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American Civil Liberties Union
Sorting out U.S. visas for crime victims
As a society, we want people to report crimes and help bring criminals to justice. Without the cooperation of victims, the criminal justice system doesn't work very well. One particular problem for police and prosecutors is that people living in the country illegally are often hesitant to come forward after a crime for fear they will be deported if they cooperate with the authorities. That's why Congress passed the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Prevention Act in 2000. That law created a category of U-visas for unauthorized immigrants who have suffered substantial mental or physical abuse as a result of a violent or serious criminal act in the United States, and who...
Related "American Civil Liberties Union" Articles
Sorting out U.S. visas for crime victims
As a society, we want people to report crimes and help bring criminals to justice. Without the cooperation of victims, the criminal justice system doesn't work very well. One particular problem for police and prosecutors is that people living in the...
Obama's renewed push to close Guantanamo prison is seen as promising
President Obama has recharged his campaign for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center with a strategy legal experts say holds out new hope of achieving that signature objective of his presidency.
After years of being thwarted by Congress from...
Al Bendich, lawyer who defended Allen Ginsberg's 'Howl,' dies at 85
In a San Francisco courthouse in 1957, a poem went on trial. It was Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," the incantatory, profanity-laced paean to self-expression that became the centerpiece of one of the most important obscenity cases of the last century....
Judge says Michigan must recognize 300 same-sex marriages
A federal judge ruled Thursday that Michigan must validate nearly 300 same-sex marriages, although the decision will not take effect until next month and could be appealed by the state.
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ruled that the state must...
Women to participate for first time in Army Ranger course
About 60 women will be allowed to take the next Army Ranger course assessment, giving female soldiers their first opportunity in the all-male area of special operations forces — even though they will not become members of the regiment and will not serve...
Men's Central Jail should be demolished. But what should replace it?
"Can we get some better light in here?" asks a man sitting on his bunk in a cell at Los Angeles County's Men's Central Jail. He has given up trying to make out the words in a paperback book and directs his question to Assistant Sheriff Terri...
Ferguson grand juror sues prosecutor for right to speak about case
A member of the grand jury that declined to indict white Ferguson, Mo., Police Officer Darren Wilson in the killing of an unarmed black man filed a federal lawsuit Monday against the prosecutor handling the case, saying the public has been misled about...
Supreme Court faced gay rights decision in 1958 over 'obscene' magazine
The road to gay rights at the U.S. Supreme Court began not in San Francisco or New York, but in a small downtown Los Angeles office, where volunteer writers and editors in 1953 launched a new "magazine for homosexuals."
ONE, as it was called,...
Two years in prison is plenty for Bob McDonnell
Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell was sentenced to two years in prison on Tuesday, a sentence much more lenient than the 10-plus years prosecutors had requested and a fraction of the 78- to 98-month sentence suggested by federal guidelines.
The sentence...
Border drones are ineffective, badly managed, too expensive, official says
Drones patrolling the U.S. border are poorly managed and ineffective at stopping illegal immigration, and the government should abandon a $400-million plan to expand their use, according to an internal watchdog report released Tuesday.
The 8-year-old...
Federal judge orders veterans agency to stop Westside construction
A federal judge on Thursday ordered the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to stop building on its West Los Angeles campus, ruling that officials had acted "in excess of their authority" by authorizing construction of an amphitheater on the...
North Carolina abortion law struck down by federal appeals court
A federal appeals court Monday ruled that a North Carolina abortion law requiring doctors to perform ultrasounds and describe sonogram images to women is unconstitutional because it violates free speech rights.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in...
L.A. will buy 7,000 body cameras for police officers
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Tuesday that the city would purchase 7,000 body cameras for police officers in an effort to increase transparency.
Body cameras for officers have become a major issue in the wake of the shooting of unarmed black...
Have a full and open debate on rules for LAPD body cameras
The Los Angeles Police Department has committed to outfitting all officers on patrol with body cameras starting next year. The effort was launched last year by Police Commission President Steve Soboroff, but it gained momentum after deadly encounters...
Arizona 'Dreamers' happy but wary of Supreme Court ruling on licenses
For now, Carla Chavarria plans to keep taking the bus. And Julio Zuniga will remain cautious every time he drives past a police car.
Although the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that Arizona must offer driver’s licenses to young immigrants who entered...
Ferguson-area school district strips power from black voters, ACLU says
The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against a school district that serves Ferguson, Mo., alleging that the district disenfranchises black voters.
The lawsuit, filed in conjunction with the Missouri NAACP, comes after...
In Ferguson's shadow, two lawsuits focus on inequalities
The St. Louis area first faced outrage in the streets after the police shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown. Now, discontent has moved to the courts — and the issues have little to do with the police use of force.
A pair of lawsuits filed in...
'Dreamer' immigrants in Arizona get driver's licenses after legal fight
Sunrise was still hours away when Ramon Maldonado showed up at an Arizona Department of Transportation office Monday hoping to get a driver’s license.
After waiting 2 1/2 years for permission to take the exam, Maldonado wasn’t about to wait a minute...
State appeals court overturns ban on LAPD's vehicle impound policy
A state appeals court panel Friday overturned a ban on the Los Angeles Police Department's controversial vehicle impound policy that restricts when officers can seize the cars of unlicensed drivers.
The three-judge panel from California's second...
A trial balloon on cruise missile defense
When the weather's good, a strange speck will be visible on the Baltimore skyline: a giant balloon the Army is floating to scan for cruise missiles.
The balloon — technically an aerostat — took to the air Saturday morning. Two will be floated...
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