Action Alert:
Ask Senator Bennett to Reject the REAL ID Act
The U.S. House of Representatives
attached the REAL ID Act—a radical anti-immigrant, anti-privacy,
anti-asylum measure—to an appropriations bill to fund the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; the Senate did not. A bill reconciling
both versions of the appropriations bill must now be worked out
in conference between the two chambers, and the ACLU is currently
urging congressional conferees to keep REAL ID out of the appropriations
bill. Utah Senator Bob Bennett is a member of this conference committee,
which is expected to vote on the appropriations bill as soon as
this Thursday, April 28. Join us in asking Senator Bennett to reject
REAL ID and to take a leadership role in keeping it out of the appropriations
bill.
REAL ID would:
- Make it more difficult for persecuted refugees to get asylum
in the U.S.
- Make non-citizens, including longtime permanent residents,
deportable if they had ever been a member of, gave humanitarian
contributions to, or even spoke in support of any group later
considered to be a terrorist organization.
- Bar judicial review in a wide range of immigration cases,
including detention and deportation.
- Create a de-facto national ID card.
- Allow the federal government to confiscate large tracts of
land owned by American citizens near the border of Mexico or
Canada without meaningful judicial recourse.
Contact Senator Bennett’s office today and ask him to keep
REAL ID out of the appropriations measure to fund the wars in Iraq
and Afghanistan:
- Washington office: (202) 224-5444
- Salt Lake City office: (801) 524-5933
- By
email
Read
more about the ACLU’s concerns regarding the REAL ID Act >>
Read
our talking points about the REAL ID Act >>
Action Alert: Thank
Senator Bennett for his Opposition to the Flag Desecration Amendment
Two weeks ago, the constitutional
amendment allowing Congress to prohibit the desecration of the American
flag was introduced in the U.S. Senate as Senate Joint Resolution
12. Fifty co-sponsors joined primary co-sponsor Senator Orrin Hatch
in proposing the amendment. In past sessions, the amendment has
passed in the House and been blocked by the Senate. This year, however,
the vote is expected to be closer than ever in the Senate, and traditional
opponents to the amendment like Utah Senator Bob Bennett are expected
to be under intense pressure to vote to allow the amendment to go
to the states for ratification. Altering the Constitution to restrict
political expression may actually come down to Senator Bennett’s
crucial vote. Please join us in thanking Senator Bennett for his
continued opposition to the flag desecration amendment and in encouraging
him to stand strong in this opposition. (See contact information
above).
Read
the ACLU of Utah’s letter to Senator Bennett >>
Read
information from the national ACLU, including talking points, a
history of the amendment, and quotes from veterans who oppose the
amendment >> |
New ACLU of Utah
Position Paper Outlines the Rights of Same-Sex Student Couples to
Participate in Prom
Last weekend was Provo High School’s prom, and for the first
time ever, a same-sex student couple participated in the event and
was even cheered by fellow students as they promenaded with the
other prom couples. Their participation was especially meaningful
because just two years earlier, a lesbian student couple (who was
at the dance last weekend to support the two young men) was asked
to leave the Provo High School prom. In recent years, Utah students
have taken same-sex partners to their high school proms, and have
tried to participate fully as same-sex couples by promenading with
other prom couples and presenting themselves to their families and
communities. Unfortunately, school administrators have not always
been supportive of these pioneering students: not only have same-sex
couples been asked to leave the dance, but they have also been required
to obtain parental permission before attending prom and have been
prohibited from participating in their school’s promenade.
In light of these controversies, the ACLU of Utah has created a
brief position paper outlining the legal rights of same-sex student
couples.
Read “The Right
of Same-Sex Student Couples to Participate in their High School
Dances, Proms, and Promenades” >>
ACLU
Applauds End
of MATRIX Program
In an April 15 press release, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
announced the shutdown of the controversial MATRIX program. MATRIX,
or the Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange, was a privately
maintained, state-administered, federally funded database that sought
to combine confidential information from local and state agencies
with hundreds of publicly available databases to create billions
of easily searchable records for law enforcement. Utah was one of
first states to participate in the program, and in November 2003,
the ACLU of Utah sent a public records request to the Utah Department
of Public Safety asking for all documents regarding MATRIX. The
information contained in those documents provided a clearer understanding
of the program and helped the ACLU lead the effort to oppose the
program. Utah announced its withdrawal from MATRIX in March 2004.
Read
the ACLU’s press release >>
Read more about
MATRIX >>
ACLU of Utah
Launches New Website
If you haven’t been to www.acluutah.org
in the past week, check out what we’ve done to the site. You’ll
find the latest information about the issues we’ve been working
on as well as new issue pages that detail the ACLU of Utah’s
work on specific topics such as free speech, religious liberties,
and post 9/11 civil liberties. As always, we appreciate your suggestions
for how to make our website more useful, so please email us at aclu@acluutah.org
with any comments.
Get Involved!
JOIN
THE ACLU
DONATE ONLINE
VISIT WWW.ACLUUTAH.ORG
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