National Legal Director, ACLU; Professor at Georgetown Law; regular contributor to NY Review of Books; author of Engines of Liberty. Views expressed are my own.
BREAKING: We just won a preliminary injunction in Texas. All voters get to vote by mail in the primary. No individualized excuses necessary. The coronavirus is a universal excuse. GREAT WORK
@ACLU
Voting Rights Project and
@sophlin229
Boycotting the census is not a good idea. You only hurt yourself if you don’t respond, because it means you will have less representation and less federal support for the next decade. The better course is to challenge this illegal action now, which is what we have done.
Key language from 9th Cir. decision blocking Trump's wall: "The executive action we have here originates in the individual will of the President and represents an exercise of authority without law."
"I'm not going to lose my son at the end of 2020 and lose my country and my republic in 2021," Rep. Jamie Raskin says as he presses forward with impeachment articles while mourning his son.
#CNNSOTU
BREAKING: Together with allies,
@ACLU_DC
is taking Trump, Barr and Esper to court for firing tear gas and other weapons on protesters outside the White House.
The use of a chemical weapon was an inhumane violation of the First Amendment.
Our government must be held accountable.
BREAKING! Victory for Gavin Grimm. US Court of Appeals for Fourth Circuit rules high school illegally discriminated in barring Gavin Grimm, a transgender boy, from using the boys' restroom in school. Congrats to
@JoshABlock
and
@ACLU
team!
BREAKING: Federal court rules Trump administration effort to add citizenship question to the Census is arbitrary and capricious!
As we said, "we'll see you in court."
Congratulations to
@ACLU
@dale_e_ho
Arnold & Porter NY Atty General
Next week, we’ll see Trump, virtually, at the Supreme Court.
Trump’s presidency may end in January, but his attack on the census, and attempt to exclude undocumented immigrants, would impact the US for a decade.
We’re fighting back.
A true hero. So sad she did not live to see the victory that changed America for LGBT workers. Remembering our client Aimee today for her quiet dignity and absolute determination. She stood up for what was right, and was vindicated. We love you, Aimee.
Love this! Voting in November--and getting your friends to vote--is the single most effective thing any of us can do to promote equality and civil rights. As we say at
@ACLU
, vote like your rights depend on it.
Federal judge formally signs off in over $1.4m in attorneys fees/expenses for ACLU over Kansas' now blocked proof of citizenship law, a signature achievement of Kris Kobach. Background via
@sherman_news
This law is blatantly unconstitutional. The FL legislature has identified eight viewpoints and forbidden professors from teaching or endorsing them. You'd have to go back to McCarthy to find anything similar.
BREAKING: We’re suing Florida over the Stop WOKE Act, which severely restricts discussions of race and gender in college and university classrooms.
It’s simple: This unconstitutional censorship law will have a chilling effect on freedom of expression in higher education.
NEW: We just released a new model with academic partners showing that COVID-19 could claim the lives of approximately 100,000 more people than current projections stipulate if jail populations are not dramatically and immediately reduced.
BREAKING: In
@ACLU
challenge to Baltimore aerial surveillance program, US Court of Appeals for 4th Circuit rules en banc that program is unconstitutional violation of Fourth Amendment. Bringing the 4A into 21st century! Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle v. Baltimore Police Dept
Worried about armed protesters?
We can do something about it.
Neither the First nor the Second Amendment prohibits states from banning guns at public protests. Here's why, by
@LibertyLouise
and me for
@ACLU
MUST-READ: My remarkable co-counsel,
@chasestrangio
, on what it means to be a transgender lawyer fighting for transgender justice in the Supreme Court.
Your daily reminder that the US military is _still_ detaining a citizen in Iraq as an enemy combatant, without identifying him or allowing him access to counsel or the courts.
Even with a district court hearing set for 11/30, the public indifference continues to astound...
"pretty thorough" is an understatement. Schiff memo leaves no doubt that Nunes memo was driven not by a concern for the facts, but by a blatant attempt to obstruct/tarnish the Mueller investigation through misinformation.
First pass thoughts on the Dem response memo: This is a pretty thorough demolition of Nunes’ insinuations of impropriety by FBI/DOJ, which were pretty weak as it stands. Also clarifies that Steele’s reporting re: Page was eventually corroborated.
WE WIN! Trump administration will print the census without a citizenship question. Congratulations to
@ACLU
@arnoldporter
NY Atty General and everyone else who fought to have everyone counted!
Trump, Cohen, and US Attorney all want to review Cohen's files first.
@ACLU
says no to all of them: what's needed is independent review. All our rights at stake.
Yesterday's federal execution was a dangerous miscarriage of justice.
There are two more scheduled executions this week. We urge the courts to stop both.
My candidate for the best paragraph in the remarkable Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan dissent marks the stark difference between the justices who wrote Casey, and today’s majority.
As we promised, “we’ll see you in court.” This article examines Trump’s remarkable losing record there. As long as he keeps violating our rights, we’ll keep suing.
@ACLU
How’s this for a closing? RBG, concluding her first oral argument in the Supreme Court: “I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” She won, 8-1. via
@nybooks
VICTORY FOR ABORTION RIGHTS!
#SCOTUS
reverses lower court decision that upheld a Louisiana state law requiring that doctors providing abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Roberts joins the liberal Justices!
Congratulations to my son, Aidan Pillard, who graduated today from Yale School of Public Health today! What a time to get a public health degree. So proud!
NOW: 9th Circuit panel rules against Trump on border-wall funding /// "We conclude, first, that defendants are not likely to succeed on the merits of
their appeal."
Death by fiat. How the Supreme Court let 13 federal executions go forward, virtually without explanation--despite fourteen lower court stays to resolve important legal questions. via
@nybooks
The Insular Cases are perhaps the worst Supreme Court decisions not yet reversed. Written during the Plessy v. Ferguson "separate but equal" era, by the Plessy justice, relying on explicit racist stereotypes.
For the first time, Congress will hold a hearing today to discuss the use of the Insular Cases, which are grounded in racism and imperialism.
The Insular Cases are the basis for second-class treatment of residents in US territories like Puerto Rico.
1/2 Look who's supporting
@ACLU
#SCOTUS
challenge to constitutionality of men-only draft registration: General Michael Hayden, General Stanley McChrystal, and 8 other retired military leaders! All agree: no reason for sex discrimination in military.
BREAKING: Congratulations to
@GavinGrimmVA
and his
@ACLU
lead lawyer
@JoshABlock
as Supreme Court denies review of our victory for trans rights in 4h Circuit. via
@aclu
Re-upping as we await SCOTUS decision in Fulton v. Philadelphia, in which Catholic Social Services asserts constitutional right to get a multimillion dollar govt contract to do a govt service, while discriminating against same-sex couples.
via
@nybooks
Restrictions on carrying guns promote free speech by keeping the public square safe. Protesters shouldn't have to worry that their speech will prompt not "more speech" but a bullet.
We’re challenging the male-only registration as unconstitutional in
#SCOTUS
, arguing that it’s based on sexist stereotypes. If there were ever any doubt, watch this video, tweeted by Selective Service today. An admission against interest.
NEW: Full Fourth Circuit says public charter schools subject to same rules as traditional public schools & can’t force girls to wear skirts:
“_No_ public school in North Carolina can violate the constitutional rights of its students.” 1/
BREAKING: Supreme Court votes 6-3 against Trump administration, in favor of elderly and medically vulnerable inmates at Elkton Federal Prison, which has seen one of the worst COVID outbreaks in federal prison system.
So proud to have been able to represent Brandi Levy as she stood up for the speech rights of 50 million young people across this country -- AND WON! And so grateful to my fantastic team from
@ACLU
@aclupa
@Schnader
So proud to be at
@ACLU
. This week alone we filed SCOTUS briefs defending right to abortion in MS and TX, sued Ohio over its partisan gerrymandering, & supported NY’s law limiting right to carry guns in public—to promote a safe public square for assembly and speech.
All in a day's work.
In last 24 hrs,
@ACLU
won a Voting Rights Act challenge to Alabama's congressional map--from unanimous panel incl. 2 Trump appointees; AND
A VICTORY in 8th Circuit in a challenge to Iowa's ban on schools requiring masks, which violates disability rights.
We're going to SCOTUS to protect the First Amendment right to boycott.
@ACLU
attorney Brian Hauss lays out why.
From the Tea Party to the Montgomery bus boycotts, Americans have expressed protest through boycotts. That's what we're fighting for.
The
@ACLU
is asking the Supreme Court to overturn an Arkansas law that penalizes state contractors unless they pledge not to boycott Israel.
"They're essentially being asked to disavow their First Amendment rights as a condition of making a living," says attorney
@brianmhauss
.
I'll never forget that day. To stand up in court for Aimee and transgender people everywhere, backed by an incredible
@ACLU
and
@ACLUofMichigan
legal team, was one of the greatest moments of my career. My only wish is that Aimee could have lived to see her victory.
Just imagine how the Supreme Court would have responded had a southern state empowered private citizens to sue students for attending integrating schools after Brown v Board of Education. This is no less lawless resistance. But the Court has looked the other way.
Here's the 5-4
#SCOTUS
ruling refusing to block Texas's
#SB8
while challenges to the law proceed.
All four of the dissenters wrote separately, including Justice Kagan — who pulls *no* punches in criticizing the rise of the Court's "shadow docket":
“'Defund the police' is an easily misunderstood demand and, like many slogans, appears to mean different things to different advocates." I offer some thoughts on what real and lasting cj reform requires. via
@nybooks