May 11, 2017 - Legislation recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump rolls back consumer privacy protections and allows internet service providers to sell our sensitive browsing history without consumer consent. But we have a chance to correct this mistake for Oregonians.
The information that internet service providers (ISPs) collect -- the websites we visit, how long we stay there, location information, time of day -- can reveal intimate details about our lives including our religious practices, our medical issues, and our sexual preferences. This information should not be used, shared, or sold without our express permission.
May 10, 2017 - Today, the ACLU of Oregon, the National Lawyers Guild Portland Chapter, and Oregon Lawyers for Good Government sent a letter to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler expressing deep concern over the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) response to the permitted march on May Day.
Our organizations advocate for peaceful protest and call for an end to violence from protesters and PPB alike.
PPB’s response to the May Day protest was disproportionate and dangerous. First-hand accounts from our legal observers and march organizers make it clear that there was very little violence or property destruction prior to the cancellation of the permit. Instead of handling the limited and isolated incidents appropriately, PPB created chaos by canceling a permitted march in progress without communicating to the participants, many of whom were families, children, and people with mobility issues.
Oregonians have beaten every attempt to introduce legal barriers to abortion in our state, but there is more work to do to ensure that everyone has meaningful access to the full range reproductive health care they need to thrive.
The Reproductive Health Equity Act, HB 3391, establishes the right to safe and legal abortion in Oregon law and removes barriers to reproductive health services by eliminating out-of-pocket costs, filling gaps in reproductive health coverage for those categorically excluded from health programs due to citizenship status, and by prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity.
Oregon has a chance to take a huge leap forward, but we need your help.
Everyone, regardless of income, citizenship status, gender identity, or type of insurance they carry, needs affordable access to the full range of reproductive health care including safe and legal abortion, birth control, postpartum care, and care for treatable problems like an STD or a lump in their breast.
April 12, 2017 — The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon (ACLU of Oregon) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) affiliates in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Alaska filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit today against the regional U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office in demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans.
Today’s action is part of a total of 13 FOIA lawsuits filed by ACLU affiliates across the country. The ACLU of Oregon lawsuit is seeking records from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Portland Field Office. In particular, the lawsuit seeks records related to CBP’s implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans at Portland International Airport, Denver International Airport, Ted Stevens International Airport, Boise International Airport, Casper/Natrona County International Airport and at port of entry offices in Anchorage, Denver, Boise, Portland, Casper.
The ACLU first sought this information through FOIA requests submitted to CBP on February 2, 2017. Since the government has failed to substantively respond, the ACLU is now suing. “Oregonians have been cut off from their families, friends, and business associates by President Trump’s Muslim bans and the chaotic implementation that followed,” said Mat dos Santos, ACLU of Oregon legal director. “Portland International Airport is our gateway to the world and we deserve to know how the executive orders have been carried out here.”
April 10, 2017 – The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon (ACLU of Oregon) today announced that a settlement had been reached with TriMet, the City of Portland, and the City of Gresham in a federal lawsuit stemming from a 2013 incident when a Portland woman’s phone was seized while live streaming police activity. The lawsuit, Carrie Medina v. City of Portland, et al, argued that Medina’s constitutional rights were violated when a Gresham police officer snatched her phone from her hands, twisted her arm, and detained her while she was live streaming police activity.
“My experience may have been eye opening for many, but it was no surprise to those who have regular encounters with law enforcement,” said Carrie Medina, plaintiff in the suit.
The ACLU lawsuit alleged that police violated Medina’s free speech and free press rights when they stopped her live stream broadcast of a police encounter involving multiple law enforcement agencies near a Trimet stop. The suit also alleged that Medina’s rights against unreasonable search and seizure were violated when the officer seized and then searched her phone without her consent or a search warrant, and that the officer also unlawfully detained her that day.
WATCH: An officer grabs Carrie Medina's phone in Portland in 2013.
The settlement agreement stipulated that Portland and Gresham must adopt new police policies and training regarding the public’s right to film police activities. The City of Gresham’s new policy under the settlement went into effect in May 2016 and the City of Portland’s new policy went into effect in October 2016. The City of Gresham was also required to pay $85,000 in legal fees to Medina.
“Carrie wholeheartedly believes in the power of filming the police as a tool to increase accountability,” said Alan Galloway, attorney at Davis Wright Tremaine who represented Medina. “Carrie was clear that she wanted her case to bring about policy changes to protect the right to film police, not monetary damages. Although the settlement took a lot of time and effort to reach, the resulting policies and training clearly recognize the Constitutional right to film the police.”
“Bystander video has had an incredible impact on the way Americans understand police encounters,” said Mat dos Santos, legal director at the ACLU of Oregon. “Now anyone with a cell phone can expose injustice and hold police accountable. It is critical that police policies recognize and respect the public’s right to film police.”
April 5, 2017 - Oregon cities and counties are making it a crime for people to be homeless. Our new report, Decriminalizing Homelessness: Why Right to Rest Legislation is the High Road for Oregon, shows that basic acts of survival are being criminalized all across the state.
Our research found that Oreogn's most populous cities and counties have 224 laws that criminalize necessary life-sustaining activities like sitting, lying, resting, or eating in public. When someone has nowhere else to do these things, fines, fees, and a criminal record only further entrenches them in homelessness. Oregonians living on the street are forced make impossible choices to go about their daily lives.
April 12, 2017 — The American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon (ACLU of Oregon) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) affiliates in Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, and Alaska filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit today against the regional U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office in demanding government documents about the on-the-ground implementation of President Trump’s Muslim bans.
April 10, 2017 – The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon (ACLU of Oregon) today announced that a settlement had been reached with TriMet, the City of Portland, and the City of Gresham in a federal lawsuit stemming from a 2013 incident when a Portland woman’s phone was seized while live streaming police activity. The lawsuit, Carrie Medina v. City of Portland, et al, argued that Medina’s constitutional rights were violated when a Gresham police officer snatched her phone from her hands, twisted her arm, and detained her while she was live streaming police activity.
