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ACLU Program Encourages Applications for Restoration of Voting Rights in Time for November Elections
Richmond, VA – Taking advantage of recent announcements from the governor that he will expedite restoration applications to enable former felons to vote in the November elections, the ACLU of Virginia has launched a program to encourage and assist individuals with the restoration of their voting rights. The program begins with advertisements in today’s Voice newspaper in the Richmond area, and tomorrow’s Voice newspaper in Hampton Roads. Tomorrow’s Richmond Free Press will run a large format version of the ad. read more »
ACLU Excoriates House of Delegates for Rejection of Judicial Candidate Based on Sexual Orientation
Richmond, VA – The ACLU of Virginia today issued a statement criticizing members of the House of Delegates’ for their refusal to appoint Tracy Thorne-Begland as a Richmond General District Court judge because he is openly gay. After receiving endorsements from the courts of justice committees in both the House of Delegates and the Senate, Thorne-Begland, who is currently chief deputy commonwealth's attorney for the City of Richmond, appeared to have strong bipartisan support throughout the legislature. According to news accounts, however, last minute lobbying from the Family Foundation and Del. Robert G. Marshall, who expressed concerns that Thorne-Begland’s sexual orientation would influence his judicial decisions, turned the tide. read more »
Lawsuit Challenges Residency Restrictions on Petition Circulators for Presidential Candidates
Richmond, VA – The ACLU Voting Rights Project and the ACLU of Virginia today filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Virginia law that imposes a state residency requirement on persons who circulate ballot petitions for presidential candidates who are not members of major political parties. “Circulating petitions for candidates is at the core of our constitutionally protected right to free speech," said Katie O'Connor, staff attorney with the ACLU Voting Rights Project in Atlanta. "By limiting the right to circulate petitions, Virginia's law infringes on the First Amendment right of political parties, petition circulators, candidates and Virginia voters." The ACLU represents the Libertarian Party of Virginia and Darryl Bonner, a Pennsylvania resident who often circulates petitions on behalf of Libertarian Party candidates in other states. Each asserts that the restrictions violate the First Amendment right of free speech and association. read more »
Judge Orders Mediation in Legal Challenge to Display of Ten Commandments in Giles County Schools
Roanoke, VA – Rather than handing down a decision in the ACLU case challenging a Giles County policy that directs public schools to display the Ten Commandments, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Urbanski today sent the case to mediation. Using unexpected reasoning, Urbanski suggested that the plaintiffs in the case and Giles County officials might be able to agree on allowing the displays to continue with an abridged version of the Ten Commandments in which the four commandments that contain explicitly religious directives are omitted. read more »
Governor’s Public Support for Reform of Felon Disenfranchisement Law Praised, But ACLU Urges Action
Richmond, VA – The ACLU of Virginia praised Governor Bob McDonnell for recent comments favoring reform of Virginia’s felon disenfranchisement law, but says he is wrong to wait for the General Assembly to act. “Governor McDonnell continues to send out the most positive messages on restoration of voting rights of any Virginia governor in recent memory, and he should be praised for streamlining the restoration process,” said ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis. “But he, not the General Assembly, has the authority to initiate immediate reforms.” read more »
Public Citizen and ACLU Say Florida Plastic Surgeon Should Not Be Able to Unmask Critics
Henrico County, VA – Online critics have a free speech right to anonymously comment on the work of a Florida plastic surgeon, according to a legal motion filed today in Henrico County Circuit Court. Filed by Public Citizen and the ACLU of Virginia, the motion claims that a subpoena to compel internet provider Comcast to release the name of an online commenter should be quashed. read more »
ACLU Wants Federal Court to Order Sheriff to Allow Employees to Return to Work
Portsmouth, VA – Attorneys for the ACLU of Virginia filed legal papers today asking the federal court in Norfolk to compel Portsmouth Sheriff Bill Watson to allow six women who filed lawsuits against him to return to work. After learning that the ACLU and nine women who provided health and food services to the jail through a private contractor had filed a lawsuit over illegal strip searches, jail officials told the six women who still worked at the Portsmouth facility not to return. read more »
Lawsuits Filed Against Portsmouth Sheriff and Other Jail Officials for Cavity Searches of Contract Workers
Portsmouth, VA – Attorneys for the ACLU of Virginia on Friday filed nine separate lawsuits seeking damages for nine female contract workers who were forced to strip naked and subjected to visual body cavity searches by officials at the Portsmouth City Jail. Each plaintiff is seeking monetary damages and a court order preventing the searches from ever occurring again. According to legal papers filed Friday in the federal court in Norfolk, Portsmouth Sheriff Bill Watson ordered the searches in late April 2011 as part of an ongoing investigation of drugs being brought into the jail. At the time, each of the workers was an employee of Correct Care Solutions or Aramark Correctional Facility Food Service, private companies that supply health and food services to the jail. read more »
Faulty Reasoning Used to Support Voter ID Law Based on Felons Voting Illegally in Virginia
Richmond, VA – With bloggers and editorial writers using recent revelations about felons voting illegally in Virginia to support Virginia’s voter ID law, the ACLU of Virginia notes in the op-ed below that a voter ID law will have no effect on the ability of felons to vote in Virginia. ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Kent Willis says that the two are unconnected but related. “They are unconnected in that the felons who voted illegally in Virginia registered in their own names and identified themselves at the polls. The voter ID law, which requires voters to show IDs as the polls in order to cast a regular ballot, would not stop a single felon from voting illegally.” read more »
ACLU Questions Richmond’s Controversial “Peek and Knock” Program, But Sees No Constitutional Violation
Richmond, VA – After hearing of complaints from local residents, the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has issued a statement regarding a Richmond program that sends police officers into residential areas between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. to warn homeowners and tenants that their vehicles may be vulnerable to a break-in. The “Peek and Knock” program, as the ACLU refers to it, is intended to reduce vehicle break-ins, but has been met with skepticism and unease by many residents because of the manner in which it is being carried out. read more »
