A federal judge has rejected a motion by the Milwaukee Police Department that sought to dismiss a case brought by two city residents who claimed their constitutional rights were violated when they were arrested near a memorial site for a Black man fatally shot by an officer in 2016.
Read More »Tag Archives: American Civil Liberties Union
Supreme Court’s abortion ruling sets off new court fights
The fall of Roe v. Wade shifted the battleground over abortion to courthouses around the country Monday, as abortion foes looked to quickly enact statewide bans and the other side sought to buy more time.
Read More »Report: 50 of 13,000 inmates voted from jail in 2020
A new report suggests that only 50 of the approximately 13,000 people in Wisconsin jails cast a ballot in 2020 elections.
Read More »Wisconsin lawmakers consider banning transgender athletes
Female athletes urged Wisconsin lawmakers on Wednesday to ban transgender people from participating in girls' and women's sports, while opponents of the Republican-backed proposals said they were discriminatory and chasing a problem that doesn't exist.
Read More »Supreme Court throws abortion fight into center of midterms
In agreeing to hear a potentially groundbreaking abortion case, the Supreme Court has energized activists on both sides of the long-running debate who are now girding to make abortion access a major issue in next year's midterm elections.
Read More »Biden orders end of federally run private prisons
President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered the Department of Justice to end its reliance on private prisons and acknowledge the central role government has played in implementing discriminatory housing policies.
Read More »ACLU of Wisconsin, WAAL to host legal observer training for protesters
The ACLU of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Association of African-American Lawyers are offering a free, online legal-observer training session on Thursday.
Read More »Corrections: Nearly 1,600 inmates released due to COVID-19
The Wisconsin Department of Corrections says it's released nearly 1,600 inmates since March to help reduce the possibility of spreading the coronavirus.
Read More »Wisconsin Supreme Court rejects lawsuit asking for prisoner release
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has rejected a lawsuit seeking the release of inmates from state prisons to reduce their risk of contracting COVID-19.
Read More »Lawsuit seeks release of Wisconsin inmates due to virus
Two inmates with preexisting conditions joined together with Disability Rights Wisconsin and criminal defense attorneys on Friday to ask the state Supreme Court to release elderly and vulnerable inmates from the state prisons who would be at greatest risk from the coronavirus outbreak.
Read More »Bill would allow schools to release parents’ names
The state Assembly is preparing to vote on a bill that would allow public schools to release the names of students' parents and guardians.
Read More »Jury awards $780,500 in transgender lawsuit
A jury has awarded a transgender University of Wisconsin-Madison employee and a transgender UW-Madison student $780,500 worth of damages after a federal judge ruled a state ban on insurance coverage for gender-changing surgery amounts to sexual discrimination.
Read More »Federal judge signs off on juvenile-prison deal
A federal judge has signed off on an agreement that would end the use of pepper spray and nearly eliminate the use of solitary confinement inWisconsin's juvenile prisons.
Read More »ACLU lawsuit accuses US of wrongfully denying asylum
The American Civil Liberties Union sued the U.S. government Tuesday over its efforts to prevent immigrants from seeking asylum due to domestic and gang violence in their home countries.
Read More »ACLU sues over plans for citizenship question on 2020 census
Civil-rights lawyers sued the U.S. Commerce Department on Wednesday to try to stop plans to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, calling it an unconstitutional attempt to discriminate against immigrants.
Read More »Vote on Milwaukee police lawsuit settlement delayed
Milwaukee officials considering settling a lawsuit accusing the police department of stopping minorities without probable cause say they want to know how much the city will have to pay before they make a decision.
Read More »Milwaukee reaches possible settlement in stop-and-frisk suit
The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and the city of Milwaukee have reached a tentative $1.9 settlement in a lawsuit alleging the city police department's stop-and-frisk policy unfairly targets minorities.
Read More »Waukesha sheriff asks for immigration enforcement authority
The Waukesha County sheriff wants training for his deputies to perform the functions of immigration agents at his jail.
Read More »Wisconsin appeals ruling allowing gay marriages (UPDATE)
Wisconsin's attorney general on Thursday appealed a federal judge's ruling from last month striking down the state's ban on same-sex marriages as unconstitutional.
Read More »Courts divided over cellphone search cases for IP lawyers
At the trial of Michael Patino, who was charged in Rhode Island state court with the beating death of his girlfriend’s young son, prosecutors were armed with cellphone data and other documents obtained with valid search warrants.
Read More »Groups hope to stop voter ID law
When Florence Hessing tried to get a state-issued photo identification card to comply with Wisconsin's new voter ID law, the 95-year-old was told she needed her birth certificate.
Read More »Judge Niess delays decision on voter ID lawsuit
A Wisconsin judge has delayed a decision on whether to let a lawsuit challenging Wisconsin's new voter identification law to proceed.
Read More »ACLU files federal lawsuit over voter ID law (UPDATE)
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday, claiming Wisconsin's new voter identification law imposes a severe burden on the right to vote — the second lawsuit filed in the last two months.
Read More »Transgender inmates win appeal over treatments (UPDATE)
By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press Writer MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a ruling striking down a Wisconsin law banning publicly funded hormone therapy for transgender inmates, saying denying the treatment amounted to torture. The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision came in a case brought by a group of male inmates who identify ...
Read More »Court upholds sentence at women’s prison (UPDATE)
By TODD RICHMOND Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin appeals court rejected a schizophrenic inmate’s request for a new sentence because she can’t get proper mental health care at Wisconsin’s largest women’s prison, ruling Wednesday that problems at the facility are nothing new. Taycheedah Correctional Institution’s inability to provide its inmates with appropriate health care is well-known and ...
Read More »Walker signs photo ID requirement into law (UPDATE)
By SCOTT BAUER Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Gov. Scott Walker signed into law Wednesday a requirement that voters in Wisconsin show photo identification at the polls, marking the end of a nearly decade-long push by Republicans to enact it. Opponents are expected to challenge the constitutionality of the law in court, but it wasn’t clear if those would ...
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