ACLU of Oregon

ACLU No Fly List Challenge Argued in Appeals Court in Portland

May 11, 2012 – The American Civil Liberties Union argued in a federal appeals court Friday morning that its challenge to the government’s secretive No Fly List should be reinstated. The ACLU represents 15 U.S. citizens and permanent residents, including four military veterans, who are banned from flying to or from the U.S. or over American airspace, causing great personal hardship. They have never been told why they are on the list or given a reasonable opportunity to get off it.

The national ACLU, along with its affiliates in Oregon, Southern California, Northern California and New Mexico, filed the lawsuit against the FBI, which creates and controls the list. In May 2011, the district court in Portland dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, ruling that the lawsuit should have been filed against the Transportation Security Administration, which administers the redress process for travelers denied boarding.

Privacy Questions Delay Vote on Surveillance Cameras

May 9, 2012 - The Portland City Council this morning postponed a vote on a proposal that, if approved, would enable increased use of surveillance cameras by the Portland Police Bureau. The ACLU of Oregon testified in opposition to the proposal at last week's City Council meeting, raising concerns about the privacy implications of 24-hour video surveillance of perfectly legal activities of Portlanders in their everyday lives. At that meeting, the Council agreed to delay a vote on the proposal to allow for the Police Bureau to research and report on further specifics that might address the privacy concerns raised at the hearing. To allow for more time for the Bureau to do so, the Council delayed the vote again today. It is rescheduled for May 30.

ACLU Joins Network of Advocates Calling for Release of May Day Activist

May 3, 2012 - Ricardo Valera was arrested at Portland’s May Day March on Tuesday while peaceably exercising his First Amendment rights. All of Ricardo’s criminal charges have been dropped, yet today he remains in Multnomah County Jail where the Sheriff continues to hold him at the request of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

This afternoon the ACLU signed on to a letter with other members of the ACT Network for Justice and Dignity, calling for the Sheriff to immediately release Ricardo. The ACT Network is a collection of individuals and organizations who advocate for an end to collaboration between ICE and local law enforcement. Referencing a recent Resolution passed by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners that expressed great concern for the devastating effect on families and on our community of ICE policies, today’s letter to the Sheriff urged him to follow the lead of the Commissioners by refusing to do ICE’s dirty work.

Need For a Warrant For GPS Tracking Still Not Settled

Submitted by Aclu of Oregon on April 27, 2012 - 4:38pm

ACLU Files a Friend of the Court Brief in GPS Tracking Case

Yesterday, the national ACLU and ACLU of Oregon filed an amicus brief in United States v. Pineda-Moreno in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In 2007, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in Oregon, without a warrant, were able to place a GPS tracking device to the silver Jeep owned by Juan Pineda-Moreno while parked in his driveway. Pineda-Moreno was suspected of growing marijuana.

The Ninth Circuit initially ruled against Pineda-Moreno in 2010, but the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and remanded the case for further consideration by the Ninth Circuit in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in United States v. Jones.

Death Penalty - The Enduring Failure To Protect Against Racism

Submitted by Aclu of Oregon on April 24, 2012 - 2:12pm

By Jeffrey Ellis, Director of the Oregon Capital Resource Center

Twenty five years ago this week in a case entitled McCleskey v. Kemp, the United States Supreme Court was faced with disturbing proof that race influences who is sentenced to death in the United States. In Georgia, where the case originated, black defendants charged with killing white victims were 4.3 times as likely to receive a death sentence as white defendants charged with killing black victims. This prompted Justice Brennan to write:

"At some point in this case, Warren McCleskey doubtless asked his lawyer whether a jury was likely to sentence him to die. A candid reply to this question would have been disturbing. First, counsel would have to tell McCleskey that few of the details of the crime or of McCleskey’s past criminal conduct were more important than the fact that his victim was white….In addition, frankness would compel the disclosure that it was more likely than not that the race of McCleskey’s victim would determine whether he received a death sentence… Finally, the assessment would not be complete without the information that cases involving black defendants and white victims are more likely to result in a death sentence than cases featuring any other racial combination of defendant and victim. The story could be told in a variety of ways, but McCleskey could not fail to grasp its essential narrative line: there was a significant chance that race would play a prominent role in determining if he lived or died."

Although our criminal justice system aspires to be color blind we are tethered to our unfortunate history of racism.

Racial Profiling Hurts Everyone, Regardless of Color

Submitted by Aclu of Oregon on April 12, 2012 - 1:52pm

On April 2, 2012, the Community Alliance of Lane County hosted a Justice for Trayvon Martin rally at the Wayne Morse Plaza in downtown Eugene. ACLU of Oregon co-sponsored the event which called for an end to racial profiling. Here is the speech that Claire Syrett, Field Director for ACLU of Oregon, gave at the rally.

I want to thank the Community Alliance of Lane County for organizing this vigil and for all the important work that the Back to Back program does in our community. I am grateful to have this opportunity to speak on behalf of the ACLU of Oregon about the Trayvon Martin case which has sparked such a strong reaction across the country.

I want to be clear that the ACLU is not seeking to pass judgment on George Zimmerman – we are not in a position to know all the facts in this case. We are pleased that there is a special prosecutor investigating, and it is up to the federal and Florida state authorities to decide whether or not to charge Mr. Zimmerman with a crime. If he is charged with a crime, he should be afforded the full criminal due process rights we all expect of our criminal justice system, including that he is assumed to be innocent unless proven otherwise.