Latest From ACLU of Washington

The latest content and updates from the ACLU of Washington website.

Drug Abatement at Oscar's II Restaurant Overturned

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
One of the most insidious features of the War on Drugs has been government seizures and closures of the property of people who are not involved in illegal activities. The Washington Court of Appeals dealt these practices a setback when it ruled in April, 2000 that the state’s drug nuisance abatement law was unconstitutional as applied to Oscar's II, a Seattle nightclub.
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Judge's Misconduct Highlights Problems in State's Judicial System

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
ACLU Brief Says Judge's Misconduct Highlights Problems in State's Judicial System: "Freedoms are threatened when judges ignore them."
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Hotel Searches: Privacy Checked at Front Desk

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
The ACLU is trying to put the kibosh on warrantless police searches of hotel registries. Suspicionless searches strike at people’s right to travel freely and violate protections against unreasonable governmental intrusion into one’s private affairs.
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ACLU Conference: Bruce Schneier's Keynote Speech on Seattle Channel

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
Watch video of security expert Bruce Schneier speaking about security and the war on terror.
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State Supreme Court Overturns Law Regulating Candidates' Speech

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
For the second time, Washington's high court invalidated a law that empowered the government to regulate what is said during political campaigns.
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State Supreme Court Rules on Case Involving Exceptions to Warrant Requirement for Searches of Homes

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
Washington Supreme Court found (in State v. Smith) that "exigent circumstances" existed when police searched a home without a warrant and therefore the search was valid.
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ACLU, Public Citizen File Lawsuit Backing Free Speech Rights of Candidate for Union Office

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
Seeking to uphold union democracy, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and Public Citizen today filed a lawsuit backing the free speech rights of a union member running for office. The suit was filed on behalf of Joseph Hughes to secure his right to speak with fellow members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
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Citizens Oppose Censoring Internet in Libraries

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
ACLU-WA 1999-2000 Annual Report Cyberspace is the latest frontier for battles over censorship. Around the state, right-wing groups are demanding that public libraries install filters to "protect" people from sexually explicit materials on the Internet.
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Appeals Court Halts Student Urine Testing

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
In a precedent-setting case, the Washington Court of Appeals has temporarily put a halt to Wahkiakum School District’s program of suspicionless urine testing for student athletes.
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Cities Cut Back on Pre-employment Drug Testing

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
City governments around the state are rethinking their urine-testing policies in the wake of the ACLU's success in curbing Seattle's suspicionless urine-testing program.
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Unreal Law: A National ID Card

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
The ACLU opposes the REAL ID Act, which will lead to a de facto national identity card, and threaten the privacy of personal information.
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Government Should Not Spy on Peaceful Groups

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
Statement by ACLU-WA Executive Director Kathleen Taylor on government surveillance of local activists.
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Photographer Obtains Compensation for Wrongful Arrest

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
An amateur photographer has obtained compensation from the city of Seattle after he was arrested simply for taking photos of police making an arrest.
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De Facto Parents: Parenthood Status Should Depend on Relationship Between Parent and Child

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
On February 9, the ACLU of Washington filed a friend of the court brief with the Washington Supreme Court to protect the rights of people who seek to be legally designated as de facto parents.
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Yakima Student Receives ACLU Scholarship

News Release, Published: 
Friday, November 20, 2009
Trevor Gilmore, a senior at A.C. Davis High School in Yakima, has been selected to receive one of ten National ACLU Youth Activist Scholarship Awards. For his work in starting the first Gay-Straight Alliance in Yakima, he is receiving a $4,000 college scholarship as part of a national ACLU program that recognizes youth who do exemplary work for civil liberties.
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