News & Commentary

In the last two weeks, Florida legislative committees have voted to: ban trans people from public bathrooms; release your private electronic data after you die; hide evidence from police body cameras from the public; allow adoption agencies to use their beliefs as a reason to keep kids from gay, single, mixed-faith or other families; and insert themselves between a woman seeking an abortion and her doctor.

Can civil rights and liberties get a break in this state?

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.

By Heather L. Weaver, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief

Yesterday, a district court ruled that the federal government may no longer display a 43-foot Latin cross on Mt. Soledad in San Diego, California. The Court's order, which prohibits the government from "displaying or continuing to allow the display of the current cross on federal land as part of the Mount Soledad Veterans Memorial," follows a 2011 decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit holding that the display violates the fundamental principles underlying the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The ACLU and the ACLU of San Diego and Imperial Counties brought this case on behalf of the Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, the oldest veterans' organization in the country, and other plaintiffs because we believe that government war memorials should honor veterans of all faiths, as well as those of no faith. The Constitution requires no less, and a gigantic, 43-foot Latin cross doesn't come close. As the Court of Appeals explained, "The use of such a distinctively Christian symbol to honor all veterans sends a strong message of endorsement and exclusion. It suggests that the government is so connected to a particular religion that it treats that religion's symbolism as its own, as universal. To many non-Christian veterans, this claim of universality is alienating."

On Tuesday, September 17th, we celebrate the 226th birthday of our Constitution. But what precisely should we celebrate?

The founders of this country created a remarkable document. It is the legal and political framework for our democracy. But it was a deeply flawed document.

Because strict legal limits on the power of government are needed in a majoritarian democracy, principles protecting individual liberty were codified in a Bill of Rights, which was not part of the Constitution as it was drafted on September 17, 1787, nor was it part of the Constitution submitted to the 13 states for ratification.

So when we celebrate the Constitution, we celebrate not only those who created the Constitution during the summer of 1787, but also those who had a broader vision of liberty and fought to improve it.

"Leg

“A

In this election, we Floridians had to defend our constitution from assault by our own Legislature.

The defeat of Amendments 5, 6 and 8 is a major victory for the people of Florida over the legislature which tried to deceive us into voting to surrender our civil liberties with misleading constitutional Amendments. The fact that the legislature came up short is a triumph for the constitutional rights of Floridians.