ACLU

Republicans and Democrats have been sniping about the USA Patriot Act ever since Congress passed the law in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks to try to forestall another such disaster. But now, it’s the Democrats who are sniping among themselves about it.

A former crack user says she kicked her addiction because she found Jesus at Minnesota Teen Challenge. A man says that God healed his liver after a prayer service at the Christian drug treatment facility. While its clients sing its praises — some claiming it saved their lives — should such an overtly religious program be receiving taxpayer funding? According to state records, MNTC has gotten more than $2 million from the state of Minnesota since 2007.

Rep. Michele Bachmann took to the House floor to defend school prayer on Tuesday, after two Florida school employees allegedly violated a court order against prayer during a teacher’s luncheon.
“Mr. Speaker, the problem is that this displays a trend and a tendency that we are seeing where groups like the ACLU strike at one school [...]

In a fawning new profile, The American Spectator trumpets Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s early efforts to secure the 2012 GOP nomination for president. While acknowledging that some dismiss T-Paw as “too vanilla” and citing his “lack of magnetism,” the conservative publication gives Minnesota’s outgoing governor props for unallotment:

A court ruled Tuesday that the Minnesota chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU-MN) can sue Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), Islamic Relief and state education commissioner Alice Seagren for constitutional violations after allegedly using taxpayer money to illegally promote religion.

Minnesotan Coleen Rowley has emerged in the last few days as a potential “off-the-grid” nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Rowley’s addition to unofficial SCOTUS “long lists” (as opposed to shortlists) comes as U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar downplays chatter that she might be tapped to replace retiring Justice David Souter.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed suit Wednesday against Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy and the Minnesota Department of Education alleging a violation of the separation between church and state. TIZA was at the center of a media storm last year after the Star Tribune’s Katherine Kersten wrote an inflammatory commentary alleging religious instruction at the taxpayer-funded school. ACLU-MN investigated the allegations and in court documents filed in U.S. District Court said the Muslim organizations from which TIZA leases its space are illegally benefiting from the leasing arrangement.

U.S. Sen. Larry Craig’s mistake wasn’t letting the clock run out on appealing his airport bathroom sex-solicitation case to the Minnesota Supreme Court — it was bringing the wrong case in the first place. That’s the view of Charles Samuelson, executive director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota (ACLU-MN), who thinks that a refusal to acknowledge his homosexuality impeded Craig’s ability to make his legal arguments.

U.S. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) cannot withdraw his guilty plea in the infamous 2007 Minneapolis-St. Paul airport bathroom sex case, the Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled today in an unpublished opinion. That means Craig is stuck with having copped in District Court to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct for allegedly signaling an interest in engaging in sex via foot taps from one restroom stall to another in which a undercover police officer was staked out. The decision’s “unpublished” status means the court doesn’t want their ruling used as precedent in future cases — interesting, in view of charges that Craig sought special treatment or was being singled out for preferential or especially harsh treatment because of his status as a U.S. Senator.

On Tuesday, the American Civil Liberties Union sent a freedom of information (FOIA) request to the U.S. government over “reports that an active military unit has been deployed inside the U.S. to help with ‘civil unrest’ and ‘crowd control’ – matters traditionally handled by civilian authorities.” As MnIndy has reported, the Army’s Consequence Management Response [...]