|
|
In honor of both Black History Month and Valentine's Day, we're revisiting a conversation this week with Melissa Murray, NYU Law professor and leading expert on the legal regulation of sex and sexuality. She's also the author of numerous articles, including "Marriage as Punishment." The conversation covers the legal institution of marriage as it has been used by and against marginalized people, and considers the victories and setbacks in the fight for marriage – and nonmarriage – equality. Listen here → |
By ACLU Staff
February 13, 2020
|
| |
| FACE SCANS ON EVERY STREET CORNER |
|
|
The Department of Homeland Security has a scary vision for expanding face recognition surveillance in our everyday lives, threatening a dystopian future in which the technology is used throughout public spaces like airports to monitor our every movement. There is ample reason to be alarmed. Face recognition technology is riddled with bias and inaccuracies, and CBP's program will likely result in harms ranging from missed flights to lengthy interrogations, or worse. Here in the United States, DHS has already laid out – and begun implementing – a very clear plan to expand face surveillance. If allowed to move forward, there are all too many ways the DHS plan will lead us down a dangerous path. Read more → |
By Jay Stanley
February 6, 2020
|
|
|
The Trump administration has spent the last three years waging an unrelenting, targeted campaign against reproductive freedom, and while the administration does not appear to be losing steam, we aren't either. We filed a lawsuit this week challenging a new rule that would push abortion further out of reach for millions of people by coercing insurance companies to drop abortion coverage from individual insurance plans. Under the rule, companies that sell plans in the Affordable Care Act individual marketplaces would be required to separately bill – and instruct customers to separately pay – for coverage of abortion services. It's just another attempt by the Trump Administration to drive up costs and prevent people from obtaining abortion care. Read more → |
By Meagan Burrows
February 11, 2020
|
| |
| PUSHING CANDIDATES IN IOWA |
|
|
In Iowa, voters overwhelmingly supported candidates who made commitments to our Rights for All policies. Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren finished as the top three in Iowa, and all have committed to cutting federal incarceration levels by 50 percent, minimizing the use of deadly force by police, and ending the use of ICE detainers. For the first time, the ACLU invested in grassroots organizing in early states by asking candidates to commit to civil liberties. Over 1,000 volunteers were able to make real progress on moving presidential candidates and keeping civil liberties top of mind. As we look toward Nevada and South Carolina, we will continue to educate voters until the moment they head to the polls. Read more → |
By Ronald Newman and Michelle Fraling
February 10, 2020
|
| |
| REINING IN SURVEILLANCE ABUSE |
|
|
Congress has five weeks to decide the fate of key foreign intelligence surveillance powers – and there's a new bipartisan effort that provides the strongest first step yet. By reforming Section 215 of the Patriot Act and reining in other national security authorities abused by the government, the Safeguarding Americans' Private Records Act makes strides towards curbing government surveillance. But it's still far from perfect: The bill fails to fully protect the rights of defendants and doesn't go far enough in reforming Section 215 and other abused surveillance programs. Members of Congress should address its gaps and finally pass these critical reforms. Read more → |
By Neema Singh Guliani
February 12, 2020
|
| |
| DEFENDING REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS |
|
|
Before I finished high school, I learned I was pregnant. That's why I work at the Alabama Women's Center as a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and medical director of a Huntsville-based reproductive health clinic. This week, I testified on Capitol Hill in support of the Women's Health Protection Act – because access to abortion care should not depend on your zip code. The Alabama legislature passed a near-total ban on abortion that threatens doctors like myself with up to 99 years in prison for providing ethical, medically-appropriate care. If passed by Congress, the Women's Health Protection Act would bring needed protection from this political interference for my patients, safeguard their right to abortion care, and ensure that my patients have the time, information, and ability to make life-changing personal decisions. Read more → |
By Yashica Robinson, MD
February 12, 2020
|
| |
| NEW, UNTESTED TECHNOLOGIES |
|
|
In the last few weeks, a company called Clearview has been in the news for marketing a reckless and invasive facial recognition tool to law enforcement. The company claims the tool can identify people in billions of photos almost instantaneously and boasts that their "accuracy test" was modeled on the ACLU's work calling attention to the dangers of face surveillance technology. Clearview's failed attempt to use the ACLU's work to support its product exposes a larger industry truth: Companies can no longer deny the civil rights harms of face surveillance in their sales pitch. If Clearview is so confident about its technology, it should subject its product to rigorous independent testing in real-life settings. It should also give the public the right to decide whether the government is permitted to use its product at all. Read more → |
By Jacob Snow
February 10, 2020
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment