Headlines
February 05, 2010
General Assembly Must Pass Pro-Choice License Plate Bill
Richmond, VA – The ACLU of Virginia is urging members of the Virginia General Assembly to support Senate and House bills that authorize a pro-choice specialty license plate. The plate, containing the phrase Trust Women, Respect Choice, counters a law passed in 2009 authorizing a Choose Life license plate. read more »
February 03, 2010
ACLU Legal Filing Says Private Security Guards Bound by Constitution When Detaining Suspects
Chesterfield County, VA – The ACLU of Virginia has filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the entire Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse an earlier three-judge panel decision that private security guards are not bound by the Constitution when detaining and arresting suspects. read more »
January 28, 2010
ACLU Says House Legislation Allowing Government-Sanctioned Sectarian Prayers Threatens Religious Equality
Richmond, VA – The ACLU of Virginia has asked members of a House of Delegates committee to reject a bill that permits sectarian prayers at events sponsored by the State Police. In a memo delivered today to members of the Militia, Police, and Public Safety Committee, the civil liberties organization says it is prepared to challenge the bill in court should it become law and lead to unconstitutional prayers. read more »
January 15, 2010
Groups Express Profound Disappointment in Governor’s Refusal to Restore Voting Rights to Persons with Felony Convictions
Richmond, VA – Civil rights and faith-based groups that have been actively lobbying Governor Tim Kaine to restore voting rights to 300,000 Virginians disenfranchised by the state's last vestige of Jim Crow today expressed extreme disappointment in the Governor's decision not to act before leaving office. Virginia is one of only two states--Kentucky is the other -- that permanently disenfranchises all felons, requiring an act of the Governor for rights to be restored. The law is a carryover from the 1901 Constitutional Convention, which was called primarily for the purpose of perpetuating or instituting polices that would prevent racial minorities from voting and holding elected office in the state. read more »
January 15, 2010
ACLU Asks Stafford School Board to Adopt Prayer Policy that Protects Religious Liberty at Meetings
Stafford County, VA – The ACLU of Virginia today asked the Stafford County School Board to adopt a policy allowing a moment of silence or nonsectarian prayers before opening its meetings, but not to permit sectarian prayers. read more »
January 13, 2010
Virginians Asked to Join Chorus for Immediate Action to Restore Voting Rights to 300,000 Individuals with Felony Convictions
Richmond, VA – The ACLU of Virginia today urged Virginians to contact Governor Kaine to ask him to issue an executive order that would restore voting rights to most or all of Virginia’s 300,000 individuals who are being denied the right to vote because of a felony conviction. read more »
Blog
Is it Art or Obscenity? Ask the Board of Visitors.
The Sex Workers Art Show (SWAS), which caused quite a commotion at the College of William and Mary and Virginia Commonwealth University in recent years, is now causing a stir in the General Assembly. read more »
Virginia’s Pot Laws Need Stirring
Virginia is confused. It has a law allowing physicians to prescribe marijuana for the treatment of glaucoma and cancer, but no means for patients to legally obtain the drug. This is both sad and absurd, as is Virginia’s marijuana possession law. read more »
Pro-Choice License Plate, Free Speech and DMV
Last spring when then-Governor Tim Kaine signed a bill authorizing DMV to issue a “Choose Life” specialty license plate, he warned Virginia’s legislators that they had no choice but to pass a “pro-choice” license plate bill should one be introduced in the next legislative session. Well, the next session is here, and we have that bill (HB 1108, authorizing a “Trust Women, Respect Choice” specialty license plate). read more »
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