Free Speech

Can teachers wear a religious symbol or a political button in the classroom?  What about speech outside class? A brief overview of teachers' free speech rights.

In response to an ACLU of Washington lawsuit, the Puyallup City Council amended its solicitation ordinance to protect the rights of a religious organization to spread its message. The ACLU had filed suit on behalf of United States Mission challenging city restrictions that prevented the organization from carrying out its mission of preaching the "Social Gospel."

Anti-war activists are pursuing a lawsuit challenging police actions that violated their rights at demonstrations at the Port of Tacoma: unlawful arrests, unconstitutional restrictions, unreasonable force, and unauthorized surveillance, all designed to discourage and prevent peaceful protest.

A recent federal court decision affects how Washington schools must operate their Associated Student Body organizations.

The ACLU-W believes in protection of rights of access to government information. Information is not owned by the government, but merely maintained by it; it should be available to all citizens. Access to information can empower citizens and lead to a more democratic, responsive, and generally better government. This policy does not address the question of what information is collected and maintained by governments; it is only concerned with access to existing information. Neither does it address what information should be exempt from disclosure.

Seeking to protect free speech rights on Seattle streets, the American Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Seattle challenging the City of Seattle’s Parade and Special Events Ordinances. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the October 22 Coalition, a protest group officially granted a parade permit by the City who was nonetheless barred by the Seattle Police Department from marching on the street. The ACLU says Seattle’s regulations are confusing, burdensome, and so vague that they wrongly give police unfettered discretion to alter or revoke parade permits.

The ACLU-WA challenge of a Seattle police rescission of a parade permit will go to trial on May 1.

The ACLU-WA believes that policies related to the National Information Infrastructure (NII) should foster free speech, encourage the free marketplace of ideas, enrich user choice, and nurture electronic public forums. To ensure maintenance of these values, there should be at least one broadly available network that carries information without regard to content, provider, or medium.

A former high school student who was suspended for creating a parody on the Internet is getting damages from the school district that wrongfully punished him.

The city of Seattle and the ACLU have reached a partial settlement of a lawsuit over police disruption of a 2003 march by opponents of police brutality.