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