Ever since the invention of the printing press in 1456, books have been banned, restricted, removed, censored or challenged for various reasons. Everywhere one turns, censorship rears its ugly head. Music cds have parental warning stickers, movies and television have rating systems, parents, libraries and members of Congress seek to censor the Internet. When a published work is banned, it can usually be found elsewhere, but unexpressed ideas and unpublished works are lost forever.

The American Booksellers Association (ABA) and the American Library Association’s (ALA) Banned Books Week brings attention to the type of censorship that hinders the free expression of innovative ideas. This year, the American Association of School Librarians designates September 28th to highlight the dangers of software filters that block access to educational material online.

Download our flyer here.

Join Gwinnett SToPP and Interfaith Children’s Movement for

 Forgiveness
A community conversation to improve graduation rates

Saturday, October 1^st; 2pm-5:30pm
795 Hi Hope Road
Lawrenceville, GA 30043

The event is free, with refreshments provided for registered participants.
Free t-shirts to the first 25 registrants! Win door prizes!

Get involved and make a difference in your community.

Register at www.GwinnettSToPP.org
Teaching today’s children for tomorrow’s future.

view online flyer

September 27th
11:20 am – 12:20 pm

Turner Hall
LaGrange College

Guest speaker Azadeh Shahshahani speaks at LaGrange College for Constitution Day.  Azadeh is the National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project Director and a International Human Rights Lawyer and Columnist.

This meeting will be held at Turner Hall and counts towards Cultural Enrichment.

Download Flyer

The state of Georgia has executed Troy Davis, despite serious concerns that he was wrongly convicted in 1989 of killing a police officer. This case makes clear that the death penalty system in the United States is broken beyond repair. It is arbitrary, discriminatory and comes at an enormous cost to taxpayers, and it must be ended.

Click to go to the webpage, then click on your state and TAKE ACTION to end the death penalty!

Execution Underscores Death Penalty’s Systemic Injustices

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2011

ATLANTA – The state of Georgia tonight executed Troy Davis, despite serious concerns that he was wrongly convicted in 1989 of killing a police officer.

“The execution of an innocent man crystallizes in the most sickening way the vast systemic injustices that plague our death penalty system. No innocent person should ever be put to death, and it is unconscionable and unconstitutional to carry out an execution where, as in the case of Troy Davis, significant doubts exist,” said Denny LeBoeuf, the American Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project director.

“The jury in Troy’s case was deceived, witnesses were pressured, and virtually no one who looks at the case today would claim that he could be convicted, let alone sentenced to death, for the murder. Troy’s case makes clear that the death penalty system in the United States is broken beyond repair. It is arbitrary, discriminatory and comes at an enormous cost to taxpayers, and it must be ended.”

go to page

Execution in Face of Serious Doubts Unconscionable and Unconstitutional

September 20, 2011

ATLANTA – The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles Tuesday denied clemency to Troy Davis, despite serious concerns that he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989.

 “The refusal today by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant Troy Davis clemency underscores the vast systemic injustices that plague our death penalty system,” said Denny LeBoeuf, director of the ACLU Capital Punishment Project. “No innocent person should ever be put to death, and it is unconscionable and unconstitutional to carry out an execution where, as in Troy’s case, significant doubts exist. The death penalty system in the United States is arbitrary, discriminatory and comes at an enormous cost to taxpayers, and it must be ended.”

See also for details:

http://www.ajc.com/news/parole-board-denies-clemency-1184524.html

Have you ever experienced racial, ethnic, or religious profiling?

Do you want to hear about what others have faced because of their background?

Interested in learning what your rights are when encountering law enforcement?

 If so, join ACLU of Georgia, GLAHR, Georgia State Conference NAACP Columbus & Sandersville Chapters, and & Comités Populares de Georgia, including Voces Unidas Statesboro, Latinos Unidos en Albany, Fort Valley, Sandersville, Warner Robins, Alpharetta, Lake Park, Moultrie, and Forsyth County for:

Tell Your Story/Know Your Rights Forums

Columbus – September 19,  6-8pm
Statesboro – September 23, 6-8pm
Albany - September 29, 6-8pm
Fort Valley – October 1, 12-2pm
Sandersville – October 7, 6-8pm
Warner Robins – October 16, 3-5pm
Alpharetta – October 22, 4-6pm
Lake Park – October 29, 3-5pm

For More Info and to help organize a forum in your community, contact:

Azadeh Shahshahani – ashahshahani@acluga.org
Adelina Nicholls – anicholls@glarh.org
Edward Dubose – edubose252@aol.com

Sponsored by:
ACLU of Georgia, GLAHR, NAACP-Georgia State Conference
Latinos Unidos, Comites Populares de Georgia

September 9, 2011

In just two days, our nation will take a moment to  reflect upon the calamity and aftermath of the tragic incidents of 9/11.   As Americans across the country engage in this solemn period of meditation, we are reminded once again to think carefully about the foundational values upon which the United States of America stands. 

An initiative carried out by an organization called South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT) celebrates American ideals of fairness, diversity, and equality as it seeks to incorporate the perspectives of South Asians, Arab Americans, Muslims, and Sikhs in this country.  Given that numerous individuals within these groups have been discriminated against in various fashion since 2001, it is tremendously important to remind ourselves that all people, regardless of background, must be heard and respected in this land of opportunity. 

Through various measures such as photo and video submissions, you can participate in spreading awareness about this important issue.  Learn more about the initiative at: 

An America for All of Us:  Our Country, Our Voice (SAALT)    

September 9, 2011

The State of Georgia plans to execute Troy Davis at midnight on September 21, even though he is very likely innocent.

Davis has been scheduled for execution three times before, and three times his execution has been stayed amid doubts and new evidence against other suspects. Davis was sentenced on the basis of witness testimony, but seven of nine original witnesses have since recanted or changed their testimony.

We can’t afford to execute people who might be innocent – let alone people who probably are.

The last chance for remedy of this egregious injustice is an appeal for clemency to the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board. Clemency in Davis’ case does not mean setting him free but instead converting his death sentence to life in prison without parole – that way, if his verdict is ever reversed at least he will be alive to see it.

Take action today: go here to send a message to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Go to the Blog of Rights, Troy Davis Execution set – Take Action Today!

by Azadeh Shahshahani, special to the Daily Report

One of the freedoms that was most appealing to me when I came from Iran to the United States at age 16 was the right, free from governmental interference, to practice one’s religion, or no religion at all. In my trips back to visit family and friends, I often boasted about the guarantee of religious freedom here.

But this and other fundamental rights have been increasingly denied to Muslim- Americans in the years since Sept. 11, tarnishing America’s reputation as a beacon of religious freedom and due process of law

On Sept. 11, 2001, I was in my second semester of law school at the University of Michigan. The implications for the Muslim-American community soon hit home. I heard about Iranian friends on student visas having to register as part of the notorious National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS), a program instituted in fall 2002 that amounted to a discriminatory dragnet.

I learned after the fact about friends being approached by the FBI at their homes for “voluntary” questionings. Of course, my friends, coming from a country where one does not disobey authority figures unless ready to face the repercussions, had obliged, often submitting to the questioning without representation.

This is why, when I finished law school and moved to North Carolina, I approached the ACLU of North Carolina with an idea for a project to recruit and train a network of attorneys ready to represent community members facing FBI questionings or discrimination, and working with Muslim and Middle Eastern communities to help empower the community through Know Your Rights presentations.

During the presentations in North Carolina, and later in Georgia, I learned about Muslim-Americans facing violations of the fundamental rights and liberties enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

In North Carolina, we received multiple letters from Muslim-Americans whose citizenship applications had been put on an indefinite hold due to FBI name checks. Some had been awaiting a decision for five years or more. Thousands of American families are to this day still awaiting an explanation as to why the Administration chose to subject them to such an arbitrary and indefinite hold.

In Georgia, we saw a judge violate the very freedom President Obama spoke of so eloquently in his 2009 speech in Cairo, that “freedom in America is indivisible from the freedom to practice one’s religion.”

The president acknowledged the right of Muslim women and girls to wear the hijab, but on Dec. 16, 2008, this right was denied to Lisa Miedah Valentine. Instead, she found herself in handcuffs and in jail, with her hijab removed, after Judge Keith Rollins of the Douglasville [Georgia] Municipal Court sentenced her to 10 days in jail for contempt of court. Valentine and other Muslim women were denied access to the Douglasville Municipal Court even after they expressly conveyed to court officials that the wearing of the head scarf is an expression of their faith.

The Judicial Council of Georgia has since—as result of advocacy by the ACLU and other organizations—recognized the right of people of faith to wear headgear of their choosing at the courthouse. However, we continue to hear about Muslim-Americans from across Georgia facing discrimination at the courthouse or other public forums due to their wearing of religious clothing.

Azadeh N. Shahshahani is the National Security/Immigrants’ Rights Project director for the ACLU of Georgia. She also serves as executive vice president for the National Lawyers Guild and co-chair of the ABA Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section Committee on the Rights of Immigrants.

see the report here