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UPCOMING EVENTS FOR AKCLU >>

No on 2. This August, Alaskans are facing a dangerous initiative that would force government mandated family communication and require parental notification or consent for a minor’s abortion. Ballot Measure 2 threatens teen health and safety. ACLU and Alaskans Against Government Mandates Urge You to Vote NO ON 2 in the August 24 Primary!

Of course we all want our daughters to come to us with an issue as serious as a pregnancy. And the good news is, in Alaska, most teens do involve a parent. But not all teens live in families where communication is possible. And no law can mandate family communication. Ballot Measure 2 is NOT the answer.

We know what works — prevention, education and communication that starts long before an unplanned pregnancy. The most important thing is keeping teens safe and healthy. The ACLU urges you to vote No on 2, and to be as informed as possible on what this misguided initiative does.

Join the ACLU, Planned Parenthood, Alaskans Against Government Mandates, the YWCA, teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers and ministries who all oppose the harmful Ballot Measure 2.

We need your help.

Join us for a campaign kick-off on Thursday, May 27 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau. For location details contact the ACLU at (907) 258-0044 or akclu@akclu.org.

The Alaskans Against Government Mandates Campaign also has many volunteer opportunities. Contact us to find out more, or visit the campaign website at: www.nogovmandates.com.

ACLU Seeks Records About FBI Collection Of Racial And Ethnic Data. FBI's Claimed Authority To Track And Map "Behaviors" And "Lifestyle Characteristics" Of American Communities Invites Racial Profiling. The American Civil Liberties Union has asked the FBI and Field offices in 30 states and Washington, D.C. to turn over records related to the agency's collection and use of race and ethnicity data in local communities. According to an FBI operations guide, FBI agents have the authority to collect information about and create maps of so-called "ethnic-oriented" businesses, behaviors, lifestyle characteristics and cultural traditions in communities with concentrated ethnic populations. While some racial and ethnic data collection by some agencies might be helpful in lessening discrimination, the FBI's attempt to collect and map demographic data using race-based criteria for targeting purposes invites unconstitutional racial profiling by law enforcement, says the ACLU.

"The FBI's mapping of local communities and businesses based on race and ethnicity, as well as its ability to target communities for investigation based on supposed racial and ethnic behaviors, raises serious civil liberties concerns," said Michael German, ACLU policy counsel and former FBI agent. "Creating a profile of a neighborhood for criminal law enforcement or domestic intelligence purposes based on the ethnic makeup of the people who live there or the types of businesses they run is unfair, un-American and will certainly not help stop crime."

The FBI's power to collect, use and map racial and ethnic data in order to assist the FBI's "domain awareness" and "intelligence analysis" activities is described in the 2008 FBI Domestic Intelligence and Operations Guide (DIOG). The FBI released the DIOG in heavily redacted form in September 2009, but a less-censored version was not made public until January of this year, in response to a lawsuit filed by the group Muslim Advocates. Although the DIOG has been in effect for more than a year and a half, very little information is available to the public about how the FBI has implemented this authority. The DIOG provisions in question are available online at: www.muslimadvocates.org/DIOGs_Chapter4.pdf

Court Rules Summary on Initiative Misleading; Orders Lieutenant Governor Rewrite: The Court today issued its ruling in the matter of Planned Parenthood and Wingrove v. Campbell, and agreed that Planned Parenthood and the ACLU of Alaska were right to bring the lawsuit challenging certification of the proposed initiative, which seeks to impose government restrictions on medical care. The Court stated that that the summary prepared by the Lieutenant Governor was misleading and must be corrected, because it did not tell the voters the full story. For the full press release, click here. A copy of the ruling is also available.

ACLU Announces State Approval of Alternate Testing Dates for Russian Old Believer Students, Important Religious Freedom Accommodation in Administration of HSGQE.

Feodor Reutov, Tatiana Reutov, Kiril Kalugin, Anfisa Kalugin, Stan White, and Effimia Basargin, and other Voznesenka community students’ family members met with ACLU of Alaska Executive Director Jeffrey Mittman to discuss a formal request to the State to allow alternate testing dates.

The Alaska State Department of Education and Early Development has agreed to respect the religious freedom of Russian Old Believer families and arrange alternate testing dates and security procedures for administration of the High School Graduation Qualifying Exam (HSGQE) which, as currently scheduled, conflicts with Holy Week for Russian Old Believer students. Rather than being forced to miss the testing on April 6 – 8, or violate their religious dictates which require that Russian Old Believers not work or attend school during Holy Week, students will now have the opportunity to take the test on March 29 to April 2, under special security procedures and agreements which protect the validity of the tests. See the ACLU of Alaska’s Press Release. See correspondence to the Department of Education.

ACLU Joins NARF, Northern Justice Project, and State Of Alaska in Announcing Settlement In Yup'ik Language Voter Assistance Case. The ACLU of Alaska Foundation, the ACLU Voting Rights Project, and the Native American Rights Fund (NARF) joined the Northern Justice Project, four Alaska Native elders and four tribal governments and the Alaska Attorney General's Office in announcing a settlement of litigation in Nick, et al. v. Bethel, et al. According to the settlement, the state of Alaska will make enhancements to language assistance for Yup'ik-speaking voters available at elections in the Bethel area. “The right to vote – to have an equal voice in the political process – is the most fundamental of civil liberties,” said Jeffrey Mittman, Executive Director of the ACLU of Alaska. “The ACLU is pleased to have partnered with NARF in vindicating the Constitutional rights of the Alaska Native community, and ensuring the right to vote regardless of what language one speaks.” See the full press release and a copy of the settlement agreement.

SCHOLARSHIP WINNER ANNOUNCED:

Celaena Powder is this year’s recipient of the 2010 ACLU of Alaska Student Activist Scholarship. The announcement was made as part of the annual Liberty Awards Gala held January 23rd at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage, Alaska.

The ACLU has historically provided scholarships to the nation’s most committed, young civil liberties activists who become part of an elite class of scholar-activists participating in ongoing activities with the ACLU. Applicants must demonstrate a strong commitment to civil liberties through some form of activism and be a high school senior planning on entering college as a full-time, degree-seeking student.

This year’s scholarship winner, Celaena Powder, an 18-year old Alaska-grown senior attending Wasilla High School, is an outstanding model of activism. Celaena serves as juvenile representative on the Alaska Statewide Suicide Prevision Council and advocates for LGBT acceptance via her position in Wasilla High’s Gay Straight Alliance. She passionately believes in, and fights for, the civil liberties for those commonly oppressed. Celaena also serves as Activities Coordinator for her school’s National Honors Society, Vice President of Student Government, and Secretary for the Mat-Su Borough’s Student Advisory Board.

As this year’s scholarship winner, Celaena was awarded $2,500 to be used during her first year of college for tuition and study expenses. Celaena is considering her college options, but knows that someday she will pursue a career as a lawyer.

MULTIMEDIA: Listen to media reports on the lawsuit challenging the Lt. Governor's improper certification of the extreme "embryo personhood" initiative.

MULTIMEDIA: The ACLU Channel: Our videos show a YouTube world what's inspiring about the American experience. Watch us defend your civil liberties >>

The Freedom Files television series draws on the power of true stories to highlight vital civil liberties issues of our time and inspire viewers to take action. These half-hour documentaries feature the firsthand accounts of real people who have taken on the powers that be, often at great risk to themselves, in order to preserve their precious constitutional rights.

Season Two of the series premieres with a slate of nine programs on the death penalty, same-sex marriage, same-sex parenting, voting rights, immigrants’ rights, surveillance, sex education, the school-to-prison pipeline, and unlawful imprisonment, torture and habeas corpus.

Filmmaker and political activist Robert Greenwald, whose ground-breaking political films include Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers and Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism, is the executive producer of the series. Richard Ray Perez, an award-winning documentary filmmaker (Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election), will lead the production team for Season Two.

For more information, please visit www.aclu.tv to view current and past episodes and learn how you might get involved.