The New York Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of New York City civic organizations commended Mayor Michael Bloomberg, schools Chancellor Joel Klein and the Department of Education for taking a strong stand today against harassment in New York City public schools. But while the new Chancellor’s Regulation on bias-based harassment, intimidation and bullying is a significant step, it falls short of full implementation of the Dignity in All Schools Act (DASA), a four-year old law passed by the City Council that the mayor has refused to enforce, despite his legal obligation to do so.

A New York State Supreme Court today ruled that Gov. David Paterson’s May memo telling state agencies to recognize the marriages of lesbian and gay couples performed in other states and countries is legal. The decision relied heavily on a landmark New York Civil Liberties Union victory in the case Martinez v. County of Monroe.

Responding to opposition led by the New York Civil Liberties Union, Otsego County has abandoned revisions to its employee health care policy that unlawfully excluded from coverage couples who are lesbian and gay.

In oral arguments today, the American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union urged a federal appeals court to uphold a decision striking down the national security letter (NSL) provision of the Patriot Act.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today strongly condemned regulations proposed by the Bush administration that could jeopardize access to basic health care services for millions of women in New York and across the country.

The New York Civil Liberties Union, Make the Road New York, the Urban Youth Collaborative and their partners in the Student Safety Coalition today joined Councilman Robert Jackson in introducing legislation that would bring transparency and accountability to the massive police presence in New York City’s schools.

A federal judge has ordered New York City to turn over to the New York Civil Liberties Union hundreds of intelligence documents related to the NYPD’s treatment of protestors arrested during the 2004 Republican National Convention.

The NYPD’s plan to photograph and track every vehicle entering Manhattan and then keep data on each vehicle in a database for an undisclosed period of time is an attack on New Yorkers’ right to privacy, said representatives from the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The New York Civil Liberties Union, and the law firm of Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP working as cooperating pro bono attorneys, won a significant first victory in their landmark lawsuit seeking to repair New York State’s broken public defense system. State Supreme Court Justice Eugene P. Devine has denied New York State’s motion to dismiss the case. This now clears the way for the NYCLU to proceed with its motion, filed in March, for immediate emergency relief.

The mayor, schools chancellor and police commissioner today held a press conference effectively celebrating overly aggressive NYPD tactics in New York City’s schools. This photo opportunity comes after years of resisting calls for transparency and just one week before legislation governing accountability over police in schools was to come before the City Council.