In the ongoing fight to protect First Amendment rights along the Las Vegas Strip, the ACLU of Nevada has teamed up with unlikely allies, Zorro and Darth Vader, against the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Sheriff Gillespie, and the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino.

On June 10, 2010, the ACLU of Nevada filed a lawsuit on behalf of Jason and Sebastian Perez-Morciglio – brothers by day,  Zorro and Darth Vader by night - to remind Las Vegas that that violations of the First Amendment on the Strip will not be ignored.

Last week, a vice principal at a California high school disciplined several students for wearing American flag t-shirts to school. Yes, you read that right. The reason that this symbol of our great nation was transformed into a reason for detention? The students wearing them intended the flags to express a point of view – they wore them on the day of the school’s celebration of Cinco de Mayo, honoring many students’ Mexican heritage.

Don’t you just hate when Las Vegas is featured on those “worst in the country” lists? Well, brace yourselves, because one local agency recently received a similar type of “honor” for its blatant disregard of the First Amendment.

On February 9, 2010 the ACLU of Nevada sent a letter applauding Churchill County High School for publishing a student article about a teacher in the school’s newspaper, despite attempts to block the article by the county’s Education Association.

On December 2, 2009, the ACLU of Nevada filed a Motion seeking an Order to Show Cause in its ongoing case to protect First Amendment activity at Las Vegas’ Fremont Street Experience. The brief was filed in response to the continued failure of the Fremont Street Experience, LLC (FSELLC) to comply with the law, including the Federal District Court’s March 17, 2009 Judgment and Order, which mandates the cessation of all practices that prohibit individuals from exercising their First Amendment rights, including street performing and tabling.

The Clark County School District Board of Trustees has changed its proposed policy on public speaker comments after the ACLU of Nevada sent a letter identifying the parts of a proposed policy that were problematic.

The initial version of the speech policy read:

The ACLU of Nevada has had a busy and very cosmopolitan few weeks.  On November 12, The New York Times featured our recent victory allowing students at Green Valley High School to perform The Laramie Project and Rent, despite attempts at censorship:

Nevada District Court Judge David Wall denied today a request filed by a group of local parents that sought to stop productions of The Laramie Project and Rent: School Edition at Green Valley High School in Henderson, Nevada. ACLU of Nevada attorneys, who argued that the parents should not be allowed to stop the plays, applauded the decision as a victory for free speech.

Overview

The United States Attorney’s Office issued subpoenas for seeking the identities of online commenters who anonymously criticized the US Attorney's Office in a high-profile and controversial tax case. The ACLU of Nevada initiated an action on behalf of “DOE” clients challenging the constitutionality of the subpoenas.  Read more>>

Why Is the ACLU of Nevada Concerned?

The ACLU of Nevada believes that subpoenas seeking to unmask the government’s critics constitute an abuse of the U.S. Attorney’s grand jury power. Neither of the comments are ‘true threats’ and thus they are protected by the First Amendment. Indeed, anonymous political speech is exactly what the First Amendment was designed to protect. The ACLU believes that releasing information about anonymous commenters has a drastic chilling effect on free speech.  Read more>>