ACRU Issues Press Release about Brief Filed in Gun Rights Case

By |2023-03-10T08:04:42-05:00February 12th, 2013|

WASHINGTON (Feb. 11, 2013) — In a brief filed today at the U.S. Supreme Court, the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) urges the court to hear a case involving New York citizens who say their Second Amendment right to bear arms has been abridged by a state law and a court ruling limiting gun rights to inside the home.

Written by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara, the brief notes that the Second Circuit Court, in upholding a district court ruling, “failed to follow the plain language of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008).” The court “limited the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms […]

ACRU Brief Supports Arizona's Citizenship Law for Voting in Federal Elections

By |2020-04-23T21:59:33-04:00December 14th, 2012|

(Alexandria, VA) – The American Civil Rights Union filed a brief today with the United States Supreme Court in Arizona v. The Intertribal Council of Arizona in support of Arizona’s Proposition 200, which requires prospective voters to provide satisfactory evidence of citizenship to register to vote. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a District Court ruling upholding that state law, concluding that federal election law preempts Proposition 200 in regard to federal elections.

“While states continue to move forward in preventing voter fraud by passing Voter ID laws, purging deceased voters from their rolls and blocking non-citizens from casting ballots, liberal groups and activists […]

ACRU Files Supreme Court Brief in Major Property Rights Case

By |2012-11-29T21:58:42-05:00November 29th, 2012|

WASHINGTON, DC (Nov. 30, 2012) — In a case with profound implications for property owners, the American Civil Rights Union filed a brief at the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday, Nov. 28 arguing that bureaucrats so violated a Florida man’s constitutional rights against seizure of his property without proper compensation that it amounts to “extortion.”

The brief in Coy A. Koontz v. St. John’s River Water Management District, written by ACRU General Counsel Peter J. Ferrara, argues that state officials required conditions for issuing land use permits that constitute a “taking” prohibited under the Fifth Amendment.

In 1972, Coy Koontz bought 14.9 acres of land […]

ACRU Asks Holder to Investigate Connecticut Mayor's Comments

By |2012-10-29T12:53:54-04:00October 29th, 2012|

On October 12th, Bridgeport, Conn. Mayor Bill Finch was caught on tape arguably boasting that he would guarantee U.S. Senate candidate Christopher Murphy however many Bridgeport votes it took for Murphy to win the election in November. On Oct. 24, ACRU Chairman Susan A. Carleson wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr. asking the Justice Department to make inquiries and to monitor the voting process in Bridgeport from now until Election Day.

Click here for the letter. (PDF)

Specter of Fraud Haunts November Election

By |2020-04-23T21:59:33-04:00September 14th, 2012|

National Photo Voter ID Law Needed, ACRU Says

“Requiring all voters in a national election to show identification at the polls is a common-sense measure to prevent fraud and corruption.” — former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Sept. 13, 2012) — “With far left groups like radical unions and renamed ACORN remnants gearing up for widespread vote fraud, and with state and federal courts and the Obama Administration’s Justice Department striking down voter ID laws contrary to U.S. Supreme Court precedent, it’s time that Congress addressed the problem on a national level,” said Susan A. Carleson, chairman and CEO of the American […]

ACRU's Meese, Blackwell, Carleson Urge Governors to Rethink Voter ID Law Vetoes

By |2012-08-07T22:38:55-04:00August 7th, 2012|

Letter Calls “Suppress the Minority Vote” Allegations “Utter Nonsense”

JULY 25, 2012 — The American Civil Rights Union today is sending letters to four of five governors who vetoed legislation requiring photo voter IDs in order to deter vote fraud. A fifth letter, to New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch, was discarded after the legislature voted to overturn his veto and the bill became law, subject to Department of Justice approval.

Signed by ACRU policy board members former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III, former Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell and ACRU Chairman Susan A. Carleson, the letters were mailed to Minnesota Gov. Mark […]

Supreme Court Upholds Socialized Medicine

By |2012-06-28T17:44:37-04:00June 28th, 2012|

June 28, 2012 — “The Supreme Court today affirmed the fundamental dishonesty of our politics,” said Peter Ferrara, general counsel for the American Civil Rights Union, which filed seven amicus briefs challenging the Affordable Care Act.

“Before Obamacare passed, the President of the United States told the whole country on TV that the individual mandate is not a tax. After Obamacare passed, Barack Obama sent his lawyers into courts all over America to argue that it is constitutional because it is a tax.

“The Supreme Court of the United States just endorsed this fundamental dishonesty of our politics. The President intimidated Chief Justice John Roberts […]

Court Upholds Key Provision in Arizona Case, ACRU Says

By |2020-04-23T21:58:17-04:00June 25th, 2012|

Ruling in Arizona v. United States lets officers check immigration status during lawful stops, while striking down other elements of SB 1070.

WASHINGTON — “We’re disappointed in much of today’s ruling, but the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the key right of law enforcement officials to inquire as to immigration status during traffic stops,” said Susan A. Carleson, Chairman and CEO of the American Civil Rights Union (ACRU), which filed a Supreme Court brief in February in support of Arizona.

“If the federal government won’t do the job of enforcing our border, we believe Arizona and other states have the constitutional right to defend it themselves,” […]

California Court Rules Against Cross Memorial

By |2020-04-23T21:52:55-04:00January 6th, 2011|

Ninth’s Decision on Mt. Soledad Veterans Cross “Defies Common Sense,” ACRU Says

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the 57-year-old concrete cross atop the Mt. Soledad Veterans Memorial in San Diego is unconstitutional. The decision runs counter to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a similar case at the Mojave National Preserve veterans memorial.

“This decision appears to be rooted more in a desire to rid the public square of prominent reminders of America’s religious heritage than it does in a desire to protect the sensibilities of people who happen to see the cross. It distorts the […]

Court Strikes Down Obamacare

By |2010-12-14T15:10:40-05:00December 14th, 2010|

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Monday struck down as unconstitutional the individual mandate in President Obama’s health care takeover scheme, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The individual mandate is the provision that all individuals without employer provided health insurance purchase health insurance with all of the benefits and provisions as specified by the federal government.

Federal Judge Henry Hudson ruled that the federal government does not have the power to impose such an individual mandate under any of the enumerated powers of The Constitution. However, even though the legislation does not include a severability clause, which traditionally provides […]

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