Archive for March, 2010
The ACLU of Oklahoma City University to Host Lindsay Earls as Speaker
3.8.10
Lindsay Earls
The ACLU of Oklahoma City University is honored to have Lindsay Earls as a speaker on April 15, at 5:30pm in the Homsey Moot Courtroom of Sarkey’s Law Center. Earls was a high school student in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, in 1999. The school had developed a policy in 1998 that required all students in grades 7-12 to submit to a urine test before joining any extracurricular activities. Earls was on the academic team and show choir, and although she took the drug test and passed, she filed a lawsuit claiming the policy violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure.
Her position was denied by the district court, but supported by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Her case reached the United States Supreme Court in 2002, where Earls was ruled against in a 5-4 decision, upholding the “special needs exception” referred to in Vernonia School District v. Acton. She was represented throughout the process by ACLU attorney Graham Boyd.
After leaving Tecumseh, Earls went on to graduate from Dartmouth and is currently a first-year law student at the University of Tulsa. The speaking engagement will begin with a short video about the case, then proceed to comments from Earls More >
Annual Meeting set for April 24
2010 ACLU of Oklahoma Annual Meeting
Saturday, April 24th, 2010 – 11:00 a.m.
Stroud, Oklahoma
Watch this site for more information!
RSVP at acluok@acluok.org or (405) 524-8511
Religious Monument At Oklahoma Courthouse Is Unconstitutional
3.1.10
Supreme Court Lets Ruling Stand:
Religious Monument At Oklahoma Courthouse Is UnconstitutionalMarch 1, 2010
Court Declines Review Of Appellate Decision That Government-Sponsored Ten Commandments Monument Improperly Endorses Religion
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court today let stand a federal appellate ruling that a government-sponsored Ten Commandments monument placed on a county courthouse lawn is unconstitutional and must be removed. By rejecting an appeal by the commissioners of Haskell County, Oklahoma, and declining to review the case, the Supreme Court left undisturbed a unanimous June 2009 decision by the U.S. Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals that the county commissioners advanced their personal religious beliefs by erecting the monument. The lawsuit was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Oklahoma on behalf of a local resident.
“The Tenth Circuit’s decision was an important victory for religious freedom and we are pleased that the Supreme Court left that ruling undisturbed,” said Daniel Mach, Director of the ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. “The Ten Commandments undoubtedly have religious significance for many, and we would vigorously defend the right of individuals, churches, or businesses to display this monument publicly on their own property. But the government should not be in More >
