ACLU of Kentucky

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A Forum on the Death Penalty at WKU Print E-mail
Wednesday, April 29, 2009, 3:09 pm
Next week at WKU we will host a forum on the Death Penalty.
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Morris Dees to deliver Keynote at Bill of Rights Dinner Print E-mail
Monday, April 20, 2009, 2:09 pm

The ACLU of KY is honored to be hosting Morris Dees, Co-Founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center, as our Keynote Speaker at the 2009 Bill of Rights Dinner on Thursday, October 1st. The dinner will be held this year at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Louisville.


Please join us in welcoming Mr. Dees to Kentucky by attending a pre-dinner reception where you can talk with Mr. Dees personally, or attend the dinner to hear him speak of his journey in the Civil Rights history of the United States.   Tickets and on-line registration coming in May!


In 1967, lawyer Morris Dees had achieved extraordinary business and financial success with his book publishing company. The son of an Alabama farmer, he witnessed firsthand the painful consequences of prejudice and racial injustice. He sympathized with the Civil Rights Movement but had not become actively involved. A night of soul searching at a snowed-in Cincinnati airport changed his life, inspiring Dees to leave his safe, business-as-usual world and undertake a new mission.
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Military Entrance Processing Stations / Gideons Print E-mail
Friday, April 10, 2009, 3:50 pm
Military Entrance Processing Stations / Gideons
Resolved without litigation

    In 2007, we received an inquiry regarding the lawfulness of the military’s practice of allowing members of Gideons International access to the Military Entrance and Processing Station (MEPS) in Louisville for the purpose of distributing Bibles to new inductees.  We initiated a Freedom of Information Act request that uncovered a fairly widespread practice of allowing Gideons access to MEPS facilities across the country.  Based upon this information, the national ACLU Religious Freedom Project coordinated a joint effort between several state affiliates and successfully negotiated with the military to allow retired Colonel Mike Pheneger (Board Member, ACLU Florida) to observe these practices firsthand at various MEPS facilities.

    On November 6, 2008, the military adopted a new policy allowing equal access to all outside organizations to place (not personally distribute) literature in the MEPS facilities.  Due to subsequent information tending to indicate that the Louisville MEPS may not be in compliance with the new regulation, we will continue to monitor the situation and will assess possible responses in coordination with the Religious Freedom Project.
 
Hillview Police Department Print E-mail
Friday, April 10, 2009, 3:49 pm
Hillview Police Department
Resolved without litigation

    The City of Hillview Mayor submitted a memo to city employees in 2005 along with donated bumper stickers entitled "Keep the Ten Commandments."  The memo "requested" that city employees place the donated bumper stickers on all city-owned vehicles.  As a result, marked police cruisers were adorned with these bumper stickers (which also direct the reader to a pair of websites that extol the virtues of the Ten Commandments as a religious symbol and emphasize the need to publicly display them as a means of support for the Christian faith).  After receiving a complaint from a dedicated ACLU member, we submitted a demand letter to the Chief of the Hillview Police Department requesting that all such bumper stickers be removed from the department’s vehicles.  On February 7, 2008, Chief Ray Wilburn agreed to our request and issued a directive requiring the removal of all such bumper stickers.
 
University of the Cumberlands Print E-mail
Friday, April 10, 2009, 3:48 pm
University of the Cumberlands
Kentucky Supreme Court

    The Kentucky Supreme Court has agreed to hear this case in which several plaintiffs successfully sued Kentucky over its funding of a private, religious college for the construction of a pharmacy school building and the establishment of a scholarship fund.  Judge Roger Crittenden ruled that the 10 million dollar appropriation to construct the pharmacy school building violated §§ 5 and 189 of the Kentucky Constitution because it represented a direct payment of public funds to a religious school for educational purposes.  Judge Crittenden also found that the permanent scholarship fund violated § 51 of the Kentucky Constitution because the General Assembly did not reenact or publish at length various Kentucky laws amended by the provision.

    We will be filing an Amicus brief in conjunction with the Americans United for the Separation of Church and State supporting Judge Crittenden’s ruling by focusing on the historical underpinnings of §§ 5 and 189 of the Kentucky Constitution and the framers’ intent in adopting such provisions.
 
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