By Kristina Bui
February 9, 2011
Arizona Daily Wildcat

You know that photo of you, bleary-eyed and smiley, red plastic cup in hand? You know the one. You look like a hot, drunk mess, your friend keeps tagging you in it, it’s on Facebook for the whole Internet to see? That one. I bet you’d be having words with your tag-happy little pal if the UA administration were keeping tabs on your profile.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, much of the discussion at the National Conference on Law and Higher Education centered around issues presented by Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. These issues have colleges wondering if there is a need to police the Internet in order to monitor what their students and faculty members are doing or posting online.

In May 2006, Stacey Snyder was a student at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, just days away from her graduation at the time. Then the university denied her a teaching degree. The university claimed it was because a photo on her MySpace profile. Remember, it was 2006 and people still used MySpace. (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…)

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.

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 ADAM LIPTAK
New York Times
November 27, 2010

WASHINGTON — In 1976, just six months after he joined the Supreme Court, Justice John Paul Stevens voted to reinstate capital punishment after a four-year moratorium. With the right procedures, he wrote, it is possible to ensure “evenhanded, rational and consistent imposition of death sentences under law.”

In 2008, two years before he announced his retirement, Justice Stevens reversed course and in a concurrence said that he now believed the death penalty to be unconstitutional.

But the reason for that change of heart, after more than three decades on the court and some 1,100 executions, has in many ways remained a mystery, and now Justice Stevens has provided an explanation. (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…)

By Denise Lavoie
Associated Press / October 13, 2010

The US Department of Justice yesterday defended the federal law defining marriage as between a man and a woman in its appeal of two rulings in Massachusetts by a judge who called the law unconstitutional for denying federal benefits to gay married couples.

In two separate cases, US District Judge Joseph Tauro in July ruled the federal Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional because it interferes with a state’s right to define marriage and denies married gay couples an array of federal benefits given to heterosexual married couples, including the ability to file joint tax returns. (more…)

HARRISBURG (October 4)- The Pennsylvania House of Representatives today passed legislation to add new reforms to the commonwealth’s systems of criminal sentencing and parole. The intent of the bill, Senate Bill 1161, is to provide much-needed relief to the state’s bursting prison system, said the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, a supporter of the bill.

“Our prison system is at its breaking point,” said Andy Hoover , legislative director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania. “The passage of this bill, while not perfect, is another sign that the legislature is getting sm art on crime.” (more…)