As A CCMOTACLU, I'm Glad To See This

Yes, it's true -- I'm a CCMOTACLU. I'm loud, and I'm proud, and I don't care who knows it!

What? You don't know what that is? Why, it means I'm a

Card-Carrying Member of the ACLU!

And as such, I'm glad to see these two actions today from the national ACLU:

ACLU Challenges Laptop Searches and Seizures at the Border

Today, the ACLU, the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) filed a lawsuit challenging the government's claimed authority to search, detain, and copy electronic devices — including laptops, cell phones, cameras, etc. — at the country's international borders without any suspicion of wrongdoing.

We carry a lot of private information on those devices, including pictures, personal emails, work-related documents, and much more. Normally, the Fourth Amendment requires the government to obtain a warrant before sifting through this information, and the First Amendment protects this information from unwarranted government scrutiny. The Fourth and First Amendments should also bar the government from rummaging through all that information and detaining the devices indefinitely without any suspicion, just because a person is crossing the border.

Follow the links to read more. I'm glad to see this policy being challenged, and hope the ACLU succeeds in proving that the 4th Amendment applies even at the border.

Then there's this little gem:

ACLU Responds to AZ Gov. Jan Brewer's Ridiculous Comments on U.S. Human Rights Record

You might've heard last week that Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer was shocked — just shocked! — that the State Department mentioned S.B. 1070, Arizona's new "papers please" racial profiling law, in its first-ever Universal Periodic Review report (PDF) to the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Finding the mere mention of her law "downright offensive," Gov. Brewer fired off a letter (PDF) to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressing her "concern and indignation" and asked Secretary Clinton to remove the mention of the law.

This is a ridiculous request. Over the weekend, Chandra Bhatnagar of the ACLU's Human Rights Program and Alessandra Soler Meetze of the ACLU of Arizona explain why it's so absurd on CNN.

Chandra and Alessandra also point out why reports like the one submitted last month are so important, not least of all because they show the world that — despite troubling indications to the contrary — the U.S. does not take its international obligations lightly.

Go get 'em ACLU! Glad to see you know how to use the word "ridiculous" when referring to the Arizona law. Keep it up -- and I'll keep carrying my card.