), for a discussion of religious profiling, national security, and religious freedom.

This is the fourth in the 2010 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Join Frank Hickman, principal of Hickman & Lowder Co., L.P.A., as he addresses the rights of persons with mental and physical disabilities.

This is the third in the 2010 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

Join us for a discussion of the homeless community’s fight for equality with Brian Davis, executive director of the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless and advocate for the estimated 26,000 homeless in the Cleveland area.

This is the second in the 2010 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

As the director of the Black Studies Program, Dr. Michael Williams is tasked with ensuring that the Cleveland State University community and the Greater Cleveland community with opportunities to acquire a greater knowledge and appreciation of the history, life and all aspects of the arts, culture and experiences of peoples of African descent through educational programming, Images radio show, and the Howard A. Mims Cultural Center.

This is the first in the 2010 Brown Bag Lecture Series. View the entire series here.

This presentation was part of the 2010 Northwest Chapter of the ACLU of Ohio Annual Dinner honoring Dr. Trudy Bond, psychologist and political activist, and features advocate and juvenile justice expert C. Antoinette Clarke, professor of law, Claude W. Pettit College of Law, Ohio Northern University.

Panelists include Pablo Banhos, whose thesis contrasts authoritarian and democratic regimes in Brazil; Shakyra Diaz, ACLU of Ohio education director; Dr. Joyce Dunbar, visiting scholar at Central State University

Panelists include Stephen JohnsonGrove, Ohio Justice and Policy Center staff attorney; Mark Godsey, faculty director of the University of Cincinnati College of Law Ohio Innocence Project; Gary Daniels, associate director of the ACLU of Ohio.

Panelists for this discussion include Terry Collins, former director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections; Shakyra Diaz, education director for the ACLU of Ohio, and Edward Little, criminal justice consultant.

Join Christine Link, ACLU of Ohio executive director, Carrie Davis, ACLU of Ohio staff attorney, and Mike Brickner, ACLU of Ohio communications director to learn what constitutes an open meeting, how to submit a records request, and what you can do to ensure open government during the reform process in Cuyahoga County.

Join the ACLU of Ohio for an interactive discussion with panelists Gail Long, social worker and community activist; Alexandria Ruden, attorney, Legal Aid Society of Greater Cleveland; Jill Shankar, attorney, Cleveland ACLU Board Member; and Lisa Smith, M. Ed., associate director, Community Re-Entry, Inc.

Panelists David Singleton, Mark Godsey, and Gary Daniels discuss current efforts for legislative reform that will reduce the costs of prisons while encouraging rehabilitation of offenders.

This event, held that the Cincinnati Urban League, was co-sponsored by the ACLU of Ohio, the Ohio Innocence Project, and the Ohio Justice and Policy Center.

The symposium features lawyers and other activists who have advocated successfully on behalf of their LGBT clients and constituents to change the laws governing marriage and domestic partnerships, parental rights, and non-discrimination in employment, housing and related areas.

An audio podcast of the event is not available. However, you can watch the video from Cleveland-Marshall College of Law here.

View additional resources on LGBT issues.

This symposium is presented by Cleveland State University’s Cleveland Marshall College of Law, CSU’s Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, CSU’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Services, the ACLU of Ohio, and the CM allies.

Generous support also provided by the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the American Constitution Society and the CM Student Chapter, Cleveland State Law Review, Cleveland-Marshall Law Library, Black Students Law Association (BLSA), Women’s Law Students Association (WLSA), Student Bar Association (SBA), Democratic Law Organization (DLO), and Hispanic Law Students Association (HLSA).

James Sample, associate professor of law, Hofstra University School of Law, speaks on the increasing influence of corporate donations to judicial elections, often from key stakeholders before the courts.

Participants include:

• Dr. Valerie Lee, professor and former chair of English at the Ohio State University (OSU), emcee
• Rev. Dr. Charles Booth, senior pastor at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, reading from the Autobiography of Malcom X, as told to Alex Haley
• Rep. Tracy Maxwell Heard, state representative of the 26th District, reading from Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
• Charity Martin-Via, president of Urban Spirit, reading fro Push, by Sapphire
• Dr. Viola Newton, senior lecturer of OSU Dept. of African American and African Studies, reading from A Lesson Before Dying, by Ernest J. Gaines
• Council Member Charleta Tavares, member of Columbus City Council and executive director of Competence, reading from Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
• William Evans, poet, writer, and 2007 Columbus Black Pearl Grand Slam Champ, reading from Black Boy, by Richard Wright

This event was sponsored by the ACLU of Ohio and the Ohio State University Department of African American and African Studies Community Extension Center. In partnership with Columbus Branch of the NAACP, King Arts Complex, The Book Suite and Urban Spirit.

Learn more about youth rights with regards to technology.

View “Tips to Prevent Sexting,” the accompanying handout provided by Ms. Clarke here.

The PowerPoint presentation that was provided by Ms. Hunnicutt can be found here.

Listen to the audio podcast from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law here.

In 2000, the ACLU challenged the Child Online Protection Act (COPA), a piece of legislation making it illegal to distribute content on the Internet acknowledged as protected speech for adults but deemed “harmful to minors” (including the above stated web content.) If implemented, it would have imposed harsh criminal sanctions, like huge fines and prison time.

In January 2009, the United States Supreme Court announced that it will not hear the government’s appeal of COPA, officially ending the ten year legal battle.

Chris Hansen, senior national staff counsel at the ACLU, shares his experience challenging COPA and other internet censorship efforts. The event was held at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law.

An audio podcast of the event is not available. However, you can watch the video from CWRU School of Law here.

•Jason Johnson, political science professor, Hiram College
•Christine Link, executive director, ACLU of Ohio
•Lynn Tramonte, policy director, America’s Voice

•Mark Brown, Capital University constitutional law professor
•Amy White, philosophy professor and author of Virtually Obscene: The Case for an Uncensored Internet
•Weslee Pullen, Transitions program director for the Columbus Urban League

This webcast is presented to you courtesy of Cuyahoga Community College and Smart TV.

Panelists for this interactive discussion are:

•Amy Hanauer, founding executive director, Policy Matters Ohio
•Gail Long, community activist
•Dr. Rhonda Y. Williams, professor of history, Case Western Reserve University
•Mexie Wilson, hip hop activist

This event is part of the 2008 Brown Bag Lecture Series.

This event is part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series.

This event is part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series.

This event is part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series.

This event is part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series.

The PowerPoint show is available for download here.

This event is part of the Brown Bag Lecture Series.

The PowerPoint show is available for download here.

Professor Huhn’s presentation relies heavily on source material which may be viewed and printed here.

The freedom of inquiry by students and faculty is essential to many of the freedoms granted under the first amendment. When the free flow of ideas is stymied – when thought is controlled – we begin to lose control over all other aspects of our lives.

Panelists include Louise Melling, Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, Jaime Miracle, Outreach and Field Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Ohio, and an anonymous medical director of a local abortion provider.

Michael Ruff, E CITY’s new Director of Growth & Program Expansion, is determined to make E CITY a household word. Most recently he worked on behalf of Cuyahoga Community College’s Metro Campus, speaking to Cleveland high school students about the importance and accessibility of a college education.

Judith Greene is a criminal justice policy analyst and a founding partner in Justice Strategies. She is currently a research consultant for the Brennan Center for Justice, the Drug Policy Alliance, and the Mississippi ACLU.

In recent months, the debate over immigration has become heated both nationally and locally. As a result, law enforcement and local officials have increased their attention on immigrants, in some cases adopting policies that encourage racial profiling. This has led many people in communities of color, not just immigrants, to fear interacting with or utilizing local institutions such as law enforcement, hospitals, schools and other social services.

Real ID requires all states to adopt a national identification system for driver’s licenses and requires that personal information of all Americans be stored in a massive database. The law provides no protections for the data and does not even require that the personal information be encrypted to protect it from identity thieves. Estimated costs of the program exceed $23 billion for just the first few years, with the state and federal government passing the cost on to taxpayers.

Ethan Nadelmann is the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the leading organization in the United States promoting sensible alternatives to America’s ineffective and costly war on drugs. Nadelmann will address the racially discriminatory drug policies and selective enforcement tactics that have transformed the war on drugs into a war on minorities.

Advocates insist that Real ID is an essential tool to fight the war on terror, but critics say it is an overly intrusive measure that raises privacy concerns. Raneta Lawson Mack, professor of law at Creighton University, will explore the Real ID Act of 2005 and the effect that it will have on all Ohioans.

This webcast is presented to you courtesy of WVIZ/Ideastream and Ohio Government Telecommunications.

Real ID requires all states to adopt a national identification system for driver’s licenses and requires that personal information of all Americans be stored in a massive database while providing no protections for the data. Estimated costs of the program exceed $23 billion for just the first few years, with the state and federal government passing the cost on to taxpayers.

This event was cosponsored by the ACLU of Ohio and the Coretta Scott King Center

This webcast is presented to you courtesy of The Village Television.