Civil Liberties Minute episodes: Freedom of Speech and Expression

Renouncing Terrorism
In America after 9/11, if you try to convince a terrorist organization to renounce terrorism, you are (1) wasting your time; (b) a brave humanitarian; (c) a fool; or (d) a felon?

9/11 Casualty
May we spend a minute considering one casualty of 9/11 that the mainstream media has largely ignored?

Lassie on the Witness Stand
Should Lassie be allowed to take the witness stand?

China, Egypt and San Francisco
What do China and Egypt, Tunisia and Bahrain, Burma and Iran - and San Francisco - have in common?

Civil Liberties Minute: Circumcision
A recent headline: Fears rise over San Francisco's Circumcision Bill.

Civil Liberties Minute: Simon Glik
Simon Glik could've walked away when he witnessed Boston police officers punching a man on the Boston Common...but didn't.

Civil Liberties Minute: The Right to Lie
Does the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech include the right to lie?

Civil Liberties Minute: Union Busting
Do Union busting tactics in Wisconsin, Ohio and Maine really reflect fundamental values as the Governors of those states seem to assert ? What about the principles embodied in the First Amendment?

Civil Liberties Minute: Burnt Koran
What are we to make of the fact that a New Jersey transit worker, fired for burning a Koran in public, has been reinstated without even a slap on the wrist?

Civil Liberties Minute: Save a Breast
What lessons can be learned from a school suspending students for wearing--on Breast Cancer Awareness Day--a bracelet that says, "I Heart Boobies," "Save A Breast," or "Keep A Breast"?

Civil Liberties Minute: Jail for the profane?
Could you actually go to jail for using profanity in public?

Civil Liberties Minute: Stopped at the Border
If you've flown home from a vacation in Mexico, can Homeland Security seize your computer, flash drive, camera, and cell phone because you participated in lawful and 1st Amendment protected political activities before you left on vacation?

Civil Liberties Minute: The Fight for Net Neutrality
Now that the FCC has acted, might you still wake up one morning and find that net neutrality--the internet as you've known it--has vanished?

Civil Liberties Minute: A Nazi Salute
What happens when a city council ejects a member of the public from its meeting because that person gave the council a Nazi salute?

Civil Liberties Minute: Listen for the Watch List
Careful: if you listen to this commentary, you could end up on a terrorist watch list...

Civil Liberties Minute: Color Coded Terror
The color-coded terrorism alert system...has died.

Civil Liberties Minute: Net Neutrality
Might you turn on your computer and find that the Internet as you've known it, has vanished?

Civil Liberties Minute: Jailtime for Refusing the Pledge?
A lawyer in Mississippi has been thrown in jail for refusing to recite the pledge of allegiance.

Civil Liberties Minute: Harmful to Minors
What's wrong with a state law that makes it a crime to use the Internet to distribute sexual material or nudity that the law defines as "harmful to minors"?

Civil Liberties Minute: Wall Street and the First Amendment
Is Wall Street bullish on the First Amendment?

Civil Liberties Minute: National Security Letters
Can it be a crime to tell your fiance or family what the FBI has done to you?

Civil Liberties Minute: Don't Tread on Me
Can a homeowner's association stop you from flying a historic American flag over your house?

Civil Liberties Minute: Obledo and Taco Bell
Let's take a minute to consider the Taco Bell TV commercial from the 1980s.

Civil Liberties Minute: Zombies
The City of Minneapolis is forking over $165,000 to zombies.

Civil Liberties Minute: Frances Crowe and Vermont Nuclear Power
Frances Crowe, a 91-year-old woman from Northampton, Massachusetts, along with seven others, has been arrested protesting at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon, Vermont.

Civil Liberties Minute: Learning from WikiLeaks
So what's the lesson we should learn about WikiLeaks disclosing 91,000 pages of classified information about the Afghanistan War?

Civil Liberties Minute: The Howling Pig
The Howling Pig has won a major victory for The First Amendment, and The Fourth Amendment too.

Civil Liberties Minute: Seven Dirty Words
George Carlin's seven dirty words that until mid-July 2010 you were never allowed to say on the radio are:

Civil Liberties Minute: The Humanitarian Law Project
The Humanitarian Law Project wanted to advise two terrorist groups on how they could, instead of promoting terrorism, resolve disputes peacefully and work with the United Nations. And the problem is what?

Civil Liberties Minute: Day Laborers
Do day laborers -- people who have to search for work every day -- have the same constitutional rights to freedom of speech and assembly as everyone else in America?

Civil Liberties Minute: BP
There's breaking news on BP. In a public relations coup, the oil company is holding a contest to decide whether BP now shall stand for bogus promises, bad planning, broken pumps, or bullsh*t for the public.

Civil Liberties Minute: John Kurtz
After T&J Towing scooped up the car of John Kurtz, a junior at Wesleyan Michigan University, Kurtz created a Facebook page to tell his story. The tow company sued him for $750,000.00.

Civil Liberties Minute: Taser Me Out to the Ballgame
"Taser me out to the ballgame, taser me out to the crowd."

Civil Liberties Minute: Dog Fight Videos
Should videos that show disgusting, I mean really disgusting, images of pit bulls ripping apart other animals be protected by the First Amendment?

Civil Liberties Minute: Corporate Speech
Do powerful corporations have greater First Amendment rights than, say, law professors? No, this is not a trick question.

Civil Liberties Minute: More Radio Secrets
A previous ACLU Minute gave the inside scoop on how radio commentators are trying to unfairly influence your opinion. One way is to try to keep your attention by promising something sexual at the end of the commentary.