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RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The right of every American to practice his or her own religion, or no religion at all, is among the most fundamental of freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. But while the United States is home to more than 1,500 different faiths and some 360,000 houses of worship, religious freedom faces threats on many fronts.
In “Religious Freedom,” you’ll meet Abbey Moler, a high school valedictorian who was asked to include some words of wisdom in her yearbook and selected a Bible verse. When the yearbook was published, her choice was omitted. You’ll hear about how she successfully took on the school district.
You’ll go to the front lines of one of the most heated controversies in recent history and hear from parents and teachers who were part of a lawsuit in Dover, Pa., to keep intelligent design out of the classroom, arguing that it is neither science nor religion.
Also featured is Joann Bell, a devout Christian whose home was firebombed because she objected to her son’s school pressuring him to attend a prayer meeting.
This program is a crucial reminder of the founders’ intent regarding religion—that it be a matter for individuals, not the government.
VOTING RIGHTS
Stand up and be counted? It’s not that easy for some Americans. This episode of The ACLU Freedom Files will show how voting rights—the bedrock of American democracy—are being violated in many ways, and how 2007 will be a critical year for protecting this most democratic of privileges.
In South Dakota, redestricting has denied Native American voters fair representation. You will hear about how Craig Dillon and other activists are taking legal action to get their own into office in one of the poorest communities in our country.
In parts of the country, African American voters and candidates have faced intimidation since the Jim Crow era. You’ll meet Bernard Fielding, who was elected to a judgeship in South Carolina, had his poll results contested, and fought in court for more than a year to win the right to hold office.
Ex-felons contribute to society in every way after completing their sentences, but are barred from voting in many states. This episode will introduce you to former convicts fighting for the right to vote, including Andres, an Ivy League college student, and Yvonne, a voting rights activist in Alabama.
“Voting Rights” will also highlight vital provisions of the historic Voting Rights Act that are set to expire in 2007 unless Congress renews them. These provisions are essential to ensuring equal opportunity for minorities in voting, preventing discrimination at the ballot box, and protecting the right to vote.
GAY & LESBIAN RIGHTS
“Gay & Lesbian Rights” shows how the members of gay and lesbian families in America are treated as second-class citizens under the law, lacking rights that many take for granted.
You’ll meet Alvin and Nigel, who have adopted three children from the foster care system. With all of the responsibilities of parents but none of the legal protections, they live in fear that if something were to happen to one of them, the other wouldn't have full parental rights.
Carol and Heather had to fend off challenges from hospital staff even as Carol was fighting breast cancer. After that, they registered as domestic partners and signed health proxies, but the problems didn’t end. When Carol was hospitalized after a cardiac arrest, Heather was again forced to defend her standing as Carol’s partner.
Then there’s the story of Sam and Earl, his late partner. Earl had wanted to bequeath to Sam the ranch the couple had built together and lived in for 25 years. But when Earl’s will was contested, the judge ruled in favor of giving the ranch to his distant cousins, forcing Sam to turn his home over to strangers.
This episode of The ACLU Freedom Files will show the real harm that occurs when loving couples’ relationships aren’t treated as legally valid.
ADVANCING WOMEN / WOMEN AT RISK
More than a century after the women’s suffrage movement was launched in the United States, gender bias continues to create huge barriers to equality. This episode of The ACLU Freedom Files will focus on the stories of poor women, women of color, low-wage immigrants and victims of abuse.
“Women at Risk” tells the story of Quinn Bouley, a Vermont mother of two who was evicted by her landlord after her husband assaulted her. She took her landlord to court and won, with a precedent-setting judgment declaring that discrimination against victims of domestic violence is illegal.
You’ll hear the story of three young women from the Dominican Republic who worked in a 99-cents store for less than the minimum wage, and who were cheated out of overtime and sexually harassed. Their story illustrates the plight of immigrant women whose fear of losing their jobs makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
Also profiled is Jessica Gonzales, whose husband murdered her three children after the police failed to enforce a restraining order against him. The ACLU took her lawsuit against the police all the way to the Supreme Court.
These stories show that in our country, many women are at risk—not because of “glass ceilings,” but because they are still struggling for the basic right to be free from violence, exploitation and discrimination.
YOUHT SPEAK
Young people have the same rights as everyone else, but are often treated as if the Bill of Rights applies only to those over 18. In many schools, for instance, students’ writings are censored, backpacks and lockers are searched without reasonable suspicion, and low-income students are expected to learn in wretched conditions.
In “Youth Speak,” you’ll meet Aaron Peckham, who got in trouble for creating a Web site called Urban Dictionary and is now part of a lawsuit to protect speech on the Internet. Another free speech defender, 13-year-old Anthony Latour, successfully challenged his two-year suspension from school for writing rap lyrics.
You’ll learn about other students who are refusing to be treated as suspects. Chloe Smith was terrorized at her middle school when a drug-sniffing dog found prescribed medication in her purse. She was suspended and nearly forced into a drug program, until she stood up for her right to privacy.
Then there’s Alondra Jones, who was tired of the filthy conditions and lack of books at her California high school. You’ll hear about how she joined forces with students across the state in a lawsuit, which resulted in millions of dollars going to improve the educational system.
In this episode of The ACLU Freedom Files, you’ll also meet young activists working to educate their peers about the plight of teenagers in the juvenile justice system and the realities of military recruitment. And you’ll be inspired by how young people are leading the fight for all of our rights.
DRUG POLICY
After decades of the "war on drugs," with its draconian criminal prohibitions and intensive law enforcement, drugs are more available than ever. This episode of The ACLU Freedom Files will focus on the war's unintended consequences—urban violence, the imprisonment of innocents, and families destroyed by irrational sentences—and show the suffering that has resulted from the suppression of valuable research.
This episode takes you to Hearne, Texas, where 15% of the young African American men were arrested on drug charges in 2000, based on the word of one unreliable informant. Many were intimidated into pleading guilty and are still in jail, despite the fact that the charges were dropped. You’ll also meet orphans of the drug war like the Lomax sisters, who know firsthand the effects of mandatory minimum sentences. Their mother was sentenced to 27 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute cocaine, although no drugs were ever found on her.
Meanwhile, patients who suffer from terminal cancer, AIDS And other conditions are forbidden from taking drugs that could alleviate their pain—and even arrested for following their doctors’ orders—while scientists are prevented from studying the health benefits of drugs.
BEYOND THE PATRIOT ACT
Through personal stories of ordinary Americans, “Beyond the Patriot Act” tells how a misguided law and other government overreactions to Sept. 11 are restricting our most basic constitutional freedoms and threatening America’s system of checks and balances.
The episode features people like Patricia David, whose husband of 10 years was taken from his job and held in detention for months before being secretly deported to Pakistan. For months, Ms. David did not know if her husband was safe or even alive. He is one of the thousands of South Asians and other immigrants who have been subjected to interrogation and deportation since Sept. 11.
Also profiled is Abdulameer Habeeb, an Iraqi artist tortured under Saddam Hussein’s regime who came to America as a political refugee. He was arrested while traveling across the U.S. to start a new job in Washington, D.C., and then imprisoned and repeatedly interrogated. He was eventually released, but the experience cost him his job and poisoned his dream of making a new start in America.
The program also tells the uplifting story of a growing grassroots campaign of Americans of all political affiliations that has led to the passage of nearly 400 community resolutions opposing the Patriot Act.
THE SUPREME COURT
“The Supreme Court” tells the story of a teenage girl from Oklahoma who stood up for something she believed in, only to find herself in the highest court in the country. Lindsay Earls was a sophomore at Tecumseh High School, a member of the debate team and a performer in the choir, when a mandatory drug-testing policy was instituted for anyone participating in extracurricular activities.
With the help of the ACLU, Ms. Earls set out to fight the order as an invasion of her privacy. She and her family faced a town full of resistance, and nine Supreme Court justices who remain elusive to most Americans.
The show does more than follow a principle through the court system. As you find out how each judge voted on Lindsay’s case and wait with her for the final verdict, you get an insider's view of the high court and the justices—including biographical sketches of each one and intimate perspectives on their character and voting records. ACLU attorneys who have argued cases before the Supreme Court share their takes on the justices—discussing Antonin Scalia’s well-honed sense of humor, for instance.
But ultimately, we learn the importance of one vote and why the makeup of the Supreme Court is as vital to our civil liberties as the Constitution itself.
DISSENT
Freedom of speech is a given in America, right? Not if you're Muslim hip-hop poet Amir Sulaiman, who spoke his mind on national television, and then found the FBI on his doorstep. Or protesters at the Democratic and Republican national conventions who were relegated to free speech zones far from the politicians with whom they disagreed.
“Dissent” tells the stories of average people who were exercising their right to free speech, only to be harassed or arrested.
Take Marine and Gulf War veteran Eric Shaw, who fought for the freedoms we take for granted. But when he exercised his right to protest the current Iraq war, he was shot with wooden pellets by the Oakland, Calif., police. Willow Rosenthal, who was at the same protest, was severely injured and says the incident has deterred her and her friends from participating in demonstrations.
In West Virginia, Nicole and Jeff Rank thought they’d speak out in their own way, by wearing anti-Bush T-shirts to a presidential event. After they were told to cover their shirts, they refused—and landed in jail.
“Dissent” also features Lewis Black from Comedy Central’s The Daily Show— “America’s foremost commentator on almost everything”—who gives his take on the current state of dissent with his trademark biting wit.
RACIAL PROFILING
More than four decades after the civil rights movement began, people in America continue to be harassed, threatened and jailed because of the color of their skin.
Felix Morka and Laila Maher were driving on the New Jersey Turnpike when they were pulled over by the police for no reason and assaulted. Felix, originally from Nigeria, was slammed repeatedly into his steering wheel, and Laila, an Egyptian-American, had a gun held to her head. They were part of a successful lawsuit that resulted in procedures to prevent this type of profiling.
Daniel Joyce and Mohammad Afreedi immigrated to Massachusetts from South Asia to pursue the American dream, but were arrested and imprisoned as part of a post-Sept. 11 sweep. The arrest was later found to be without probable cause, but as a result of the experience, they were financially ruined and ostracized by the community.
Hip-hop artist M-1 and members of his group, dead prez, were in the middle of a sidewalk photo shoot when police officers approached them and asked for identification. When the musicians asked why, the officers attacked them, and then jailed them for three days without bringing any charges.
"Racial Profiling" introduces you to people who have had their careers, families and peace of mind shattered by this illegal and ineffective practice.
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