Kentucky denies atheist request for ‘Im God’ license plates

An atheist's request to say "IM GOD" on his license plate was denied by the state of Kentucky, which said it might distract other drivers, could spark confrontations and would be in bad taste. Bennie L. Hart says that by driving around with the "IM GOD" message, he simply wants to spread his views about religion - that it's impossible to disprove anyone's claim to being "God."

State denies atheist request for ‘Im God’ license plates

An atheist's request to say "IM GOD" on his license plate was denied by the state of Kentucky, which said it might distract other drivers, could spark confrontations and would be in bad taste. Bennie L. Hart said that by driving around with the "IM GOD" message, he simply wants to spread his views about religion - that it's impossible to disprove anyone's claim to being "God."

Why US inmates launched a nationwide strike

Last month, on the 45th anniversary of the infamous Attica Prison uprising, tens of thousands of US inmates launched a nationwide protest that continues today, according to advocates who helped organize the effort. The inmates' grievances are as varied as the states they came from: Pennies for labor in South Carolina, racial discrimination in California, excessive force in Michigan.

Editorial: Overcoming more barriers to voter suppression

Thanks to Secretary of State Kris Kobach, it has become unnecessarily complicated for thousands of Kansans to participate in this year's elections. Although district and federal court judges have ordered Kobach to accept the registrations of 20,000 voters who failed to provide proof-of-citizenship documents when they filed their applications, this morass of legal proceedings has made it difficult for Kansans to know where they stand.

Free Speech Advocates Team Up To Defend Arrested Anti-BLM Protester

The ACLU, Foundation for Individual Rights in Education , and other legal experts are collectively denouncing the arrest of an anti-Black Lives Matter demonstrator at East Tennessee State University , saying criminal charges brought against the protester are grossly unconstitutional. Tristan Rettke, an 18-year-old freshman, showed up to a BLM rally Sept.

Appeals court says U.S. ‘motor voter’ law preempts Kansas ID rules

A U.S. appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling requiring Kansas to allow thousands of people who registered to vote at motor vehicle offices to stay on election rolls, despite not showing proof of citizenship as mandated by a state law. The decision, filed in court papers late on Friday by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, clears the way for these voters to take part in the U.S. election in November.

Three years after his revelations, Snowden in spotlight again

When President Xi Jinping and US President Barack Obama were about to meet in the California desert resort of Sunnylands in June 2013, the US government had worked hard to paint China as a villain in cyberspace. The revelation made by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden just days before the shirt-sleeves meeting, however, shocked the world.

N.C. drops ‘bathroom bill’ lawsuit: Why that won’t settle the issue

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory dropped a lawsuit against the federal government Friday, but debate over the state's so-called 'bathroom bill' rages on. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory speaks June 24 during a candidate forum in Charlotte, N.C. After suing the federal government in May to defend the state's controversial new law limiting LGBT rights, Gov. McCrory dropped the lawsuit Friday.

Trump’s ‘Softening’ Can’t Make His Immigration Stance Popular

Recent polls indicate that less than a quarter of Americans think the 11 million or so people who live in this country without the government's permission should be forcibly removed. That lack of enthusiasm for mass deportation explains Donald Trump's much-ballyhooed " softening " on immigration, which has produced a mushy mess.

67 Organizations Urge Justice Dept. to Improve Data Collection Mandate on Deaths in Police Custody

In a letter sent yesterday, the organizations responded to DOJ's proposal for implementing the Deaths in Custody Reporting Act , which requires police departments across the country to disclose details to the federal government about custodial deaths. DICRA was signed into law in 2014 in response to a troubling lack of reliable data on these deaths and DOJ is currently collecting comments on its implementation proposal that was published August 4, 2016.

Partial Victory: University of NC Blocked from Enforcing ‘Bathroom Bill’

Moral Monday demonstrators rally against North Carolina's anti-transgender House Bill 2 in May. A U.S. judge on Friday ordered the University of North Carolina to allow transgender students and staff to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity, blocking enforcement of the state's controversial "bathroom bill" known as House Bill 2, while a lawsuit challenging the anti-LGBTQ legislation proceeds. "Today, the tightness that I have felt in my chest every day since H.B. 2 passed has eased.

US Releases More Details of Policy on Drone Attacks

A U.S. airman guides a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone as it taxis to the runway at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, March 9, 2016. The White House has released an edited version of President Barack Obama's once-secret policy on using drone aircraft to combat terrorists around the world, the American Civil Liberties Union said Saturday.

ACLU Preparing For Legal Challenges If Trump Gets Elected

U.S. Republican presidential candidate and businessman Donald Trump speaks to the media regarding money he listed as being donated to veterans groups at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., May 31, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson The American Civil Liberties Union released a 28-page report Friday arguing most of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's governing agenda is unconstitutional, and promises to keep a running tally of all Trump's policy goals that run afoul of the Constitution.