Litigation
ACLU and Women’s Health Groups File Lawsuit to Protect Vital Health Services in Oklahoma
3.29.12
OKLAHOMA CITY – A lawsuit was filed today on behalf of six Oklahoma voters – including women’s health providers– against an Oklahoma ballot initiative that would ban vital health services by granting fertilized eggs and embryos the same constitutional rights as people. The voters are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Oklahoma and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
“By their own admission, the proponents of this initiative aim to strip women and families of their established right to decide whether and when to become pregnant and carry a pregnancy to term,” said Ryan Kiesel, Executive Director of the ACLU of Oklahoma. “This initiative insults Oklahoma women’s intelligence and dignity by denying access to basic health services.” If passed, the initiative would outlaw many critical reproductive health services, including all abortion care, commonly used forms of birth control, in vitro fertilization and treatment for ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages.
“It’s been nearly four decades since the Supreme Court ruled that women have the right to safe, legal abortion services,” said Talcott Camp, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “Yet state legislatures continue to attack that right through dangerous, outrageous initiatives such as this one. This is unacceptable. We More >
ACLU of Oklahoma and CAIR to Ask Appeals Court Monday to Uphold Ruling
9.8.11
ACLU of Oklahoma and CAIR to Ask Appeals Court Monday to Uphold Ruling Blocking Implementation of Oklahoma Ban on Sharia and International Law
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 8, 2011 CONTACT: Robyn Shepherd, ACLU national, (212) 519-7829 or 549-2666; media@aclu.org DENVER – Counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will present arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Monday, September 12 at 1:00 p.m. MDT to ask that the court uphold a ruling blocking implementation of a discriminatory and unnecessary Oklahoma state constitutional amendment that prohibits courts from applying – or even considering – what is broadly described as Islamic “Sharia law” and “international law.”
The measure, officially titled the “Save Our State Amendment,” was temporarily enjoined last year by a lower court for blatantly disfavoring an entire faith and denyingOklahoma’s Muslims access to the judicial system on the same terms as every other citizen. The ACLU and CAIR are seeking to have the amendment permanently struck down.
More information on the case is available at: www.aclu.org/religion-belief/muneer-awad-v-paul-ziriax-oklahoma-state-board-elections-et-al
WHAT: Arguments in appeal of lower court ruling blocking implementation of anOklahoma state constitutional amendment prohibiting courts from applying or considering Sharia law and international law.
WHO: Daniel Mach, director More >
ACLU SUES TO PROTECT EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
7.3.08
The legal team prepares to file a challenge to the OCRI Ballot Initiative with the Oklahoma Supreme Court.
Oklahoma voters filed a protest on March 7, 2008 before the state Supreme Court challenging irregularities and questionable practices in the collection of signatures by the so-called Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative. The initiative is one of a series of ballot measures that California businessman Ward Connerly and his organization known as the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) have spearheaded across the country.
“When equal opportunity and the civil rights of our residents are at stake, it is critically important that the electoral process is fair, transparent and honest,” said Chuck Thornton, Legal Director of the ACLU of Oklahoma. “We are confident that this review will confirm what has already been discovered – the signature-gathering process was riddled with errors.”
The legal challenge follows the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s certification of the ballot measure’s signatures and Monday’s publication of the signatures’ alleged sufficiency by Secretary of State M. Susan Savage. Last month, Savage noted in a letter to the court that the signature count “has resulted in an unprecedented situation where large numbers of duplicate names and addresses were discovered well into the signature counting process….[and] it More >
TEN COMMANDMENTS APPEAL ARGUED BEFORE TENTH CIRCUIT
6.26.08
Haskell County Ten Commandments Monument
The appeal of a 2006 decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma to retain a Ten Commandments monument on the Haskell County Courthouse lawn was argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit in Denver Colorado on October 4, 2007. Daniel Mach, Director of Litigation for the National ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief, presented the oral argument to the Tenth Circuit. He was advised by Micheal Salem, an ACLU of Oklahoma cooperating attorney who handled the case at the District Court trial with former ACLU of Oklahoma Staff Attorney Tina Izadi.
The ACLU of Oklahoma originally filed the case on behalf of plaintiff James W. Green, who objected to the placement of the Ten Commandments monument on the lawn of the Haskell County Courthouse in Stigler, Oklahoma. Stigler resident Sharon Nichols acted as the representative on behalf of the ACLU of Oklahoma membership. The judge at the District Court dismissed the controversy as a “kerfuffle” and ruled that the monument was not erected by the County with a religious purpose. The case is Green v. Board of Commissioners of the County of Haskell.
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Defending the Indefensible: Oklahoma Struggles to Salvage Its Unconstitutional Sharia Ban
9.13.11
Posted by Allie Shinn in Commentary
Last November, the federal district court rejected this attempt to use the state constitution to condone bigotry and blocked the amendment from taking effect. Yesterday, a federal appellate court in Denver heard arguments in the state’s appeal of that decision, but the state should fare no better this time around.
Click Here to Read the Entire Post at the ACLU’s Blog of Rights