Pending

Despite free speech guarantees in the Bill of Rights, state law, and in the Montgomery County School System's Regulations, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Maryland once again had to take action on behalf of a student in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) who was repeatedly harassed and intimidated by teachers and an assistant principal for declining to stand while the Pledge of Allegiance is recited. This incident is the fourth time the ACLU has contacted Montgomery County Public Schools concerning students' rights to decline to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance since 2005, and the fifth such occurrence reported to us from Montgomery County in the same time period. 

Date filed

Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Attorney(s):
David Rocah, staff attorney

Hide banner image

Date

Tuesday, April 9, 2013 - 12:00am

Show featured image

Featured image

ACLU of Maryland abbreviated logo

Related issues

Free Speech Children's Rights

Documents

Show related content

Tweet Text

[node:title]

Status

Menu parent dynamic listing

57

Show PDF in viewer on page

Style

Standard with sidebar

The ACLU of Maryland joined the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia in filing an amicus brief in the case of King v. State of Maryland, concerning the constitutionality of Maryland's expanded DNA collection law mandating DNA to be collected without a warrant upon arrest, as opposed to on conviction, for certain crimes. The ACLU believes that the warrantless collection of DNA -- the repository of our most intimate genetic information -- infringes upon the privacy rights as well as Fourth Amendment rights of arrestees. The ACLU is also concerned that the resulting DNA databank will disproportionately contain the private genetic information of minorities and the poor. We believe that DNA is not the same as a fingerprint, because it reveals far more information about the person, and that it should not be collected without a warrant.

On April 24, 2012, the Maryland Court of Appeals held that Maryland's mandatory collection of DNA upon arrest was unconstitutional. On November 9, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal from the Maryland Court of Appeals decision. 

Amicus Brief by Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland 

Learn more about the ACLU of Northern California's lawsuit, Haskell v. Harris, which seeks to stop California's policy of mandating that DNA is collected from anyone arrested for a felony, whether or not they are ever charged or convicted. 

Date filed

Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Attorney(s):
David Rocah, staff attorney, ACLU of Maryland

Hide banner image

Date

Tuesday, November 27, 2012 - 12:00am

Show featured image

Featured image

ACLU of Maryland abbreviated logo

Related issues

Privacy & Technology Racial Justice Police Practices Due Process

Documents

Show related content

Tweet Text

[node:title]

Status

Menu parent dynamic listing

57

Show PDF in viewer on page

Style

Standard with sidebar

Following an incident during which a town official blocked a 12-year-old girl from playing her guitar for tips next to her grandparents' booth at a Farmers' Market in the town park, the ACLU of Maryland has advised Chestertown officials to halt the enforcement of an ordinance that restricts the free speech of artists and performers in public spaces. In a letter sent on September 17, 2012, the ACLU recommended that Chestertown immediately halt the enforcement of the unlawful ordinance. 

According to complaints the ACLU received, an incident occurred in Chestertown Town Park where the Mayor sought to enforce an unconstitutional ordinance against a young musician. On June 9, 2012, 12-year-old Casey Ottenwaelder was sitting with her grandparents, who sell wool yarn at the Farmer's Market in the Chestertown town park and playing her guitar with a hat available should anyone wish to tip her, as she had done on many prior occasions. Ottenwaelder was approached by the Mayor of Chestertown and was told she was not allowed to solicit tips. After the incident, Ottenwaelder's grandmother inquired with the Town Manager and was informed that a Chestertown ordinance prohibits all activities in all public town spaces by individuals or groups without a permit. Since then, the ACLU has learned that several other musicians and performers have been prohibited from performing on town property pursuant to this ordinance.

The Chestertown ordinance, known as the Streets and Sidewalks Code, prohibits "any individual, association, corporation, or organization [from] us[ing] the streets, sidewalks, public rights-of-way, or town-owned property for any event or activity without first obtaining a permit from the town." This ordinance is an unconstitutional prior restraint on speech because it is too broad and because it introduces content-based restrictions on public speech.

First, the ordinance purports to prohibit all forms of speech and conduct in public spaces without a permit.  Yet permitting requirements in public spaces are only lawful when they are narrowly tailored to the purpose of managing competing uses of those spaces.  In this case, the ordinance goes far beyond these limitations by indiscriminately banning all uses of public spaces without a permit.

Second, the ordinance directs government officials to deny a permit "whenever the town finds that an activity . . . is not in the public interest or . . .  is not an historically accepted event or activity."  These criteria introduce unconstitutional content-based restrictions on speech.  Under the Constitution, the government may not restrict speech in a public space because it disapproves of the content of the speech.

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects both the right of performers to engage in protected speech in public and the right to solicit funds. Courts have found that artistic expression lies within the First Amendment and that solicitation is a recognized form of speech protected by the First Amendment. The Chestertown ordinance goes far beyond any of the acceptable limits a government may impose on speech in a public forum and should immediately be rescinded.

Date filed

Monday, September 17, 2012
Attorney(s):
Deborah Jeon and Sirine Shebaya of the ACLU of Maryland

Hide banner image

Date

Monday, September 17, 2012 - 12:00am

Show featured image

Featured image

ACLU of Maryland abbreviated logo

Related issues

Free Speech

Documents

Show related content

Tweet Text

[node:title]

Status

Menu parent dynamic listing

57

Show PDF in viewer on page

Style

Standard with sidebar

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Pending