February 18, 2011|
Peter Hall
THE MORNING CALL

PHILADELPHIA — An attorney for two Easton Area Middle School girls threatened with discipline last fall for wearing rubber bracelets with the slogan “I ♥ Boobies!” to promote breast cancer awareness argued in a hearing Friday the message wasn’t intended to be sexual and didn’t warrant the school’s ban on the apparel.

The bracelets use the heart symbol popularized by New York’s “I love New York” campaign.

School district solicitor John Freund told U.S. District Judge Mary A. McLaughlin that the intent didn’t matter; it was the perception and context that mattered. Testimony from administrators in the district’s seventh- and eighth-grade middle school building clearly shows other students saw a sexual double entendre in the message. (more…)

Human Rights Watch

US citizens enjoy a broad range of civil liberties and have recourse to a strong system of independent federal and state courts, but continuing failures-notably in the criminal justice and immigration systems and in counterterrorism law and policy-mar its human rights record. Although the Obama administration has pledged to address many of these concerns, progress has been slow; in some areas it has been nonexistent.

There were positive developments in 2010, including a Supreme Court ruling abolishing the sentencing of children to life in prison without parole for non-homicide crimes; a new law that promises to reduce racial disparities in the sentencing of cocaine offenders; and a healthcare law promising health insurance to an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans.

All of these topics were examined in November 2010 during the first-ever Universal Periodic Review of the US at the United Nations Human Rights Council, part of a larger process in which the Council examines the human rights records of all 192 UN member states. (more…)

Amy Crawford | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Monday, January 17, 2011

Like many of her peers, Hempfield Area senior Ali Weatherton uses the social networking website Facebook nearly every day.

“The first thing I do when I come home is check Facebook,” said Weatherton, 17, who called the site “addictive.”

But though Facebook makes it easy to keep in touch with friends, Weatherton has discovered that the constant connection has its downside.

For most of her junior year, Weatherton was harassed online by a jealous former friend and her allies, who posted insults on Facebook and made fun of the clothes Weatherton wore to school.

“It got really embarrassing,” she said.

Though the bullies did most of the tormenting through Facebook, their reach was not confined to the Internet. The stress caused Weatherton to suffer seizures, and she was afraid to attend school activities.

“It had a real impact on my life,” Weatherton said. “I didn’t want to go to school some days.” (more…)

By J. Scott Applewhite, AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from opponents of same-sex marriage who are seeking to put a proposal on the ballot to overturn the District of Columbia’s gay marriage law.
The court did not comment Tuesday in turning away a challenge from a Maryland pastor and others who want Washingtonians to vote on a measure that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Bishop Harry Jackson led a lawsuit against the district’s Board of Elections and Ethics after the board refused to put the initiative on the ballot. The board ruled that the ballot question would in effect authorize discrimination.

Last year Washington began issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples and began in 2009 began recognizing gay marriages performed elsewhere.

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Peter Suderman, Reason.com
January 11, 2011

Thanks to the ACLU, you can now say all seven of George Carlin’s seven dirty words in Pennsylvania without fear of being fined by the state police:

Travelers and residents in Pennsylvania, feel free to break open that swear jar — you no longer need it to make bail. This week, the Pennsylvania State Police reached a settlement with the ACLU that retires them from policing the dictionary. This, after 770 people were cited in a one-year period, and faced a fine and potential jail time, for speaking words the state police deemed obscene.

The ACLU of Pennsylvania filed a lawsuit in May on behalf of Lona Scarpa of Luzerne County, who called a motorcyclist an “asshole” after he swerved too close to her and another pedestrian. When she reported the incident to the police, Ms. Scarpa found herself charged with disorderly conduct for swearing and faced a possible $300 fine and 90 days in jail. (more…)

By Jeff Martin, USA TODAY

School districts nationwide have their eyes on a federal court case in Pennsylvania, which will address whether students should be allowed to wear breast-cancer awareness bracelets that have become a controversy in multiple states.

The bracelets — which proclaim “I (heart symbol) boobies!” — have been banned in some districts. U.S. District Judge Mary McLaughlin will hear oral arguments on Feb. 18.

“Anytime a case based on a First Amendment free-speech case crops up, then other school districts are going to look at it,” said Robert Richards, founder of the Pennsylvania Center for the First Amendment at Pennsylvania State University. “Based on how those decisions come out, schools will change their policies or adopt policies.” (more…)

By Jessica Tully and Christina Gallagher
December 7, 2010
Daily Collegian

State College attorney Andrew Shubin said Centre County police officers are too concerned with generating a high number of student arrests for low-level offenses at the University Park Undergraduate Association-sponsored town hall meeting Monday night.

“What the students don’t understand is that Penn State is not Pittsburgh or Philadelphia. State College is like Mississippi — the prosecutors, defense attorneys and jurors are very conservative,” Shubin said.

Shubin, a guest attorney at the meeting, said that if he was defending a client in a Philadelphia county, the first thing that he would tell the judge is that his client is a student at Penn State because it is highly recognized institution.

But he said if he were representing a student in Centre County, it would not matter that the student attended Penn State because his client’s background would be nearly identical to that of 40,000 other students.

Shubin said that it is important for students to realize that State College is a school zone, so low-level offenses, such as drinking and selling marijuana, are treated much more harshly. If his client lived in Philadelphia and was caught selling a quarter pound of marijuana, he would get a misdemeanor charge at the most, Shubin said. If his client was caught selling the illegal substance in State College, he would most likely receive a two to four year mandatory prison sentence.

“I hate that I am paying taxes to incarcerate engineering majors,” Shubin said. (more…)

By DAVID G. SAVAGE AND CAROL J. WILLIAMS
Tribune Washington Bureau
Nov. 28, 2010
WASHINGTON — The suicide rate in California’s overcrowded prisons is nearly twice the national average, and one inmate dies every eight days from inadequate medical care.

These are just two indicators cited in the 15-year legal battle over whether the state’s prisons are failing to provide humane medical care for 165,000 inmates.

On Tuesday the problems of California’s prisons will move to a national stage, when the Supreme Court hears the state’s challenge to an extraordinary court order that would require the prison population to be reduced by one-fourth in two years. That could mean releasing or transferring more than 40,000 inmates, state lawyers say.

The case is not just of interest to California.

Lawyers for 18 other states, including Illinois, Pennsylvania and Virginia, joined in support of California’s appeal, saying they feared a ruling upholding the prison-release order could trigger similar moves across the nation. “Real world experience” suggests that releasing a large number of inmates would “inevitably place innocent citizens at much greater risk,” they said. (more…)

HARRISBURG (October 27)- Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell today signed legislation to reform the commonwealth’s sentencing and parole systems, in an attempt to address overcrowded state prisons. The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania praised the governor and the legislature for continuing reform efforts but also noted that more work needs to be done.

“The status quo is not sustainable,” said Andy Hoover, legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “Legislators and the governor recognize that simply warehousing as many people as possible is a recipe for financial disaster.” (more…)

October 28, 2010

PITTSBURGH – The American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania filed a federal lawsuit today on behalf of a Newcastle couple, Elizabeth Mort and Alex Rodriguez, whose newborn daughter was seized and held for five days by Lawrence County Children and Youth Services (LCCYS) after the mother failed a hospital drug test because she had recently eaten a bagel with poppy seeds.

“No parent should have to go through what this couple did,” said ACLU of Pennsylvania staff attorney Sara Rose, who is representing Mort and Rodriguez. “This case is a tragic illustration of the harm that can result when the government removes a child based only on the accusation of a third party and without any independent investigation.” (more…)