Conference Eve!

We’re made it to what we’re dubbing “conference eve” here at the office. Tomorrow is the big day – and we’ve got “Sunlight On Surveillance” on the brain.

This week, we were focused hard on getting ready for our workshops (see yesterday’s post for a preview), though there’s been plenty of important civil liberties news.

Our new US Senator, Scott Brown was sworn in. Check out our First Amendment Minute on Brown here.

The President pledged to repeal the military’s anti-LGBT “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, which has recently been in the news, with a hearing earlier this week.

The Super Bowl is coming right up, and there’s a real free speech debate going on regarding some controversial ads slated to air during the game. Read the national ACLU’s take here.

We also have a fresh batch of five new First Amendment Minute episodes up for you. We hope to see you tomorrow at UMass Boston (remember, you can register at the door!), and we wish you a safe and free weekend no matter how you choose to spend it!

Listen to our latest episodes here, or on our Podcast Page!

2.5.10


ACLU First Amendment Minute: Howard Zinn


A true American Hero, Howard Zinn, has died. But how can someone who is known as a radical, as Zinn was, also be known as an American Hero?



ACLU First Amendment Minute: Close Guantanamo


In late January 2009, President Obama pledged to close the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within one year. That year has come and gone.



ACLU First Amendment Minute: The FBI and Your Phone Records


An FBI agent who wants to surveil and inspect telephone records doesn't go to court to get a warrant and doesn't have probable cause or even reasonable suspicion to conduct the surveillance. The FBI agent doesn't get the telephone records, does he?



ACLU First Amendment Minute: Tariq Ramadan


You may recall the story about Tariq Ramadan, the Muslim scholar prevented from taking his job as a professor at Notre Dame by the Bush Administration in 2004. This story has a new conclusion.



ACLU First Amendment Minute: The Highest Court in Texas


The presiding justice of the highest criminal court in Texas refused to keep the courhouse open late in order to receive a request for a stay of execution to which an inmate on death row was entitled. The result of the ethics complaint is what?