News & Commentary

There are other conservative judges who are baggage-free. Cross off Kavanaugh and move to the next one on the list. It’s that simple. No one is entitled to a job.

The 2016 election is over, but the rhetoric and acts of hate targeted at specific groups following Election Day has left many of us feeling at risk.

In the ten days following Election Day, the Southern Poverty Law Center tallied more than 900 hate incidents across the country – many targeting Black people, immigrants, Muslims, and Jewish people.

We want to make sure that you know your rights and have access to the resources you need. Please check out these resources below to get information from the ACLU about what to do if your rights are violated.

This morning, Donald J. Trump was elected the 45th president of the United States, and the ACLU has a message for him.

President-elect Trump, as you assume the nation’s highest office, we urge you to reconsider and change course on certain campaign promises you have made. These include your plan to amass a deportation force to remove 11 million undocumented immigrants; ban the entry of Muslims into our country and aggressively surveil them; punish women for accessing abortion; reauthorize waterboarding and other forms of torture; and change our nation’s libel laws and restrict freedom of expression.

IT'S TIME TO FIGHT

This year, the ACLU of Florida is celebrating its 50th anniversary. That’s half a century of defending the rights and freedoms of Floridians.

This timeline examines some of the most significant cases and historic moments in the history of the organization:

1965 – Founding: In response to the anti-Communist scare of the era, ACLU chapters in Miami, Gainesville and Tampa join together to form the ACLU of Florida. As described in the original 1965 charter, the organization’s mission will be “To uphold the guarantees of freedom of speech, press, assembly, religion, and thought, as provided in the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights and to uphold the Florida State Constitution and Declaration of Rights; to uphold due process of law and equal protection under the law as provided by the Constitution; to encourage an appreciation of our basic liberties; to perpetuate, through a program of education and positive action, respect and devotion for freedom and liberty.”

Doctors and medical personnel throughout Florida will soon be under new orders: Talk to your patients about gun safety and risk losing your right to practice medicine.

Two federal judges, who last year ruled that "patient-privacy" and gun ownership trump freedom of speech, again upheld the gag order on doctors and medical personnel that will go into effect on August 4 -- unless a further appeal is filed.

The time is upon us once again. Monday, March 2 marks the start of the Florida legislature’s 2015 session and the ACLU of Florida will be at our state’s Capitol defending against bills that aim to limit your civil rights and civil liberties. We’ll also be fighting for new laws that look to expand freedoms for all Floridians. We’re excited about the work we’ll be doing and want to share just a glimpse of what’s to come.

I am pretty concerned – as maybe you are as well – about the impact of this week’s elections on civil liberties. But I’m not discouraged. Let me tell you why.

Do you remember the final match that the U.S. Men’s team played in this year’s World Cup? I don’t watch a lot of soccer, but that match is helpful in understanding where things stand after this week’s election.

An aggressive Belgian team had the U.S. rocked back on their heels playing defense for nearly the entire match. It should have been a blowout by the Belgian team, but it wasn’t -- because of the heroic effort of the U.S. goalkeeper, Tim Howard. He made an incredible athletic effort, refusing to give up. He set a World Cup record for blocking shots, keeping the Belgians scoreless in regulation and forced overtime.

That’s what ACLU is. You, me and all of our thousands of members and supporters across Florida -- when civil liberties are under attack, we are the goalkeeper.

Note: This blog post originally appeared on the National ACLU Blog of Rights. That post can be found here.

By Nathan Freed Wessler, Staff Attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project

It appears that at least one police department in Florida has failed to tell judges about its use of a cell phone tracking device because the department got the device on loan and promised the manufacturer to keep it all under wraps. But when police use invasive surveillance equipment to surreptitiously sweep up information about the locations and communications of large numbers of people, court oversight and public debate are essential. The devices, likely made by the Florida-based Harris Corporation, are called “stingrays,” and unfortunately this is not the first time the government has tried to hide their use.

By Julie Ebenstein, Staff Attorney, ACLU Voting Rights Project

On Tuesday, Attorney General Eric Holder expressed his support for restoring voting rights to citizens who have committed a felony after they serve their terms in prison, complete parole or probation, and pay any restitution fines. While the ACLU believes rights should automatically be restored upon release from prison and being too poor to pay fines shouldn't leave you without a voice in our democracy, this is an important step in the right direction.

The federal government has rightfully acknowledged how post-Civil War era criminal disfranchisement laws intended to suppress the voting rights of African Americans "defy the principles of accountability and rehabilitation that guide our criminal justice policies."

This also isn't a problem that only affects a few people. If the more than 5.8 million disenfranchised Americans lived in a state of their own, that state would have 10 votes in the electoral college.