Stop. Hey, what's That Sound?

December 7, 2005 9:40 AM

Presenting: The ACLU Freedom Files. Teaming up with producer Robert Greenwald (of Outfoxed and Unconstitutional, among others), the American Civil Liberties Union is presenting a 10-part series on current issues in civil liberties, viewable free online. Using comedy, drama, documentary, personal stories, music, interviews, and animation, each epsiode focuses on a timely topic, "stripping away the sound bites" and illustrating what civil liberties mean for the average American. Check out the first three, available now: Harry Shearer, librarians, and harrassed Muslim americans take on illegal search and seizure in Beyond the Patriot Act; high school students oppose mandatory drug testing and experience firsthand the power of The Supreme Court, and Gulf War veterans, protestors, and attendees at a Bush speech llustrate the concept of freedom of speech in Dissent. Production is ongoing: stay tuned for more. And more. And more.
posted by Miko (15 comments total)

Than you.
posted by IronLizard at 10:32 AM on December 7, 2005

Err, I mean: Thank You.
posted by IronLizard at 10:32 AM on December 7, 2005

I watched the Supreme Court episode on my lunch... unbelievable. If anyone asked me to pee in a cup, I'd have to shove my fist down their throat.
posted by Hanover Phist at 11:05 AM on December 7, 2005

Cool. I'll watch these, and I look forward to the one on the 2^nd amendment.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 11:37 AM on December 7, 2005

ZenMasterThis, I am sure you were trying to be sarcastic. However, the ACLU already has a well-reasoned policy on the second amendment.
posted by Miko at 11:42 AM on December 7, 2005

"Well-reasoned" is the arguable part there. And oh God is it argued. They should just stay out of that particular civil liberty.
posted by smackfu at 11:46 AM on December 7, 2005

Well, I'd say it's well-reasoned whether or not anyone agrees with it, relying as it does on Supreme Court precedent. The reasoning is sound enough that even the Court hasn't mucked with it since 1939.
posted by Miko at 11:49 AM on December 7, 2005

good post.
posted by j-urb at 12:22 PM on December 7, 2005

This has absolutely nothing to do with fish. I'm outraged.
posted by Plutor at 12:52 PM on December 7, 2005

Sigh. When will [Apple/Firefox] figure out how to trigger Quicktime nicely with MIME settings? Apparently type/x-quicktime returns Firefox thinking that Quicktime's supposed to play it, but it doesn't know how to access Quicktime. Bugzillafilter.
posted by cavalier at 1:09 PM on December 7, 2005

Thanks for this post, Miko. Now that I've had a chance to see a few, they seem to be very well presented and engaging videos.
posted by prostyle at 3:52 PM on December 7, 2005

I already bought and received the first 2, they are waiting for viewing. I'm glad they made them available for sale, I like to contribute to the efforts of the ACLU.
posted by Goofyy at 3:34 AM on December 8, 2005

great stuff--thanks!
posted by amberglow at 6:14 AM on December 8, 2005

Thanks for the links. I'm glad to see that the ACLU is pursuing some cases that many middle of the road Americans could support. (They lose so many points with people trying to shut down Christmas displays and supporting NAMBLA's rights. I understand their intellectual position but I think they make themselves an easy target for the right wing with these positions.)

These videos will be very helpful for high school students debating civil liberties this year. I can't imagine what could more inspirational to a young person interested in the law than the girl who took her fight against drug testing without probable cause to the Supreme Court. The appraisals of the individuals justices was fascinating. (This is from Episode 2: The Supreme Court.)

I'd like to see some links to counter arguments on these cases.
posted by notmtwain at 8:04 AM on December 9, 2005

Here is the Supreme Court decision in the Earl vs. Tecumseh case. (The drug testing of students participating in extracurricular activities case.)
posted by notmtwain at 8:51 AM on December 9, 2005