Are you exposing yourself online? Get your risk assessment & find out how outdated laws are putting your personal data in jeopardy.

Take the quiz.

Read More...

Recently you may have seen some of the media coverage of our case to help teenage prisoner Raistlen Katka.

Raistlen's case is an alarming one. At just 16 years of age he was incarcerated at the Montana State Prison after a minor altercation with two guards at Pine Hills Correctional Facility, a juvenile jail.

Due to post traumatic stress disorder caused by abuse as a child and other mental illness, Raistlen had trouble conforming to all the prison's rules. Rather than treat his psychological issues, however, prison officials placed Raistlen in solitary confinement. He lived in torment there for 1-1/2 years.

During that time, Raistlen tried multiple times to kill himself -- by biting through his wrist to puncture a vein, by cutting a blood vessel in his arm with a paperclip, by hanging himself.

Thankfully, Raistlen's suicide attempts were unsuccessful, although he almost succeeded in June.

And thankfully we were able to win a court order that he receive treatment at Warm Springs until at least the end of August.

Thankfully people like you care about Raistlen.

Read More...

Kudos to Alana Listoe at the Helena Indpendent Record for writing a great story for Sunday's paper about a proposed new sex education plan for Helena school children.

But shame on the paper for linking to a push-poll survey published by opponents of the proposed curriculum which only seeks to inflame emotions on this important issue.

The poll highlights the areas of the curriculum that the group opposes, and leaves out important components like respecting one's body, education about sexual violence and what constitutes "good" and "bad" touching.

 We urge you to vote in the poll (Yes, of course), and to find out more about the curriculum on our site.

And turn out at tomorrow's Helena School Board meeting to speak in favor of the curriculum. Doors open at 5 p.m. at the Front Street Learning Center.

 

Read More...

Join us as we work to build an inclusive Montana were everyone is valued and where basic fairness provides everyone equal access to employment, housing, public accommodations and legal protection for committed couples.

Fair is fair...

 - In the workplace

- At the hospital

- When renting a home

-When making decisions with our loved ones

Sign the petition!

Read More...

A little laugh for those of you who respect what's REALLY in the U.S. Constitution: Check out this story in The Onion.

Read More...

... not the one you see on FOX News.

ACLU of Montana Public Policy Director Niki Zupanic introduced a group of Bitterroot residents interested in democracy  to the ACLU last week. And they learned a lot.

It was a real pleasure for Niki to be able to dispel many of the myths about the ACLU and about the U.S. Constitution.

 Thanks to the Ravalli Republic for being there and writing about us!

 

Read More...

Helena School District recently unveiled a wonderful proposal to teach kids accurate and age-appropriate sex education. We fully support it.

Not surprisingly, however, those who would rather their kids learn about abstinence only are up in arms. Check out the comments in this Helena Independent Record story about the curriculum.

Please support the school district in its efforts. And help us get similar programs in school districts across the state.

Read More...

It never ceases to amaze us at the ACLU how willing some Americans are to deny rights to prisoners, suspects, racial groups, and even themselves. From torture to denying Miranda rights, we must stand against these abuses of our Constitution and fellow human beings.

Fear, bias and misguided beliefs that torture works led the Bush Administration and  some Americans to support a policy of torture that maimed, killed and psychologically damaged thousands.

The ACLU is marking June as Torture Awareness Month, and is posting a new, previously secret document on its Torture Report website.

These must-read documents show a saddening lack of concern from top officials even as detainees, interrogators and troops reported torture. An interpreter complains that special interrogators threatened and electrically shocked a detainee. A 17-year-old picked up for simply being in the wrong person's home is kicked in the face so hard it breaks his jaw. An autopsy report lists a detainee's manner of death as homicide.

More recently, some have been calling for terrorism suspects to be denied their Miranda rights. What happened to our fundamental belief in a justice system that holds people innocent until proven guilty? 

Even a top CIA-FBI official says that reading a person his or her Miranda Rights does not impede an investigation, but, in fact, can help.

Please stand with us as we stand up for our constitutional rights.

 

Read More...

 

Gotta give kudos today to Hellgate High freshman Ekoo Beck, a member of the school's Respect Club.

Beck wrote a letter to the editor of the Missoulian standing up for herself and her peers. The letter was in response to an earlier missive that accused the National Coalition Building Institute of using the kids in the club as window dressing in efforts to get Missoula's non-discrimination ordinance passed. All this because the kids chose to hold a Diversity Day rally in Caras Park.

Beck called that letter writer out for bashing the club.

I was personally involved in this project, Diversity Day, and can assure you that it was in no way NCBI's idea... "Kids" our age are not ignorant. To say that we are being used as pawns is degrading... Our Diversity Day rally and march was meant to spread a warm feeling throughout the people of Missoula, and to show that people can be respected no matter how different they are.

As for the rally being on the same day as the vote, Beck explained that was the students' choice, adding that they all supported the effort to protect lesbians', gays', bisexuals' and transgender people's access to housing, employment and public accommodations.

The ACLU of Montana has worked with the NCBI on efforts to prevent bullying of LGBT students in Montana schools. We're glad that they are involved with Hellgate High students.

And we agree with Beck that students deserve respect.

 

Read More...

Many of you may have heard about the recent Philadelphia Phillies game where a teenage boy was shot with a Taser when he ran onto the field. Many people reacted with horror to this overreaction by a Philadelphia Police officer. But shockingly, others applauded his actions against this non-violent prankster!

Perhaps it's because people mistakenly believe that Tasers -- while painful -- don't cause serious injury.

This couldn't be farther from the truth. Since 2001, more than 300 people have died from Taser gun injuries.

Just last week, a teenager in Butte was shot with a Taser after refusing to cooperate with a police officer and taking an "offensive" stance. The details of this instance are unclear, but we would always urge caution.

It's the ACLU's position that Tasers should be used only in cases where there is a serious threat of injury to the person him- or herself, to a potential victim or to a responding officer. Most often other techniques to calm, apprehend or restrain the person are far more appropriate and far less risky.

Read More...

Arizona's new immigration law invites, if not compels, racial profiling in that state, and the ACLU is committed to keeping such bills from sweeping the country.

The ACLU of Montana fought and defeated some similarly hateful bills during the 2009 Montana Legislative Session, but we need your help now to make sure such bills don't gain any traction in the wake of Arizona's mistake.

Please take a quick moment to send a message to Montana lawmakers to prevent racially-motivated immigration laws from becoming a reality here.

Read More...

If you missed our April 10 conference in Helena on End of Life Choices, you missed hearing a number of articulate and passionate people speaking about physician aid in dying from medical, legal, faith, disability rights and other perspectives.

But that's ok. You can still get a flavor of the conversation by watching our two-part video, "Montana Perspectives: Aid in Dying" on YouTube. The entire video is 16 minutes long.

Here are Part 1 and Part 2.

Read More...

A federal court judge this week took the side of both the law and common sense when he ruled that patents on two breast cancer genes are invalid.

For more than 20 years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been issuing patents on genes, granting their holders exclusive rights to study and test the genes. The end result -- besides violating our rights to own what is in our own bodies -- is that research on treatments has been slowed and test prices have been kept high. Believe it or not, about 20 percent of all human genes have been patented.

But now that could all change. 

This case, brought by the ACLU on behalf of six women with heridtary cancer, alters the landscape. With Judge Robert Sweet's decision, all gene patents are now called into question.

Sweet rightly ruled that corporations cannot patent products of nature.

Our bodies belong to us. They don't belong to corporations.

Read More...

It's clear that much more work is necessary to ensure that Montana's medical marijuana patients have the access to the medicine they need and are protected in their use of it.

Recent stories show in detail how nervous Montana's cities, businesses and housing authority's are of legalized medicinal use of pot. Numerous towns have imposed moratoriums on new medical mj businesses, including Billings, Kalispell, Bozeman and Laurel.

In Butte, the low-income housing authority is prohibiting residents from using medical marijuana because they say it violates federal law, and they are federally funded.

And now, a Great Falls man is suing his former employer for firing him for using medicial marijuana even though he had state approval.

Marijuana can be so beneficial to some patients. They need to be protected from harrassment and allowed to use the drug to relieve their pain.

Read More...

More than one year into Obama's administration, the president hasn't gone far enough to reverse Bush administration policies on due process for terrorism detainees.

In fact, he is backing off his decision to give 9/11 suspects their day in court. Instead he's looking at leaving their fate up to a military commission in which they will have no right to even see the evidence against them.

The ACLU ran a full-page ad in the New York Times Sunday calling for Obama to uphold the rule of law.

That ad follows a January report in which we documented Obama's mediocre grade on restoring America.

And today, USA Today noted that Obama is losing his base because of his handling of issues like civil liberties, the environment and health care.

We really need Obama to make upholding the Constitution a priority!

Read More...

Another Montana city is looking at placing a temporary moratorium on new medical marijuana businesses -- this time it's Laurel, just a bit west of Billings.

These moves in cities like Great Falls, Billings and Kalispell raise a serious question: Do Montanans have a real right to use medical marijuana to ease pain if they are prevented from exercising that right?

Read More...

We're all for reducing drunken driving, but the AG's plan to force Lewis and Clark County repeat offenders to take twice daily breathalyzer tests at the Helena Pre-Release Center without any immediate probable cause seems a violation of their rights.

To make it worse, those people will have to pay $4 per day -- more than $1,400 a year -- for the tests.

And, these tests will be mandated for people who are arrested, before they are even convicted of a crime!

The better solution to the problem is getting these people into effective treatment.

Read More...

It sounds like something out of the 1980s movie "Footloose."

Small town tries to drive out evil and nonconformity by banning "dangerous" materials.

Unfortunately, it's reality in Bainville, Montana, on the east side of the state. The town of 150 is considering adopting an anti-obscenity ordinance that blatantly violates the First Amendment.

We must remain ever vigilante to stop those who want to stifle our freedom.

Read More...

Divide and conquer.

That's the cynic's strategy to defeat a movement.

Well, we're not going to let anti-choice activists get away with it.

Read More...

We are very hopeful that the Missoula anti-discrimination ordinance will pass.

Ensuring equal rights for all people is the cornerstone of the U.S. Constitution. It's a shame that this ordinance is even necessary, but we fully support it as a crucial step toward protecting the civil liberties of the LGBTQ community in Missoula, and ultimately toward the same protections in all of Montana.

The campaign to pass it kicked off yesterday.

The Montana Human Rights Network has taken the lead on the effort. Thank goodness that many Montana groups, like us, are behind the cause, including Montana Equality Now, the Missoula Area Central Labor Council, and Forward Montana.

If you live in Missoula, please sign the petition.

 

Read More...

We just filed an appeal on behalf of an independent candidate from Gallatin County who was unable to run for U.S. Senate because Montana's ballot access laws are the most burdensome in the country.

In fact, the last independent candidate to run for a Montana U.S. Senate seat was John P. Monaghan in 1936.

Steve Kelly tried to run for U.S. Senate in 2008. The U.S. District Court recently ruled against him.

 

Read More...

We're very disappointed that the Montana Human Rights Commission threw out our complaint about systematic discrimination against Native American prisoners at the private Crossroads prison in Shelby.

These inmates were subjected to mass strip searches before and after their sweat lodge ceremonies, demeaned by guards and punished when they complained about their treatment.

White prisoners were not subjected to the same treatment before or after their religious ceremonies.

Even the state's own report concluded that the strip searches took place and that the prison's complaint process was flawed.

So how is the Native Americans' treatment not discrimination?

Read More...

Ok, those Christmas decorations lingering in the neighbor's yard come summer can be annoying, but an Illinois town's ordinance limiting those displays to 60 days before and after Christmas is a clear violation of Americans' right to free expression.

Aurora is the grinch that is trying to steal the First Amendment.

Read More...

Americans are quick to criticize countries like China, Iran and North Korea for their human rights abuses, but is that just the pot calling the kettle black?

We've been working to help a teenage inmate at the Montana State Prison who was sent there at 16 and locked in solitary confinement at age 17. He has now been there for almost a year, with almost no human contact.

To make things worse, he is mentally ill and has been treated in the most torturous manner. He has been Tasered, pepper-sprayed and paraded naked in front of other inmates.

We've appealed to the U.N. to investigate Robert Doe's treatment and to encourage the state of Montana to do the right thing by removing Robert from solitary and giving him the mental health treatment he needs.

The issue has generated much discussion in the state, and even nationally. It was a featured story yesterday on "Democracy Now."

After all, if we can't even protect American children from torture, how can we have any moral authority on worldwide human rights issues? 

Read More...

The ACLU today asked the United Nations Special Rapporteur to advise the state of Montana to stop its inhumane treatment of our client, Robert Doe.

Robert has been in the Montana State Prison since he was 16 years old. For almost a year he has been in solitary confinement in the Special Housing Unit, where he is deprived of almost all human contact, only let out of his cell for five to six hours a week, not allowed any contact with family and denied the mental health treatment he desperately needs.

He has also been subjected to the prison's behavior modification program which deprives him of clothing, a bed and food other than bread and water. While in the program he has no toilet, instead only a hole in the floor.

Prison guards have Tasered Robert, pepper-sprayed him and paraded him naked in front of other inmates. Robert has been in such despair that he has twice tried to kill himself by biting through his wrist to puncture a vein.

We sued the state in December to help Robert.

No one should be subjected to this kind of torture. Especially a child!

 

Read More...

Virginia lawmakers last week approved a ban on forced implantation of microchips in humans.

The reasons? Privacy, of course, but also concerns that such chips could usher in the antichrist.

Hmm. Not so sure about them being the "mark of the beast," but microchips implanted in humans, certainly do raise serious privacy concerns. So good for Virginia lawmakers.

 

Read More...

Join us Thursday, Feb. 25 at the University of Montana School of Law in Missoula for a presentation by National ACLU Human Rights Program Attorney Steven Watt.

Watt is an expert on the CIA's torture and rendition programs and has been a key player in the ACLU's lawsuit against Jeppesen Dataplan -- the private company the CIA hired to fly detainees to overseas locations.

He's also co-counsel on our Montana lawsuit on behalf of a teenage boy with mental illness who has been locked in solitary confinement in the Montana State Prison for almost a year.

The presentation will be in Room 101 of the Law Building, running from 7 -8:30 p.m.

Oh, and you lawyers will be interested to know that the lecture has been approved for 1.5 CLE credits!

Watt will also be the keynote speaker at our Feb. 27 annual meeting in Bozeman.

Read More...

So where do they go?

Montana communities' opposition to pre-release centers is reactionary and counterproductive.

Research by the Reentry Policy Council shows the benefits such centers create for both inmates and society.

The truth is that inmates will move to our communities when they finish their sentences. They can do that with training, therapy and other assistance to make the transition or without it.

Which do you prefer?

Read More...

Urging everyone who lives in Missoula to sign the petition calling for an anti-discrimination ordinance that will protect the LGBT community.

The ACLU of Montana helped craft the ordinance, and we fully suppport it.

Everyone deserves equal access to housing and employment. Other Montana cities should take-up similar ordinances.

Read More...

Privacy needs to be protected, not squandered.

Check out this story about Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan who actually autographed printouts of his scanned body at Heathrow!

This raises numerous troubling questions. How did those girls get the printouts? Why were there printouts?  Do we have to fear that here? TSA wants to install these scanners at all U.S. airports.

Read More...

We are so excited that Humanities Montana recently awarded the ACLU of Montana a grant of more than $7,300 for an April 10 conference at Carroll College on "End of Life Choices: A Community Conversation."

The conference will be a community discussion about the important issue of physician assistance at the end of life. It will feature both proponents and opponents of aid in dying, including representatives from the legal, civil liberties, faith, medical and disability rights communities as well as patients and families.

It's a must-attend event since the recent Montana Supreme Court decision on Baxter, and in light of the fact that the 2011 Montana Legislature is certain to address the subject.

Conference cost is $25, including lunch. Scholarships are available. Register now!

Read More...

ICE's current practices of racial profiling, rounding up people during raids, housing immigrants in substandard and secret facilities and separating families aren't the answers to dealing with undocumented residents.

Real immigration reform is needed to protect immigrants from flagrant human rights abuses, and to keep officials from terrorizing immigrant communities.

The Nation takes a great look at the issue in a slideshow that chronicles all of the problems with the current system.

The ACLU is committed to helping all residents of our country by ensuring that their civil liberties are protected.

Read More...

The ACLU of Montana's Feb. 27 annual meeting in Bozeman will feature one of the nation's leading attorneys working to stop the CIA's rendition program.

National ACLU Human Rights Program attorney Steven Watt is leading efforts to hold contractor Jeppesen-Dataplan accountable for supplying planes and pilots to the CIA to transport detainees to foreign countries where they could be tortured.

In addition, our annual meeting will include lively roundtable discussions about civil liberties issues and an update on our legal program, plus much more.

Please mark the date on your calendar and join us!

Read More...

It's baaack. Well, more accurately, it's never gone away.

Congress will be voting within the next few days on whether to reinstitue key provisions of the Patriot Act. Some legislators even want to expand it to infringe on even more of our freedoms.

Some are using the Christmas Day airplane bombing attempt as their rationalization for continuing the Patriot Act's outrageous abuses of our privacy.

Please contact your legislators in Congress to tell them the Patriot Act must be reformed.

Read More...

Plans to severely cut the budget of the Office of the Public Defender are misguided and in violation of our nation's guarantee of an adequate defense for anyone -- especially the poor.

The OPD is already underfunded. We must work to ensure that public defense gets the money it needs.

Read More...

The ACLU of Montana and Forward Montana are working to support the Equality Project of the Montana Human Rights Network to pass a non-discrimination measure in Missoula.Missoula residents, sign the online petition to guarantee equality for the LGBT citizens of your community!

Missoula residents, please sign the online petition.

"We support a Missoula that is free of discrimination and believe that no one should be discriminated against solely because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression in the areas of housing,... employment, or public accommodations. The city of Missoula should ensure that all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, are protected from discrimination within its limits."

 

Read More...

If you can make it to Carroll College tomorrow evening, please join us for an informative film and presentation about what prisoners at Guantanamo Bay have been going through since 2011.

The event begins at 7 p.m. in Simperman Hall and will feature the movie "The New Disappeared: What Really Happens at Guantanamo." A discussion will follow.

The ACLU is fighting hard against the indefinite detention without charge of trial being imposed on Gitmo prisoners.

Call us at 406-443-8590 for more information.

Read More...

The ACLU of Montana and our partner organizations have a number of exciting events coming up in the next weeks and months across the state.

Our annual meeting, featuring national ACLU Human Rights Project attorney Steven Watt speaking on rendition and detention is on Feb. 27 in Bozeman.

On April 10 we will be hosting an in-depth conference on physician aid in dying in Helena.

And there is much more.

Check it out!

Read More...

The Montana Supreme Court ruled today that physicians can't be prosecuted for prescribing medication to help mentally competent and terminally ill patients end their lives. That's the good news.

The bad news is that they ruled based on Montana statutes and not that death with dignity is protected under the state's consitutional rights to privacy and human dignity.

That's what we argued in the amicus brief we filed on the Baxter v. Montana case.

Where that leaves us is with protection for physicians who help patients, but with the possibility that the 2011 legislature could choose to ban aid in dying.

We'll fight to have death with dignity codified to protect it here in Montana.

Read More...

The recent incident involving a Nigerian man's attempt to ignite an incendiary devise on a Northwest Airlines plane has many people clammoring for increased screening at airports.

And the TSA has been willing to oblige, calling for more full-body scan machines to be purchased for more American airports. The machines show graphic images of a person's body -- essentially a good look at every lump and bump, every fat roll and even our private parts.

I say, no thanks to such intrusions on privacy.

The bottom line is that is someone wants to bring down a plane, they'll find a way. In fact, TSA concedes that its machines can't detect items stored in a person's orifices (Ick). 

The machines, therefore, only serve to invade law-abiding citizens' privacy.

Read More...

The New York Times published a thoughtful editorial, "De-Criminalizing Children" in today's edition. In it they note that 150,000 U.S. children are sent to adult prisons each year.

That's a shocking number. And it's a fact we need to change.

Children should be in environments where they can be rehabilitated and given the assistance they need to better themselves. Putting them in adult prisons only increases the probability that they will land back in prison when they reach maturity.

In Montana, we are working to help a boy who has been locked in solitary confinement at the Montana State Prison for almost a year.

It's inhumane, and it must stop.

Read More...

As a young child "Robert Doe" suffered at the hands of an abusive father who beat him with belts and clothes hangers and encouraged his siblings to beat him with baseball bats. Robert was often locked in a room for days or weeks.

Now, as a 17-year-old, he suffers from mental illness.

But the state that should be helping him is instead torturing him in an adult prison.

Robert was convicted for assaulting officers at a juvenile correction facility, and then thrown into the Montana State Prison at the age of 16. Deprived of his medication, he acted out and was thrown into solitary confinement.
He's been in solitary for the past eight months, where he's had to relive the confinement of his earlier childhood.

He's been pepper sprayed, Tasered and stripped naked in full view of other inmates. As punishment for acting out in solitary, Robert was put into the prison's "behavior modification plans" where he is denied clothing and has just a hole in the floor to use for a toilet.

In complete despair, Robert has twice tried to kill himself by biting his wrist to puncture a vein.

The ACLU of Montana and the ACLU's Human Rights Program are trying to help Robert now, by suing to get him out of adult prison and into mental health treatment.

No one should be subjected to this kind of abuse. Especially not a child.

Read More...

Some of you may have read the New York Times article about the ACLU losing a major national donor, who has been contributing $20 million a year to our national work -- about 25 percent of ACLU's budget.

It's a bitter pill to swallow, and everyone is working hard to find new donors and encourage existing donors to give more so that we don't have to cut back on our civil liberties advocacy and lititgation.

Well, today, Salon's Glenn Greenwald picked up on the story and urged his readers to join the ACLU and to donate.

In that column, Greenwald says, "It is not hyperbole to say that, over the past decade, there has been no organization more important to the United States, the Constitution, and basic political liberties than the ACLU. From the start of the Bush/Cheney assault on core civil liberties -- when most organizations and individuals were petrified of opposing any efforts justified by "terrorism" -- the ACLU was one of a small handful of groups which defied that climate of fear by vigorously and fearlessly opposing those erosions...

"...their crucial efforts extend far beyond litigating and lobbying, as they have often been forced to fulfill the investigative and oversight role intended for -- but abdicated by -- our national media and Congress. Indeed, most of what we know about the Bush torture regime and other lawbreaking schemes is the result not of newspapers or Congressional investigations but the ACLU."

Thanks, Glenn.

Read More...

December 10 is International Human Rights Day -- a day to consider the condition of every human being on this planet.

ACLU has many different national projects to work on a whole host of issues, including choice, LGBT rights, prisons and more, including the Human Rights Program.  The Human Rights Program works to ensure that the U.S. government complies with universal human rights principles in addition to the U.S. Constitution. The Program uses human rights strategies to complement existing ACLU advocacy.

If you've never read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, please watch this beautiful video to see what the ACLU and many other sister organizations around the globe are working to realize.

Read More...

You've probably heard about the botched execution attempt in Ohio earlier this year.

 The executioners spent three hours searching for a vein to administer the lethal three-drug cocktail to Romell Broom before he was given a stay by the governor.

So Ohio switched its procedure. Now it has switched just one drug -- the painkiller anaesthetic thiopental sodium -- which the prisoner overdoses on.

But its first use today, was just that. It was a first. Before today's execution, this type of drug had only been used to kill animals. Essentially, Ohio used  human prisoner Kenneth Biros as a guinea pig.

That violates all laws of the land and all laws of human decency.

Read More...

Today is "Stop Stupak" lobby day on Capitol Hill.

Supporters of choice from across the country are there to talk to their senators about why they must not adopt the Stupak-Pitts Amendment which would impose unprecedented restrictions on women's access to abortion care.

You can help. Watch this short, inspiring call to arms by ACLU's Anthony Romero, then call your senator at the number listed at the end of the clip, or send an e-mail.

Read More...

It's a huge disappointment that the U.S. Supreme Court decided yesterday to overturn a lower court decision demanding the release of U.S. government torture photos.

Without a full reckoning for torture, there's just no way to keep the federal officials accountable to the rule of law.

And this isn't the only case where President Obama has backed down on his promise of "transparency." We need to keep the pressure on to make sure our government stays within the bounds of the Constitution.

All our rights are at stake.

Read More...

Bethany Cajune was about four to five months pregnant when she was denied doctor-prescribed medication while incarcerated in the Lake County Jail. This caused her severe physical and emotional distress, and was in violation of her Constitutional rights. The ACLU of Montana and the national ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project today filed a lawsuit against Lake County on Bethany's behalf. Learn more about it and hear from Bethany in this video.

Read More...

Everyone needs health insurance, but don't let Congress sell a woman's right to choice down the river to pass health care reform! Contact Senators Tester (202-224-2644 ) and Baucus (202-224-2651) to tell them to oppose any health care legislation that includes prohibition of abortion coverage.

Read More...

This boy could have a very bright future as an ACLU attorney!

 

Read More...

The Montana Supreme Court's precedent-setting decision in our case for lesbian mom Michelle Kulstad is already positively affecting the lives of another mother and her children.

Seattle University law professor Julie Shapiro details the latest case in her blog post, "Lesbian Mothers in Montana After Kulstad."

It's the kind of news that makes us very happy. While we often work on a case for a single individual, the end goal is to have a larger impact and help many people by helping one. 

Read More...

Today is set aside to mark the service of those who have fought for the United States -- our brave veterans.

I urge you today, to stand up for those veterans who have served honorably, but whose lives have been ruined by the anti-gay "Don't Ask. Don't Tell" policy.

Check out this video message from Lt. Dan Choi for more on this topic.

Read More...

More than 100 people showed up last night at a University of Montana ethics panel discussion on death with dignity.

It's a topic that can trigger emotions and spark philosophical and legal debate.

ACLU of Montana Executive Director Scott Crichton told the group that aid in dying is about individual autonomy and the right to make our own medical decisions.

Learn more about it in the Montana Kaimin article about the panel.

And save the evening of March 5 and the day of March 6 for a Helena conference on aid in dying, featuring patients, families, doctors, legal experts, clergy and disability rights advocates. It will be an open and honest discussion about this important issue, with people representing views both for and against it.

Read More...

A new ACLU video explores the real stories behind prisoners at Guantanamo.

The nine-minute report,  "Justice Denied: Voices From Guantanamo," gives detainees real life beyond the one-dimensional caricatures we've all seen in the media. They are real people with full lives - before and after their detention. See for yourself the stories of  five men who were held for years by the U.S. without charge.

Read More...

When President Obama took office in January, many ACLU members were hopeful that Bush-era policies of indefinite detention, rendition and CIA black sites, torture, secrecy, and warrantless wiretapping and surveillance would end.

At first the outlook was good. Within days of taking office, Obama announced that Gitmo would be closed in one year.

Since then, however, Obama has continued to defend many Bush administration policies that violate civil liberties.

ProPublica has a great chart for you to compare the Bush and Obama policies side-by-side. Take a look, and see why it is essential that we continue to push Obama to do what's right to end these policies and keep America both safe and free.

Read More...

The Helena Independent Record asks this week, "Should Montana allow physician-assisted suicide?"

We support "aid in dying," as a way for physicians to help terminally ill patients end their suffering. However, suicide implies that a person who is not dying is killing themselves, that's why we don't use that term.

Here's how we define phrases that are often used (often incorrectly) to describe the death with dignity we support.

Aid in dying/death with dignity: At a competent, terminally ill patient's request, a physician offers a prescription for life-ending medication that the patient takes on his or her own without assistance. This is the patient's choice.

Euthanasia: A doctor killing a patient without that patient's request or consent. We do not support euthanasia.

Physician-assisted suicide: Suicide is when a person who is not dying chooses to kill himself or herself. Assisted suicide would be someone helping a person commit suicide. 

Still, we vote 'Yes," in the IR poll, and urge you to do the same.

Montana's constitution's rights to privacy and human dignity preserve patients' right to aid in dying because it ensures citizens' right to control their own medical decisions and their own bodies. 

Read More...

It's a heartbreaking story.

A young father's house catches fire. He escapes but cannot rescue his three children from the fast-growing flames.

At first he is seen as victim, but the tide quickly turns on him when arson investigators using junk science accuse him of intentionally setting the blaze. Suddenly people who initially spoke of his panic and desperation to get inside the home and rescue his children are changing their stories, calling him cold and uncaring.

It's a full-out sprint to the death penalty. No questions. No mercy.

Even when a nationally reknowned arson investigator reviews the case and determines there's no way the man set the fire, it's not enough. The clemency board doesn't even bother to look into the new investigation. 

The man is put to death.

Read about how the Texas justice system failed Cameron Todd Willingham in a thought-provoking and heart-wrenching story in The New Yorker.

Read More...

For those of you who have Facebook accounts, please sign up to be fans of the ACLU of Montana.

Our fan page is a great spot to go to find links to issues of interest, information about upcoming events and to interact with us.

Today we have a posting that sheds some light on Facebook quizes and the information their creators are collecting about you and your friends.

Check it out.

Read More...

For years the United States acted as an international advocate and proponent of human rights. Americans worked to stop abuses in other countries.

But with all that is being revealed in the recent weeks and months about the CIA's enhanced interrogation methods, it's becoming apparent that the Bush-Cheney administration decided that being feared was the direction the U.S. should go.

Fear us. We will torture you.

Andrew Sullivan writes about this shift and what it means to us as Americans in his "The Daily Dish" column on The Atlantic website.

State-mandated torture violates everything that we stand for -- depriving people of their most basic civil liberties. We must fight for accountability. Those who tortured and those who directed that torture must be prosecuted.

Read More...

Death with dignity is an issue that goes back to Montana's 1972 Constitutional Convention.

Here's a story on how the issue first gained national attention when a Montana woman suggested it as a right to explicitly include in our state's constitution.

It shows how deeply personal the issue is to those who have watched loved ones suffer at the end of life.

Read More...

So Jon Stewart was amazingly accurate Monday night when talking about Obama's Montana town hall meeting and its civility.

He referenced 2,000 Montana ACLU members.

Of course, we'd sure like that number to be bigger to assist us in our important work protecting civil liberties in Montana. Please join if you aren't a member, and encourage your friends and family to join, too.

Oh, and the Daily Show bit is pretty funny, too. Check it out.

Read More...

Decreasing Montana's incarceration rate could save taxpayers money and reduce recidivism, but a report written by the Montana Department of Corrections Advisory Council places too much emphasis on expensive new prison beds and not enough on alternatives like sentencing reform, adopting "good time" or "earned time"policies, decriminalizing or lessening sentences for non-violent drug offenses and increasing transitional programs.

The state of Montana has done a good job in recent years of working toward its goal of having 80 percent of its offender population in treatment and rehabilitation programs and only 20 percent in traditional secure prisons.

Implementing the recommendations in the Corrections Advisory Council report would be a step back to placing more people behind bars. Prison construction does not equate to greater public safety.

One key problem with the Council's recommendations is that that they are based on population projections that predict the state's prison population will increase by more than 60 percent in less than 20 years. That's a prison growth rate more than five times Montana's projected population growth rate during the same time period.

Instead, why not make public policy changes that could reduce the need for secure prison beds. Things like:

• Sentencing reform that could reduce time in prison and/or offer alternative treatment or rehabilitation;
• Adopting "good time" reductions in prison terms for following prison rules or "earned time" reductions for participating in specific programs;
• Decriminalizing or lessening sentences for non-violent drug offenses;
• And, reducing incarceration for probation and parole violations.

 

Read More...

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that there is enough evidence pointing toward Troy Davis' innocence that he should get another day in court.

Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing an off-duty Savannah, Georgia, police officer. Since that conviction, however, seven of the nine witnesses against Davis have recanted their testimony. And one of the key witnesses has been implicated as the actual shooter.

Other than clemency from the governor, this was Davis' last chance to avoid execution. People all over the country have been fighting to get him off of death row, including students in Missoula and Bozeman.

It's a rare move for the Supreme Court to intervene in cases like this. But thankfully, a majority of the court still believes that justice isn't putting an innocent man to death, and that Davis should have a chance to have new evidence of his innocence heard in court.

Read More...

One of the most pervasive myths about the American Civil Liberties Union is that it is anti-religion or, more specifically, anti-Christian.

In some ways it's understandable since the ACLU is often the only organization willing to step-up and fight government-imposed religion, whether it be proselytizing at football practice, making students participate in prayers during school events or erecting monuments to the 10 Commandments in places that indicate government endorsement.

The common thread to all these cases, however, isn't opposition to Christianity. It's opposition to government-imposed Christianity.

Each American has the right to practice the religion of his or her own choosing or to not practice any religion at all.

That's why the ACLU recently stood up for a Virginia inmate whose mail was being censored of Christian content. He now has the ability to read those Bible verses and practice his faith.

 

 

Read More...

First her family's Dillon home was raided by officers in search of drugs. Then she and her husband were prosecuted for growing the medical marijuana that he desperately needed because he had yet to get a registration card. Then in bad health and under extreme pressure from prosecutors, Scott Day last year died.

But finally, now, some good news for Summer Day. Authorities have decided to defer her prosecution, and will drop it entirely in three years if she stays within the law. Learn more details in this Montana Standard story.

Despite marijuana's legality in Montana for medically approved use, federally funded drug task forces continue to go after medical marijuana patients.

Together with Patients & Families United, the ACLU of Montana is working to stop such prosecutions and to decriminalize marijuana.

Read More...

One of the criticisms that some people level against the ACLU is that we don't fight for the "right" kind of people. They point to our defense of the Nazis' right  to march in Skokie, and say, "The ACLU should be fighting for progressive values, not racists."

The ACLU fights for the values in the Constitution. And the First Amendment is there to protect everyone's right to free speech -- no matter how much we may not like what they have to say.

A story in today's "Missoulian" has been generating a lot of controversy and comments. It tells of a woman who displayed an anti-Obama sign printed with "No Mo Bro," as part of the Republican contingent in a parade over the weekend in Stevensville.

Many, including some parade organizers and Republicans involved with the parade, were outraged by the tone of the placard, calling it racist.

The ACLU, of course, has long fought for racial justice in America.

It's a tough situation.

Still, the answer for the ACLU is clear. The woman has a right to exercise free speech.

At the same time, those who disagree with her views have a right, and an obligation, to put the First Amendment to work by standing up for what they believe.

Read More...

Reading the Torture Memos on paper is chilling.

Hearing them read aloud, however, really brings home to the horror of what they condoned and encouraged -- waterboarding, locking prisoners in boxes with insects, assaulting prisoners.

The ACLU's new video, featuring Oliver Stone, Rosie Perez and more, is a must-watch.

 View it at www.aclu.org/torturedlogic

Read More...

The government's evidence against Guantanamo detainees remained a mystery for years, but as recent federal court cases are coming to light the truth is being revealed. The evidence is sketchy, nonexistent, torture-coerced and wholly inadequate to prosecute the prisoners.

Take the case of Khalid Abdullah Mishal Al Mutairi. A federal court ruled last week that his detention is illegal. The judge in that case took a look at the government's classified evidence and said, "there is nothing in the record beyond speculation" that Al Mutairi had "become a part of al Qaida or an associated force of al Qaida."

A story in ProPublica gives an excellent analysis of just how flimsy the evidence in these cases is.

And then there is Mohammed Jawad, the young man accused of throwing a grenade at U.S. soldiers. No credible evidence exists that he did that. Still, he has been tortured and imprisoned for seven years under conditions that prompted him to attempt suicide.

Although the court has also ruled Jawad must be released, the government is making sounds that it might try a new case  to keep him imprisoned.

The New York Times has an editorial in today's paper that explains why for Jawad, justice delayed is justice denied.

Read More...

Back in 2005, the state of Montana created the Office of the State Public Defender in response to an ACLU lawsuit.

Before the department was created, each county had its own indigent defense system, meaning those charged with crimes in some counties got better representation than those in other counties. In the three years that the Office has been functioning, criminal defense has improved across the state.

But according to a recently released report, commissioned by the state and conducted by American University, there is still room for improvement.

The report provided 32 recommendations about things ranging from data collection to morale and management.

Last week the  Public Defender Commission met to discuss the recommendations. They will be issuing a reply to the report soon.

ACLU of Montana Executive Director Scott Crichton responded to the report in an article in the Billings Gazette. "This is the first real outside look from experts and we shouldn't be surprised they got some things right and there are some things that need to be worked on."

The ACLU will continue to monitor the agency's progress and its response to the report, which is expected sometime this month.

 

Read More...

It's a bit like the logic used in the movie "Minority Report."

Prisoners might try to take advantage of pen pals through fraud and other illegal behavior, so prohibit the inmates from having pen pals. That's the decison that several prisons and jails, including some in Montana, have made. They have banned inmates from signing up for pen pal services.

But, of course, that doesn't make sense. Prisoners have a right to associate with people through letter-writing as long as they aren't breaking the law through their correspondence.

This story, explains the debate.

Read More...

Bozeman city commissioners voted unanimously last night to hire an investigator to look into a previous hiring policy requiring applicants to divulge social networking, e-mail and even bank account information.

Kudos to them for following through on rooting out who was responsible for this privacy-invading policy and how much damage it did to potential hires. One issue of concern to city officials is that they may have been given misleading information about how widespread the policy was and whether it was mandatory or voluntary for applicants.

It's hard to believe that the policy was ever in place.

Read about the investigation in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.

 

 

Read More...

Montana has fewer than two dozen mental health beds for its entire prison system. This despite the fact that a large percentage of Montana's prison population suffers from serious mental illness.

The Helena Independent Record has been running a series of articles in July about the serious issues those with mental illness face in Montana. Treatment is hard to come by, and that means many end up in jail or prison because they cannot function in society without medication or counseling.

Sunday's story, "Criminalizing a Crisis," focused on the mentally ill in Montana's prison system. It's a must-read for those concerned with helping those who cannot help themselves.

The story points out the human cost of this situation, as well as the societal costs, including the bill to incarcerate people who really need treatment not prison.

 

 

Read More...

For those of us at the ACLU who have watched more and more information unfold about  how our government authorized torture, the idea of Torture Memo author attorney John Yoo teaching the U.S. Constitution at UC Berkeley seems like a joke.

 Too bad it's true.

Yoo, however, was the subject of a joke thanks to  a group of comedians who have a good grasp of what our Constitution means. He certainly couldn't withstand much pressure, though. Watch here.

Read More...

We hope that Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer didn't mean it when he said that on Bill Maher's HBO show "Overtime" regarding cannabis legalization.

In the short video, the Governor also refers to pot as a "gateway drug."Maher points out that if we're really talking gateways, we should be talking about beer. And studies don't show that people who smoke pot move onto other drugs. Most do not.

Schweitzer concedes that it costs the state a lot to incarcerate drug offenders. He says Montana is working to treat drug addicts (pot isn't addictive, but other drugs are), which is a better approach than repeatedly locking people up.

We, of course, are pushing to decriminalize marijuana. It has beneficial medical uses and is far less dangerous than prescription medications. And recreational use of pot causes far fewer problems than alcohol.

We believe legalization should and will happen.

Read More...

Some say that the federal government should try abortion provider Dr. George Tiller's killer, Scott Roeder under domestic terrorism laws. Their point: If the government uses that law against other law-breaking ideologues such as Muslim extremists and animal rights protestors, why not those on the Christian religious right, too?

That point is well-articulated in a piece recently posted on RH Reality Check. But I think the author goes on to get  it right when she says  that prosecuting people as domestic terrorists is dangerous to all our civil liberties.

Laws are on the books to prosecute people for crimes, but "domestic terrorism" laws present a slippery slope danger of prosecuting people for their ideology, which is protected under our Constitution.

Read More...

Many people think of the person being executed, of his or her family members and of the victims and the victims' families when they think about who is emotionally impacted by the death penalty.

But there are many more who witness executions and have to deal with the emotional toll.

One of the more powerful speakers who came through Montana earlier this year as part of the Montana Abolition Coaltion's efforts to educate citizens and legislators about the death penalty was Ron McAndrew.

Ron worked for years as the warden at the Florida State Prison, and oversaw numerous executions. The impact of witnessing those deaths and being part of the process is still something that haunts him. Now he speaks out against the death penalty.

CNN published a story yesterday about an Associated Press reporter who has witnessed more than 300 Texas executions. Though he does not take a position on the death penalty, the reporter does talk about how he often thinks of the prisoners and their final statements.

Like the man whose final statement was singing "Silent Night."

 

Read More...

If you were as outraged as I was with Sen. Jeff Sessions' behavior last week in the Sonia Sotomayor nomination hearings, you may be find his latest efforts reprehensible as well.

The National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty e-mailed today saying Sen. Sessions will be introducing an amendment today to the Defense Appropriations Bill that expands the death penalty for certain hate crimes. Never mind that a new survey of America's leading criminologists has 87 percent of the experts agreeing that capital punishment can be abolished without any adverse effect on the murder rate. Check out the story in the Contra Costa Times.

Please take a moment to e-mail Senators Tester and Baucus to let them know that the majority of Montanans also think that the death penalty is an anachronism.

Our Abolition Coalition survey from February is also worth reviewing.

-Scott Crichton, ACLU of Montana Executive Director

Read More...

While most Americans wile away the summer, a key report was issued last week by the inspectors general of the Defense Department, the Justice Department, the CIA, the NSA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Theirs was a joint report on surveillance practices authorized by the Bush Administration.

I, for one, kept waiting for the story to get bounce it never got, and as Scott Horton writes in the new Harper's, it is because the National Surveillance State is here to stay.

Horton interviewed Yale law professor Jack Balkin, a leading writer on the subject, whose new book, an edited volume entitled "The Constitution in 2020," is just out.

 -Scott Crichton, ACLU of Montana Executive Director

Read More...

The ACLU of Montana and it's reproductive rights partners -- NARAL and Planned Parenthood -- helped defeat a Montana bill this past session that attempted to revive parental notification for minors seeking abortions. Such notification could put young women at risk of abuse or worse.

Unfortunately a U.S. Appeals Court just upheld such a law in Illinois. The ACLU fought against that law. The law does not require parental consent, but let's face it: How would a teenage girl hold up to pressure from her parents? What if her parents used violence?

 Young women need to have the same rights to reproductive health care as older women.

 

 

Read More...

On June 15, Senator Akaka (D-Hawaii) introduced S. 1261, the "Providing for Additional Security in States' Identification Act of 2009'' or the ``PASS ID Act,'' which repeals and replaces the Real ID Act of 2005 with new national requirements for driver's licenses. On its face, PASS ID is a significant improvement from Real ID, but careful reading of the bill's language reveals many of the same privacy and constitutional problems.

Montanans have made it clear that they don't support Real ID, and until now our elected officials have supported our views by rejecting Real ID in any form.

PASS ID will be given a hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, of which Senator Tester is a member, on Wednesday, July 15. There is still time to fix some of the problematic provisions of PASS ID, and Senator Tester can help.

Call Senator Tester today at (202) 224-2644, and tell him PASS ID (S. 1261), still has serious problems:

• Airline Boarding Requirement: After a 5-year delay to allow for implementation, PASS ID will be required for boarding airplanes in the same manner as Real ID, and over time its use will almost certainly expand to cover other activities necessary to participate in society.

• Lack of Religious Exemption: PASS ID violates the rights of certain religious minorities by requiring digital photographs on each license. While many states have an exceptions process to accommodate these individuals, PASS ID actually preempts state religious protections.

• Identity Theft: PASS ID mandates that all identity source documents be copied physically or digitally and retained as long as the license is valid. By creating troves of sensitive documents on millions of individuals, this provision will be a dream for identity thieves.

 

Read More...

Opponents of death with dignity are beginning their public push in Montana, but interested citizens should be careful about how much credence they give these groups' arguments.

A story in today's Bozeman Daily Chronicle focuses on some of these arguments as presented in amicus briefs filed with the Montana Supreme Court over the past two months in the Baxter death with dignity case.  By and large, most are red herrings.

They say that death with dignity will be used by unscrupulous doctors and families to save money, that keeping it legal  will lead to euthanasia in which unwilling patients are killed.

But that is not what the case is about at all. It's about patients in the painful, intolerable end-stages of life making a choice to receive aid in ending their suffering. It's THEIR choice. Not a doctor's. Not a relative's. Their choice.

 The state has no right to interfere in such a personal decision.

In truth, opponents of death with dignity bring up arguments that this decision will lead  to a slippery slope when in fact they simply oppose anyone having the ability to make life-ending medical decisions for him or herself.

Even if staying alive means unbearable suffering.

Montana's Constitution protects our right to control our own bodies. And though we all hope that such a choice will never be necessary for ourselves or our loved ones, death with dignity is our right.

Read More...

Trying to be heard in DC is a challenge- but I think we are developing a good working relationship with our DC office to generate helpful messages from home to compliment the work our lobbyists are engaged in on the hill.

 

An issue coming up next week before Homeland Security Committee (on which Tester sits, chaired by Lieberman), is Pass ID- a Real ID light- that ACLU also opposes. To learn more check out this one pager-

One Pager

 

I've cut and pasted something on the bill to help bring folks up to speed.

PASS ID (S. 1261), a Real ID revival disguised as a Real ID repeal bill.  PASS ID does repeal the Real ID Act of 2005, but it replaces it with new national driver’s license requirements that strongly resemble Real ID.  While we acknowledge that PASS ID has some notable improvements over Real ID, at the end of the day, it’s still a national ID, and retains many of the constitutional and privacy problems of Real ID.  We chose to oppose PASS ID in spite of its improvements over Real ID because the Real ID rebellion in the states and the current economic crisis has left Real ID dead in its tracks, and unlikely to be implemented in the near future.  PASS ID is less intricate and less expensive, so its rapid implementation is much more likely.  We feel it is better to have an impossible mandate for Real ID on the books than a fully functioning Real ID-lite.

 

Check out, Real Nightmare.org   PASS ID is set to have a full-committee hearing in the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee at 10AM EST on Wednesday, July 15^th.  Right now, it would be extremely helpful for folks to go to our action alert on Real Nightmare.org, especially since Sen. Jon Tester is on the Homeland Security Committee Senator on the Homeland Security Committee.

 

In an effort to counter PASS ID in the Senate, Representative Cohen will be introducing a genuine Real ID-repeal bill in the House, the REAL ID Repeal and Identification Security Enhancement Act of 2009.  We will be supporting this bill just as we did S.717/H.R.1117 (which Rep. Cohen’s bill is nearly identical to) last year.  As soon as Rep. Cohen’s bill is introduced, likely next week, we will be posting information and action alerts on Real Nightmare.org so you can follow its progress.

 

Please stay informed and stay tuned for more next week.

 

 

 

Read More...

Montana is the only state where death with dignity's legality has been established by the court.

 In Washington and Oregon, terminally ill patients' ability to go to their physicians for help in dying was established by voter initiative.

But in Montana, it's our Constitution that made the difference. Not only does it afford citizens a right to privacy, but it also confirms a right to human dignity -- something not expressly found in most other states' constitutions. Intertwined these two rights are solid foundations for District Court Judge Dorothy McCarter's decision last fall that patients suffering in the last stages of terminal illness have to right ot make their own medical decisions, in concert with their physicians, on how their lives will end, and to do so without interference from the state.

The ACLU of Montana is working hard to make sure that death with dignity is upheld in this state when Baxter v. State of Montana goes before the Montana Supreme Court later this year.

You can learn more about the case in our amicus brief filed with the court last month.

Read More...

It's a heartbreaking story.

A man in Texas suffers from paranoid schitzophrenia. Without proper treatment and medication his condition worsens. He assaults one coworker. A few years later he assaults another person. And then another.

His brother tries to get him committed -- to get him help. But without adequate care the man eventually kills two people. Police find him pacing around the murder scene, muttering and wearing nothing but his socks.

His mental illness is clear, but because he is capable of understanding that what he did was wrong, the man is put to death.

How does that happen? How can a just society execute people who are too sick to control their own actions?

That's just the question asked by the National Alliance on Mental Illness and members of Murder Victims' Families for Human Rights in a joint report released today.

Double Tragedies makes four recommendations:

• Ban the death penalty for people with severe mental illnesses.
• Reform the mental health care system to focus on treatment and prevention.
• Recognize the needs of families of murder victims through rights to information and participation in criminal or mental health proceedings.
• Families of executed persons also should be recognized as victims and given the assistance due to any victims of traumatic loss.

 

Read More...

I devoted my newsletter column (new newsletter to be posted online Monday July 6) to how we've been manipulated by the misnamed "Right to Life". Well, in today's news a relatively new group calling itself the Montana ProLife Coalition has captured the headlines with not one, not two, but three proposed constitutional amendments "protecting unborn babies."

It is curious that the group is asking the Secretary of State's office to help them determine which draft proposal would help them achieve their goal to effectively ban all abortions in Montana.

This is hardly a new concept. Thwarted in a similar campaign in 2008, coming up 20,000 signatures short of the 48,000 signatures needed, and again in the 2009 legislature, these folks are intent on playing to their political base, and again narrowly defining what it means to be "Prolife."

Last time, ACLU, and our partners in defending reproductive rights, worked collaboratively in a successful "decline to sign campaign." Stay tuned to see how you can help us in the months ahead to keep a woman's right to reproductive decision-making a private matter rather than a matter subject to majority rule.

Scott Crichton, ACLU of Montana Executive Director

Read More...

The ACLU works hard to fight racial and ethnic profiling at all levels of our society.

Since 9/11, ethnic profiling has beena serious concern for the ACLU.

Today, the ACLU released "The Persistence of Racial and Ethnic Profiling in the United States: A Follow-up Report to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination" documenting the pervasive problem of widespread racial profiling by federal, state, and local law enforcement agents as a result of Bush-era policies.

The report, by the ACLU and the Rights Working Group, illustrates that government policies are a major cause of the disproportionate stopping and searching of racial minorities by law enforcement agencies and was submitted to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in response to a U.S. government submission. The report calls on Congress to pass the End Racial Profiling Act (ERPA), which would compel all law enforcement agencies to bar racial profiling, create and apply profiling procedures and document data on stop, search and arrest activities by race.

Read More...

ACLU of Montana staff, board members and friends marched in the Pride Parade in Kalispell on June 20.

 The parade and following festival in the park were great fun, and it was so inspiring to see so many people supporting the rights of Montana's LGBT citizens.

 For a good summary of the events and a video featuring our own Lady Liberty, check out this Missoulian story.

Read More...

Good news.

Bozeman responded after hearing from people all over the state, nation and world that its hiring policy requiring applicants turn over usernames and passwords was an invasion of policy.

They rescinded the policy.

Kudos to Bozeman for doing the right thing.

Read More...

A recently revealed City of Bozeman hiring policy requiring job applicants to reveal user names and passwords for social networking accounts like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube flies in the face of Montanans -- and all Americans -- right to privacy.

While an employer can (and likely should during the course of a background check) view an applicant's public profile on online sites, demanding access to information that applicant has set to private -- to be viewed only by selected friends and family -- crosses the line. And with user names and passwords the city would be able to access information that is available only to the applicant, including private e-mails.

The Bozeman Daily Chronicle story on the policy quotes ACLU of Montana Executive Director Scott Crichton, who says the policy is on "shaky legal ground." An Associated Press story quotes ACLU of Montana Communications Director Amy Cannata likening the policy to the city wanting to paw through love letters and family photo albums.

Condemnation of Bozeman's policy has been swift, coming from all corners of the state and world.

The ACLU of Montana urges Bozeman to rescind the policy as soon as possible.

Read More...

The 2009 Montana legislative session may be behind us, but work isn't slowing at the American Civil Liberties Union of Montana. We are currently engaged in numerous high-profile legal cases and are enthusiastically pursuing public policy work and our public education mission across the state.

It's work that we cannot do without the support of our members and donors.
Results in the Legislature were mixed (Check out our End of Session Report for details about the bills we followed).

The ACLU of Montana is extremely happy to be part of work to successfully protect privacy rights, access to reproductive health care, and immigrants' rights. We are disappointed that legislation to expand medical marijuana access and to abolish the death penalty failed to pass this year. Both came so close. Work to educate the public and state legislators changed many hearts and minds, laying the groundwork for legislative victory in 2011.

Read More...

Maine today became the fifth state to legalize gay marriage -- a wonderful step toward securing equal rights for all Americans.

In Montana, gay marriage is still not the reality, but we hope someday soon that will change. Each person has a right to marry the person he or she loves.

The ACLU of Montana is fighting hard for the rights of Montana's LGBT citizens. 

 

Read More...

It seems easy for some to talk about torture in the abstract. They don't want to consider the real and tragic consequences to those being tortured, those administering the torture and society in general.

 Even reading the Bush administration's terror memos (only released thanks to aggressive FOIA action by the ACLU), it can be difficult to understand what the descriptions of allowed activities mean.

That's why I urge you to take a look at a side-by-side comparison of the torture memos and Red Cross reports on prisoner treatment. The comparison, compiled on ProPublica's website, reveals the end result of a government that decides torture is acceptable.

Torture is not acceptable.

Read More...

So far, 2009 has been an interesting year for drug law reform.

 More states are looking at permitting marijuana to be used for medicinal purposes, and some politicians are loudly advocating that pot be legalized.

Perhaps it's prominent politicians' (President Obama)  and athletes' (Michael Phelps) admissions that they have enjoyed a few tokes. Perhaps it's the high cost of incarcerating thousands of people on marijuana charges. Or perhaps it's bad economic times causing people to look for new revenue sources (weed tax, anyone?).

But I think it's that more people are waking up to the fact that marijuana has many incredible medical properties without the side effects of prescription painkillers. And that smoking pot isn't the societal ill it's been billed for decades to be.

In Montana, efforts to make medical marijuana available to more patients and increase those patients' access to the drug failed. So did an effort to decriminalize possession of small amounts of pot.

 BUT, many legislators were educated about the benefits of marijuana. And hopes are high that things will be different next time around.

For a national look at pot, check out this story in today's New York Times. And you can get a look at national ACLU's work on marijuana policy, by clicking here.

Read More...

The ACLU of Montana will argue an important, precedent-setting case Friday in front of the Montana Supreme Court.

The case is about that most primal and important of relationships -- that between a parent and child. Michelle Kulstad won her case last year in District Court to see her two children. Now her former partner is appealing that decision.

Despite years of supporting the children financially and emotionally, with the full endorsement of her former partner, Barbara Maniaci, Kulstad was intially torn from those children when the couple split. The issue? Under the advice of legal counsel, only Barbara legally adopted the boy and girl.

But that doesn't change the fact that Michelle IS the children's parent. And under Montana law those children have a right to maintain their relationship with her.

You can learn more about the case by reading our media advisory, our background information and our legal brief.

Read More...

The Montana House Judiciary Committee voted today to table Senate Bill 236. This means that the bill to replace the death penalty with life without parole does not get sent to the full House body.

It was a disappointing vote, because we know that Montanans care about this issue and want the full House of Representatives to take up the bill. We are so proud and so grateful for the dedication of Montanans to abolition and we hope that the House Judiciary Committee will reconsider sending the bill to the floor.

There is still time!

The House Judiciary Committee can un-table the bill and ask that SB 236 be voted on by all the members of the House. Please contact the representatives on the committee and ask them to reconsider sending SB 236 to the House floor.

Thank you for taking action on SB 236 and helping us end Montana's death penalty! We will continue on!!

Ron Stoker
Deb Kottel
Ken Peterson
Arlene Becker
Gerald Bennett
Anders Blewett
Robyn Driscoll,
Bob Ebinger
David Howard
Krayton Kerns
Margie MacDonald
Edith McClafferty
Mike Menahan
Michael More
Keith Regier
Diane Sands
Bob Wagner
Wendy Warburton

CALL
406-444-4800
Between 8am-5pm, Monday-Friday.

Read More...

Saturday, March 21st was our annual meeting. Some of the highlights of the day included an appearance by Senator John Tester and meeting lots of new people affiliated with the ACLU. The keynote speaker, for those of you who couldn't attend was Mike German, and he did a fantastic job. I personally was fascinated and more than a little horrified, by his explanation of fusion centers across the country and here in Montana. For those of you who aren't familiar with this term, I know I wasn't, a fusion center is a pooling of information collected by assorted agencies and sometimes private companies about U.S. citizens to be used by theoretically by law enforcement agencies to gather data on suspected threats to national security. In some states, like Montana, the National Guard is a member of the fusion center; in Montana, supposedly only for drug cases. In some states, private companies are also involved. These centers often lack oversight and transparency and pose a threat to civil liberties and privacy.

After lunch, we broke into round-table discussions on a variety of topics. I joined the immigration table, and learned a lot about the issue not only from the discussion leader, an immigration attorney named Shahid Haque-Hausrath but also from the other people at the table. It was a wonderful opportunity to hear what other ACLU member and members of the community felt about the issue. At our discussion table, having several immigration lawyers and activists allowed the rest of us to ask questions about immigration and discuss some of the myths that people believe about the subject. The hardest part about the discussions was ending them!

After the round-table discussions we broke into two workshops; one on the legislative session so far, and the other on the legal program that is run out of Missoula. I attended the workshop on the legal program and was surprised at the volume of work the ACLU does across the state. One of the topics we discussed in detail was the Montana Prison Project, run by the new Staff Attorney Jen Giuttari. I was amazed by the work that she does, and floored by her tenacity and bravery in facing some of the worst conditions in the state. The project, for those of you who aren't familiar with it, works with inmates, their families and people working their way through the legal system her e in Montana to help them raise constitutional challenges to a number of issues like living conditions, or abuse. The program is a fairly recent addition to the Montana ACLU. It receives upwards of 50-70 complaints a month, and as word spreads about the work they do, that number is expected to increase. Overall, it was a very interesting glimpse into the important work being done by the legal program in our state.

Read More...

In December of 2007, New Jersey became the first state in almost 50 years to legislatively abolish the death penalty. That was a moment in time that has now become a trend...

For the past several days, all eyes have been on New Mexico, where the state legislature passed a death penalty repeal bill last Friday. Governor Bill Richardson has since welcomed input from constituents on whether or not he should sign the bill. The Governor's office reports that he has heard from a total of 9,413 constituents - 7169 for the repeal of the death penalty and 2244 against. The Governor must take action before midnight tonight. Tomorrow morning, we could be waking up with another state having abolished the death penalty!

New Hampshire has just seen House Bill 250, which would create a commission to study the death penalty in the state, passed out of committee and will soon be voted on by the full House. There is also another bill in new Hampshire, calling for repeal of the death penalty, which will also be voted on by the full House.

In Nebraska today, a bill that would authorize lethal injection as the state's method to enforce the death penalty failed to advance from the Legislature's Judiciary Committee. Nebraska's previous method of execution (the electric chair) was declared unconstitutional by the Nebraska Supreme Court last year and, with the victory today, Nebraska remains with no way to carry out a death sentence.

And finally - here in Montana... last month, we became the first state in HISTORY to pass a bill to abolish the death penalty through a REPUBLICAN-controlled legislative body, when Senate Bill 236 passed the State Senate. This was a landmark victory, and shows that Montana and the nation are moving away from capital punishment.

Even the "most conservative" newspapers are changing their minds and agreeing with us - check out this opinion editorial from The Daily Interlake.

Now is the time to keep the momentum rolling! We will have a hearing on Senate Bill 236 in the House Judiciary Committee next week (March 25th). We need your help to get this bill passed. Write your State Representative right now and tell them to vote FOR SB 236.

Use the following address:

Representative ______
Montana House of Representatives
PO Box 200400
Helena, MT 59620

Let's continue this trend of justice in our country. Let's make Montana the next state to end the death penalty!

Read More...

Rome's Colosseum is best known for Roman Empire days of brutal fights to the death between Gladiators and wild animals. It just took a turn of the thumb for the Emporer to give a man life or death.

The Colosseum was most frequently bathed in blood.

Tonight it will be bathed in light -- golden lights to mark the Montana Senate's passage of Senate Bill 236 to repeal the death penalty in the state and replace it with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.

 The Colosseum is now lit in honor of such victories for justice and human rights worldwide. This lighting comes from the initiative of the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Council of Rome, which wanted to mark this Montana victory.

The ACLU of Montana and the Montana Abolition Coaltion hope the Colosseum will be lit two more times in honor of the work of Montana lawmakers -- when the House of Representatives passes death penalty abolition and when it is signed into law by Governor Schweitzer.

Read More...

A bill to make it easier for medical marijuana patients to get their much-needed medicine, and to add more illnesses to the list of those for which medical marijuana can be prescribed, just passed the Montana Senate 28-22.

Great work from Patients and Families United made it possible!

And the ACLU of Montana's own Ed Stickney, Board President, was a key speaker at a rally last week in support of the effort.

Read more about that rally in blog entries below.

Read More...

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Supreme Court case Tinker v Des Moines Indpendent School District, which upheld students' right to free speech at school.

That case, involving students who were prohibited from wearing antiwar armbands to school, was brought by 13-year-old Mary Beth Tinker, represented by the ACLU of Iowa.

Even with the Supreme Court decision, however, students free speech rights are under constant attack.

Recently a Florida principal banned students from wearing any clothing with a rainbow on it because he thought such symbols promoted homosexuality. "Reading Rainbow," out. Apple Computers' rainbow apple, out. Meanwhile he had no problem with Confederate flags on clothing.

Ponce de Leon High School student Heather Gillman challenged the ban in court. Again, the ACLU stepped forward to help students, taking the case, Gillman v. Holmes County School District, and won.

 Students must be able to speak their minds.

To learn more about Tinker and Gillman, check out this video.

Read More...

Senate bill 326 was debated for the second time on the house floor on Saturday, February 21st. The decision was 25 senators voting yes to the bill and 24 senators voting no. This important piece of legislation is an attempt to make the current medical marijuana law in Montana more workable for patients. The bill would increase the number of conditions that qualify for use of medical marijuana as well as increase the amount of marijuana that a patient may possess and the number of plants that a caregiver may grow. This bill stems from Patients and Families United, and their work with medical marijuana patients around the state. The current law posses a significant hardship to many patents because the limited amount of marijuana they may possess often leads to disruptions in treatment.

Several comments on the bill focused on the provision under the bill that would prohibit employers from firing employees who used medical marijuana. The sponsor of the bill, Senator Ron Erickson responded by saying that no-one is advocating that medical marijuana patients should be allowed to use marijuana while at work or otherwise under its influence, simply that the fact that they are patients should not allow them to be singled out for termination of employment. Surely any reasonable person can see the danger in a person under the influence of marijuana driving a semi truck or operating heavy machinery, although these seem to be unlikely professions for patients with debilitating medical conditions. This situation would be no different than the use of other prescription narcotics that would otherwise be used by these patients to treat their pain. These drugs can also cause severe impairment, but employers cannot fire an employee simply because he or she has a prescription for these drugs.

Another concern, brought up by Senator Verdell Jackson was the belief that marijuana is a gateway drug and endangers Montana's youth. While never once mentioning patients or the medical use of marijuana, Senator Jackson proceeded into a long winded story of the supposed effects of marijuana use by a 16 year old former student of the senator's. His testimony fairly reeked of the paranoia epitomized by the Reefer Madness era of American history when drugs were vilified as the root of all social evils from rape to communism. The comparison of medical marijuana to the recreational use of the drug by teenagers is both offensive and ignorant of the issues being discussed. To suggest that a patient suffering from a disease such as M.S. will start using medical marijuana to ease the chronic pain caused by their disease, or maybe even stop its progression and then move onto drugs like heroin or into a life of crime is not only absurd, it ignores the pain that these patients live with on a daily basis and equates them to the level of irresponsible teenager rebelling against society.

Another point that was brought up by Senator McGee, albeit ironically, was that this law is in violation of federal drug statutes. Currently, a dozen other states have similar medical marijuana laws, many that are far less restrictive than Montana's. Apparently these states have sufficiently addressed the concerns about federalism in their states, and Montana should be no different. The Montana Supreme Court case State of Montana v. Timothy Scott Nelson adequately addressed this concern when it found that in Montana, Montana laws will be followed on this issue instead of federal mandates.
The most poignant part of the debate on Saturday was given by

those who personally knew someone who had been affected by medical marijuana use, or could have been. The overwhelming support of this legislation by patients who have seen drastic improvement in their lives was heartwarming. Very rarely do Montana legislators have the ability to do some much good for people who really need relief. Medical marijuana significantly improves the lives of the majority of patients who use it. Unlike the pharmaceutical alternatives pushed by major drug companies, it is not addictive, it is not possible to overdose on it, nor does it leave side-effect producing toxins in the body. Senator Erickson spoke the words "Pain is not partisan, pain is not political," and these words really sum up the issues at hand.

Read More...

Marijuana plants. In the Montana Capitol Rotunda.

It was a first at the "Cannabis at the Capitol" event, which promoted medical marijuana and drug law reform.

 

The rotunda was crowded with people there to listen to a retired Denver Police lieutenant talk about the failure of U.S. drug policy, learn about medical marijuana and hemp and munch on free (pot-free) brownies.

ACLU of Montana Board President Dr. Ed Stickney spoke about what a miracle drug marijuana is to patients suffering from chronic pain.

Of course, unlike most rotunda rallies, police were on hand observing the event. Because you know how dangerous people who use marijuana are (not)!

Read More...

Montana senators voted 27-23 this afternoon to abolish the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The vote on third reading of the Senate Bill 236 introduced by Senator David Wanzenried came up with the same results as yesterday's vote after floor debate.

This is great news for Montana and kudos go out to the ACLU's partners in the Montana Abolition Coaltion.

The work isn't over, however.

Now is the time to start contacting your legislators in the Montana House of Representatives to urge them to support ending capital punishment.

Tell them that the death penalty is unjust, too expensive and offers no evidence of serving as a deterrent to crime.

Send an online message using this form.

Call the Session Information Desk at 406-444-4800 to leave a message that will be delivered directly to your legislator.

Write your representative at:
Montana House of Representatives
PO Box 200400
Helena, MT 59620-0400

 

 

Read More...

The Montana Senate today voted 27-23 to abolish the death penalty and replace it with a sentence of life in prison without the possiblity of parole.

There will be a final Senate vote on the issue -- likely Tuesday. Then it's on to the House of Representatives.

Senators who voted in favor of the bill said that the death penalty is too costly, applied unevenly to the detriment of the poor and minorities and that even the slightest chance of executing and innocent person is too much of a chance.

Read More...

One piece of good news -- late Monday afternoon Feb. 9, Rep. Teresa Henry's bill seeking to create a pharmaceutical registry was defeated 14-2 in the House Human Services Committee.

Although the bill was long in the works and was supported by lobbyists from nearly the entire medical industrial complex, it was heavily amended just prior to introduction.

In 2007, we raised concerns about violations of privacy when a similar bill was introduced to the Senate Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee and were asked to work with the sponsor to amend the bill to address the issues raised. It was amended to:

1) comport with HIPA`s confidentiality standards;
2) require a search warrant for police to access the database;
3) prohibit any commercial use of the database information;
4) Database information cannot be used as evidence in civil or criminal proceedings;
5) after 3 years the record will be purged unless part of an active investigation;
6) Civil penalties up to $250,000 per violation included for unlawful disclosure of database.

Rep. Henry's House bill embraced these elements as amended in 2007. One "informational" witness, a local county attorney, suggested the committee lower the standard for search warrants and probable cause, and also wanted data to be accessible for civil cases.

Between ACLU ‘s testimony and his, you can see that there was some real confusion about whether this was a medical bill or a law enforcement bill. I think the vote spoke clearly that most saw it as the latter.

 

Read More...

Today marks a key milestone in the campaign to abolish capital punishment in Montana. The Senate Judiciary Committee just passed Senate Bill 236, which would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Now it will soon come before the full Senate.

Senators on the Judiciary Committee last week heard moving testimony from the families of murder victims, an innocent man sent to death row, law enforcement officials and others who oppose the death penalty as a system that is broken beyond repair, risks executing an innocent person, wastes taxpayer dollars and hurts the people of Montana.

All Montana senators must now hear how important it is that they vote to end capital punishment in the state.

They will likely be voting on the issue by the end of the week. Contact your Senators NOW to urge their support for this important bill!

1. Send an online message using this form

2. Call the Session Information Desk at 406-444-4800 to leave a message that will be delivered directly to your legislator.

3. Write your Senator at:

Montana Senate
PO Box 200500
Helena, MT 59620-0500

Act now to end the injustice of the death penalty.

Read More...

Wednesday's Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on abolishing the death penalty was an outstanding success.

Almost 30 people testified in favor of ending the death penalty and replacing it  with a sentence of life in prison.

We're hopeful that this will be the year that we finally end capital punishment in Montana.

To learn more about what happened at the hearing, click here.

Read More...

 

Today was the hearing on the bill to abolish the death penalty.  I unfortunately couldn't be physically present for the hearing, but I listened to it on the web.  I was pleased to hear so many people had shown up to speak on the bill, both as proponents and opponents. 

One time period I found especially intriguing was the question and answer period.  As you might guess, several of those who came to speak on this bill were members of the clergy.  On particularly probing, albeit, totally off topic, question was asked by the chair of the committee, who shall remain nameless, to a reverend.  He asked, "Reverend, are these words written by man," referring of course to the gospel.  While assumingly not knowing that this has been a monumental topic of theologians, philosophers, and lay people around the world everywhere for centuries, this question seemed to be more something to be asked in Sunday school than in a political hearing on the death penalty.  My objection was similarly voiced by Senator Carol Juneau and Senator Moss who seemed to concur that the religious overtones where inappropriate for a judicial committee of the Montana State legislature. 

It is my sincere hope that when debating this, or any issue the legal merits of the issue will weigh supreme over religious zeal.  There seem to be more than enough political and legal questions wrapped up in this issue without complicating it with religion. 

This bill is incredibly important as it addresses a serious violation of human rights, and legally indefensible policy.  The United States is one of only handful of nations that allows the death penalty, alongside of countries like Iran, China and Pakistan.  Hopefully, Montana can take an important first step in removing the United States name from this list that reads more like a "Who's Who" in world human rights violators than a list of nations the U.S. would want to be compared to. 

Read More...

Brightly colored posters and eloquently drafted speeches are undoubtedly important in changing public opinion, but sometimes you just need a little old-fashioned chanting. That's exactly what happened Thursday at the Montana State Capitol during a rally held by the Montana Reproductive Rights Coalition. Although the event was well attended, not many legislators were present, and as important as the message of today's event was, we didn't want them to miss out on all the fun. The acoustics of the rotunda, for those of you have not chanted there yourself, are perfectly designed to carry our voices, and message throughout the halls and chambers of the capitol. As much fun as interrupting session was, the speakers' today had a serious message to get out as well. Several of the women spoke about the importance of continuing the hard-won battle represented by Roe. This particular fight may be settled for the time being, but many other important issues of women's rights still exist. While I've had the luxury of growing up in a post-Roe world - the case was decided 14 years before I was even born - issues like easy and safe access to health care and contraceptives and sexual education in schools are still very present issues of my generation. Events like today serve as a reminder that Roe v. Wade is not just an important part of history but a living and changing struggle still being fought all around the world. I sure do love a little dose of feminism in the afternoon!

Read More...

My name is Katy Heitstuman and I am the new intern for the 2009 legislative session. I am a senior at Carroll College majoring in Political Science, Latin American Studies and Spanish. I'm a Helena native and proud graduate of Capital High School. I'm looking forward to learning the inner-workings for the ACLU and the basis of public-policy activism. I've very excited about some of the important issues before the legislature this year, and doubt that any of my time spent here will be boring. I will try and keep you all posted on my activities and all that I'm learning! Have a great new year!

Read More...

The ACLU of Montana is launching a new blog to provide members and the general public with up-to-date information about what's going on in the Montana State Legislature, with ACLU legal activities and other ACLU activity.

 

Look here for bill updates, information on our legal filings and links to news in the fight to protect Americans' and Montanans' civil liberties!

 

Read More...