ACLU ONLINE NEWSLETTER 21MAI10

Tell Attorney General Holder to Keep His Hands Off the Miranda Rule Arizona: We're Going to Court Request For Amazon User Records Unconstitutional Texas School Board Puts on a Show Potty-Mouths: Steer Clear of Pennsylvania Defending Twitter Users' Privacy Potty-Mouths: Steer Clear of Pennsylvania If you have a potty-mouth, stay away from the Keystone State. A recent ACLU of Pennsylvania Right to Know Law request revealed that in a one-year period, the Pennsylvania State Police issued over 770 disorderly conduct citations for profanity or profane gestures. That's two citations a day—citations which are illegal—as the courts have made it very clear that profanity, unlike obscenity, is constitutionally-protected speech. On Wednesday, the ACLU of Pennsylvania filed two lawsuits against the Pennsylvania State Police and the Mahanoy City Police of Schuylkill County for issuing disorderly conduct citations to two Pennsylvania residents for using profanity. Our lawsuits argue that profanity and profane gestures are constitutionally-protected speech. While many people find this case understandably humorous, the consequences of these citations are not so funny. In one case, our client called a passing motorcyclist she knew an "asshole" after he deliberately swerved as if to hit her and shouted an insult at her. That same day, she reported the incident to the state police, who proceeded to mail her a disorderly conduct citation for swearing. The citation noted that she could face as much as a 90-day jail sentence and a fine up to $300. She was eventually found not guilty—after hiring a lawyer to defend her. In the months leading up to her hearing, our client, a mother of three young children, constantly worried that she might be separated from her family because of the citation. Unfortunately, the zeal for citing people for profanity isn't limited to the state police. In the past few years, the ACLU of Pennsylvania has successfully defended about a dozen individuals against similar charges—most recently including a Scranton woman, Dawn Herb, who swore at her clogged toilet in her home and a Pittsburgh man, David Hackbart, who flipped off a police officer in a dispute over a parking space. Is it poor manners to swear like a sailor? Definitely. Is it a crime? Definitely not. back to top Defending Twitter Users' Privacy The ACLU of Pennsylvania announced that it will represent two people who anonymously criticized State Attorney General Tom Corbett on Twitter. (As of Tuesday's primary, Corbett is also the GOP candidate for governor.) Corbett's office has asked a grand jury to issue a subpoena to Twitter demanding the company reveal the identities of Twitter users @bfbarbie and @CasaBlancaPA. Twitter told the ACLU of Pennsylvania that it has not disclosed either user's identity. Timothy Yip, Twitter's legal counsel, told TechCrunch: "We protect and do not disclose user information except in limited circumstances. We notify a user, if we believe we are allowed to by law, when we receive any request for their information that we may be required to comply with. This policy is designed for maximum transparency and gives users an opportunity to object." The ACLU has entered discussions with Corbett's office, asking them to withdraw the subpoenas. If the attorney general's office refuses, the ACLU expects to file a motion to quash the subpoenas. Using a grand jury to reveal the identities of political critics is "unconstitutional retaliation that violates the First Amendment," said Witold "Vic" Walczak, legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania. back to top Do you know somebody who would be interested in getting news about the ACLU and what we're doing to protect civil liberties? Help us spread the word about ACLU Online — forward this newsletter to a friend.

May 21, 2010 Tell Attorney General Holder to Keep His Hands Off the Miranda Rule In the wake of the attempted bombing in Times Square in May 2010—as after other terrorism attempts—there have been misguided calls to weaken our constitutional rights, including a call to loosen the Miranda rule. Last week, Attorney General Eric Holder told the House Judiciary Committee that the administration wants to "modernize" and "clarify" Miranda warnings for terrorism suspects. Miranda warnings—ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court to be a constitutional right—are used to inform suspects of their rights during interrogation. There is no evidence that the Miranda requirement has obstructed the government from obtaining valuable information and intelligence from suspected terrorists. Both Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was caught on a Detroit-bound plane with explosives in his underwear, and Faisal Shahzad, arrested for trying to bomb Times Square with a car full of explosives, were caught, questioned, and Mirandized. Crucially, both cooperated with law enforcement authorities both before and after they were read their Miranda rights. The ACLU thinks changes to Miranda are both threatening to our criminal justice system and entirely unnecessary. This week, we sent a letter to Holder asking him to leave Miranda alone. And we're not the only ones who think this is a bad idea; three former FBI agents also sent a letter to Holder, writing: "As professional interrogators who have spent decades questioning accused criminals—including spies and terrorists—we are writing to make clear that interrogators can do their job using the existing Miranda rules. No changes are necessary. In fact, changes might do more harm than good." >> Take action: Send a message to Attorney General Holder. Tell him to keep his hands off the Miranda rule! back to top Arizona: We're Going to Court Stop the racial profiling law today -- join the fight and get a free bumper sticker. A lot of people are outraged about Arizona's new racial profiling, "show me your papers" law. This week, the ACLU went to federal court to block this discriminatory law from taking effect. Racial profiling is a deeply-offensive affront to the American values of justice and fairness. And using race to demand that people produce "papers" to prove who they are is a police-state tactic that is completely unacceptable in America. If we don't stop this law now, similar ones could spread across the nation. Already, state lawmakers in at least 10 other states have promised to bring similar bills to their legislatures. That's why we're taking Arizona to court, along with our partners the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the National Immigration Law Center, and a number of other civil rights groups. Can we count you in to fight with us as we take on this dangerous law? Under the new law, Arizona police will be required to ask people they stop for their citizenship papers based on "reasonable suspicion" that they are in the country unlawfully. And by leaving "reasonable suspicion" undefined, the law leaves police officers little choice but to act on appearance and language, inviting a new wave of rampant racial profiling. This week, our lawyers took the first legal step to stop this law. And we'll be organizing on the ground in Arizona, training volunteer lawyers to help people defend themselves against racial profiling. We won't stand by while this law transforms Arizona into a place where anyone can be forced to "show papers" when they are stopped by police just because of how they look or talk or dress. >> Stop the racial profiling law today -- join the fight and get a free bumper sticker. back to top Request For Amazon User Records Unconstitutional Last month, Amazon.com brought a lawsuit against the State of North Carolina's Department of Revenue (DOR) for demanding the private records of its customers. The Revenue Department has demanded that Amazon hand over individually-identifiable information that could be linked to specific purchases made on the site. Amazon has already provided the DOR with product codes that reveal the exact items purchased—including books on the subjects of mental health, alcoholism and LGBT issues. Amazon has withheld individually-identifiable user information—including names and addresses that could be linked back to the individual purchases—but asserts that the NCDOR continues to insist that such information be disclosed. This week, we sent a letter to North Carolina Secretary of Revenue Kenneth Lay expressing our concern about these unreasonable demands. If the Revenue Department doesn't back away from its demand for the personal information of Amazon customers living in North Carolina, we will join Amazon's lawsuit to stop the DOR from collecting individually-identifiable information that could link specific purchases made on Amazon. The ACLU's problem with this demand for personal information is that it's a violation of North Carolinians' First Amendment right to purchase and read lawful materials of their choice. You should be able to make purchases freely without the government looking over your shoulder. >> Take action: Tell Congress to pass legislation that requires law enforcement to get a warrant before it demands sensitive electronic information, including book records. back to top Texas School Board Puts on a Show By Terri Burke, Executive Director, ACLU of Texas There was a time when many of us thought the cheapest, best live theater in Texas was in the Pink Granite building at the end of Congress Avenue in Austin. No more. It's the State Board of Education. If you're not attending—or at least watching— its hearings on the proposed new social studies curriculum standards, you must already be vacationing in the mountains of Colorado with no internet. The highlight—or should I say lowlight—of Wednesday's 13+ hours of public testimony (I got to speak in hour 12.) was the speaker who told us that Texas history curriculum should teach "that slavery was created by fallen angels." Chairwoman Gail Lowe didn't reprimand the speaker as she had earlier complained about T-shirts worn by a group of students. The fronts of the T-shirts were innocuous enough—"Save our History"—but the wording on the backs offended the Chairwoman: "Students for a smarter state board of education now." Out of the 206 registered speakers, my rough count showed a good 60 percent spoke against the proposed standards or asked the Board to delay the vote to revise them. And that doesn't count the legislators and players from the national stage who showed up. Bush-era Education Secretary and former Houston school superintendent Rod Paige told the board early Wednesday morning: "What students are taught should not be the handmaiden of political ideology." They heard, too, from Benjamin Todd Jealous, the national president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), who said that children need to learn the "whole truth, not half truths." He said the standards threaten students' ability to compete on advanced placement tests and SATs. The room had thinned-out dramatically at 9:45 p.m. when finally I was called to speak, and by then, they had changed the rules to strictly limit questioning of speakers. So, I was up and out in the allotted three minutes. I delivered a letter and a copy of our report, "Texas State Board of Education: A Case of Abuse of Power." Part of the timing problem stemmed from the latitude the board granted speakers early in the day. There was an emotional plea for more attention to Davy Crockett, who to my knowledge, is in no danger of being diminished in Texas history texts. Considering this was a discussion of social studies, few of us understood the relevance of a rambling account of a distraught school child who didn't get to sing her favorite song—"Jesus Loves Me"—in her first-grade classroom. Obviously, her teacher had not been educated by the ACLU of Texas about the Constitution's freedom of religious expression clause. We are available to help. The last speaker to really get questioned had come to warn us of the impending Islamic takeover of America—again, not particularly relevant to the issue at hand. When a critic noted the state has few standards for service on the State Board of Education, including no educational requirements for the Commissioner of Education, Board Member David Bradley of Beaumont asked: "So, should the head of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission be a drunk?" My response would have been: "No, but the top educator in our state should be educated." These people have our children's future in their hands. Their final vote is today. back to top Join us on...

American Civil Liberties Union 125 Broad Street, 18th Floor New York, New York 10004-2400 Geraldine Engel and Lisa Sock, Editors

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