This Week in Civil Liberties (08/30/2013)

True or false: solitary confinement creates and exacerbates symptoms of mental illness in juvenile prisoners, undermining successful re-entry into society and jeopardizing public safety.

Which government black list infringes on peoples' constitutionally-protected liberties, according to a federal court?

The ACLU filed an opening brief in our lawsuit challenging which agency's collection of the call records of virtually everyone in the United States?

A judge in which state ordered a case charging contractor KBR with human trafficking and forced labor proceed to trial?

Who called for transparency in the business practices of the online data broker industry?

What Happened to My Son Should Never Happen Again

When Grace Bauer's son Corey was 13, he was raped by another young prisoner. Cell guards stood by and watched, taking bets on which "kid would win." Corey lost the fight.

After something this horrific happens, kids should get support. Instead, Corey was placed in solitary confinement.

Victory! Federal Court Recognizes Constitutional Rights of Americans on the No-Fly List

A federal court took a critically important step late Wednesday towards placing a check on the government's secretive No-Fly List. In a 38-page ruling in Latif v. Holder, the ACLU's challenge to the No-Fly List, U.S. District Court Judge Anna Brown recognized that the Constitution applies when the government bans Americans from the skies. She also asked for more information about the current process for getting off the list, to inform her decision on whether that procedure violates the Fifth Amendment guarantee of due process.

ACLU to Court: Government Spying Invades Privacy of Each and Every American

This week, we filed the opening brief in our lawsuit challenging the NSA's ongoing collection of the call records of virtually everyone in the United States, including the ACLU's. We're asking the court for a preliminary injunction ordering the government to stop collecting our data and to bar any use of the ACLU call records it already has collected.

Court Rejects Military Contractor's Attempt to Avoid Trial for Human Trafficking

KBR, a military contractor, was dealt a blow last week by a federal court in Texas. After a review of the evidence, the court ordered that a case charging the former Halliburton subsidiary with human trafficking and forced labor proceed to trial. https://www.aclu.org/blog/human-rights/court-rejects-military-contractors-attempt-avoid-trial-human-trafficking

Not Just the NSA: Data Brokers Amass Detailed Profiles on Everyone Online

This month, a strongly worded Washington Post op-ed by Federal Trade Commissioner Julie Brill calling for transparency in the business practices of the online data broker industry provoked a heated response. The ACLU and other privacy advocates have long had their suspicions about how and why data brokers were tracking individuals and amassing large amounts of private information about people.

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