Plan B Forum

Our first legal action is part of the ACLU's Seven-Point plan to fight back against the Trump administration when it seeks to violate the rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution. The plan is supported by our new Constitution Defense Fund, established after the election, to provide the manpower and resources necessary to take on the most powerful government on earth. Going forward, the ACLU's plan of action includes concrete steps to:

1. Demand government accountability and transparency

File Freedom of Information Act requests
Defend whistleblowers and journalists who rely on them.

2. Protect the rights of immigrants

Mount rapid response to immigration raids
File systemic litigation to challenge Fourth Amendment violations and racial profiling in street-level immigration enforcement
Develop legal theories to defend sanctuary cities against federal action
Represent “Dreamers” when their status comes under attack
Bring systemic litigation to challenge excessive and punitive immigration detention
Challenge unconstitutional immigration policies that discriminate against Muslims

3. Defend reproductive rights

Oppose efforts to defund Planned Parenthood
File litigation to challenge any new federal restrictions on abortion access
Challenge laws that permit the use of religion to discriminate by allowing health care providers and social service agencies to turn women away when they seek reproductive health care services or information
Challenge abortion restrictions at the state level through litigation and advocacy
Challenge existing restrictions on abortion that are more vulnerable to challenge following the Supreme Court’s decision in Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt

4. Protect First Amendment rights

Respond aggressively to threats against Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian (AMEMSA) communities
Expand efforts to defend and inform protestors through know-your-rights materials, provide legal observers at protests and file lawsuits to protect protestors
Fight dragnet government surveillance that sweeps up innocent Americans’ information

5. Defend LGBT rights

Fight the rescission of federal LGBT protections
Sue the Department of Defense if it reinstates the ban on open military service by transgender people
Oppose religious exemption measures both in state legislatures and Congress that discriminate against LGBT individuals
Fight anti-transgender rights bills in Congress and in state legislatures

6. Defend core civil rights and civil liberties from erosion

Identify, investigate, and challenge the worst police departments for Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment violations
Intervene in federal consent decrees with police departments and private employers regarding racial and gender discrimination
Litigate against the worst voter suppression measures

7. Mobilize the American people

Deploy our 750,000 card-carrying members in direct citizen action, including protests, petitions, and lobbying
Raise $100 million for a Constitutional Defense Fund in support of this plan — $47 million of which has already been raised
The ACLU's charge, laid out in the Seven-Point Plan, is to stand ready to confront any unconstitutional elements of the administration's agenda — today on day one and for every day after for the next four years.

BoSoxGal wrote:ACLU reporting a federal judge in NY just issued a stay on the immigration EO!

Bicycle Bill wrote: Can Trump sign executive orders arbitrarily removing a federal judge from his or her seat on the bench?
I'm certain he will probably try to do it, but can he do it legally, i.e., in keeping with the Constitution?

Sue U wrote:

Bicycle Bill wrote: Can Trump sign executive orders arbitrarily removing a federal judge from his or her seat on the bench?
I'm certain he will probably try to do it, but can he do it legally, i.e., in keeping with the Constitution?

No. That's the primary reason federal judges have lifetime appointments: so they don't have to worry about their jobs when making decisions that might piss off the other branches of government.

Until tonight it was not unreasonable to wonder whether the scientists, the National Parks Service and the good wonky people of NASA, would be alone on the hustings defending the basic existence of facts and truth. Today the lawyers joined the fight. Donald Trump has no idea how terrifying a blue book and a Lexis password can be. He’s about to find out.

Guinevere wrote:http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_ ... m_ban.html

Until tonight it was not unreasonable to wonder whether the scientists, the National Parks Service and the good wonky people of NASA, would be alone on the hustings defending the basic existence of facts and truth. Today the lawyers joined the fight. Donald Trump has no idea how terrifying a blue book and a Lexis password can be. He’s about to find out.

• What does “Extreme Vetting” mean?
  
  I keep asking this question. What does Extreme Vetting mean? How is it different from the rigorous screening process currently in place? Who does it? What assets do they have available? Where does the information come from? Who pays for it? Wouldn't that require legislation?
  
  During the campaign, in a speech in Youngstown, Ohio, Trump called for “extreme, extreme vetting.” He said the extreme vetting would be designed to keep out anyone who does not share “American values” and who is not prepared to “embrace a tolerant American society.”
  
  Trump said that until such a test is in place, America should suspend immigration from Muslim countries.
  
  And so here we are.
  
  Now what are “American values”?
  
  Be specific. Tell me what American values are. Give me a list. A list that applies to every American. One we all agree on.
  
  Come now, this should be easy. This is the basis of the whole damned thing. So, tell me, who decides what is American and what isn't? And what is it that makes up an American? Give me a specific list, point by point. Show your work.
  
  Now -- NOW -- once you have that list, you tell me how to TEST each potential immigrant for those values.
  
  What?
  
  No. I'm dead serious. You tell me how you test a human being for ... what? Love of baseball, mom, and Apple Pie? Tolerance? Patriotism?
  
  Tell me how you do that.
  
  Please, by all means you tell me how to do that. BE SPECIFIC.
  
  And while you're at it, show me how your tests are different, better, more effective, than what we currently have in place. Where does the information come from? What assets do the Chekas have at their disposal? How will they be trained, the Chekas? Who pays for it? Does this new system of Extreme Vetting require legislation? If not? WHY not?
  
  These questions seem to me not unreasonable.
  
  They should be put to President Trump and his Administration by the Press and hammered hard until the citizens of the United States get some goddamned answers.