3 posts tagged “aclu”
This episode features couples who are part of a lawsuit in Maryland seeking to overturn state law that bars lesbians and gay men from marriage. Despite being in committed relationships, they lack the hundreds of legal protections afforded to heterosexual married couples, and must worry about how to look after their families without these protections. In courageously taking their fight for civil liberties to the public arena, they seek to change a system that unfairly harms same-sex couples and their families.
(I'm a Democrat but I have to wonder... If this was a lawsuit against the RNC would the ACLU willingly drop the lawsuit?)
ACLU ends its legal challenge to DNC restrictions
By P. Solomon Banda – 11 hours ago
DENVER (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union said Thursday it will not appeal a federal judge's ruling that upheld the city's decision to limit protests during the Democratic National Convention to a fenced-in demonstration zone, and to end all marches more than a quarter-mile from the site.
Judge Marcia S. Krieger had ruled Wednesday that the restrictions do not infringe on protesters' free-speech rights. Mark Silverstein, ACLU-Colorado legal director, said that since the Sept. 11 attacks the law has shifted to favor security over First Amendment rights.
"That's sad, but that's the state of the law," Silverstein said.
Silverstein said the lawsuit yielded several victories, including getting the city to issue parade permits in a timely manner, install a public address system in the demonstration zone so delegates can hear protesters and allow protesters to put literature on tables along a sidewalk for delegates.
Glenn Spagnuolo, co-founder of protest group Recreate 68, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, said his group was still considering its response.
"Basically the way we'll be appealing it is we'll be appealing it in the streets," he said.
Protest groups had complained the demonstration zone and march routes keep them out of earshot of delegates.
The 47,000-square-foot demonstration zone that protesters call the "freedom cage" will have a chain-link fence atop concrete barriers on three sides. The fourth side will be open to pedestrians on a street south of the Pepsi Center, where the convention will be held Aug. 25-28...
Kick Bolthouse Farms Out Of Your Refrigerator
William Bolthouse, founder and 43% owner of Bolthouse Farms, a farm in California that provides organic juices, lemonades, and smoothies to places like Whole Foods and other organic market places, has just recently given a donation of $100,000 to proponents of a campaign to strip California couples of the right to marry...
...company spokespeople for Bolthouse Farms will iterate that they do not donate directly to any campaigns. But their owner, William Bolthouse, uses the profits from the sales of their organic drinks to fund his noxious political views. In addition to funding the initiative to strip Californians of their marriage rights, his foundation, the Bolthouse Foundation, is a major donor to the Alliance Defense Fund, the right's response to the ACLU...
...Please take a moment and let Bolthouse Farms and their distributors know that you will no longer be purchasing their organic products, because even though they are organic, they come with some nasty side effects...
Speak out now!
The William Bolthouse Foundation is a major donor to the Alliance Defense Fund. The Foundation receives all of its donations from William and Nora Bolthouse, i.e. money coming from the sale of their organic juice products.
William Bolthouse has given money to the campaigns of George W. Bush and Gay Bauer.
We need to just say no to Bolthouse Juices.
Click Here to join the boycott!
Edit:
You may receive an email from Bolthouse Farms that states:
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and comments with us.
The Bolthouse Foundation is a private foundation funded by some
of the former owners of Wm. Bolthouse Farms, Inc. The foundation
is a separate entity and is not connected to Bolthouse Farms in
any way. Furthermore, they do not receive financial support or
benefit from the profits of Bolthouse Farms. We appreciate your
concern and apologize for the confusion. Thank you for taking
the time to contact us, and we hope you will continue to enjoy
our products.
One problem with their explanation:
The Foundation is funded completely by William and
Nora Bolthouse, who own 43% of Bolthouse Farms. The financial
support may not be direct, but it still exists.
and
The foundation gets all of its money, according to its 990, from
William and Nora Bolthouse. And they get their money from their
family business, Bolthouse Farms.
