Podcast

The Civil Liberties Minute™ podcasts--with Bill Newman, director of the ACLU's Western Massachusetts Legal Office--highlight threats to our civil liberties and what you can do to protect our freedoms. Hear new episodes throughout the week on WHMP 1240/1400AM or 96.9FM in western Massachusetts. You can also download the show on iTunes (please note that Apple's privacy policy differs from ours). Note that you may need to download Quicktime Player or Windows Media Player to stream the episodes live.

Listen to the latest Episodes:

2.22.12

Jeopardy
Let's play Jeopardy: the category is Republican presidential candidates and family planning.

The Shame of Gitmo
What is the real shame of Guantanamo?

Drones in the Sky
Look, up in the sky, It's a bird, It's a plane. It's a ...drone.

50s Alabama
Should equal rights for Negros have been made the subject of a popular vote in Alabama in the 1950s and 1960s? Governor Christie and his veto of marriage equality legislation.

3 Strikes
Should baseball decide how long Massachusetts prison sentences should be?

2.14.12

Heart Boobies, Part Two
I (heart) Boobies- Still getting kids thrown out of school.

Float Like a Butterfly
Float Like a Butterfly, Sting like a Bee; a eulogy for Angelo Dundee.

1.25.12

SOPA
SOPA and the fight for internet freedom.

The Homophobic Repealers
Homophobic repealers. Yes, we are still in Kansas, Dorothy.

Religion at the Election
Is freedom of religion being threatened by the 2012 presidential election?

1.13.12

Gitmo at 10
Happy anniversary, America. It's the 10th anniversary of opening Guantanamo Bay detention prison.

Three Strikes
Allegedly liberal Massachusetts is on the verge of passing one of the nation's worst three strikes and you're out sentencing laws.

1.6.12

Jakadrien Turner
Jakadrien is missing. How ICE earns its acronym.

Racist Terms
To live and die in Dixie. Is it ok for a white supervisor to call an adult Black employee "Boy?"
(what the 11th Circuit said is almost as bad as what the supervisor did).

12.22.11

Victory for the Howling Pig
Civil Libertarians can give a howl of delight for the victory of The Howling Pig.

Jailed for Accuracy
Can you go to jail for sharing accurate information about your rights? Some prosecutors insist the answer is Yes.

12.14.11

Auld Lang Syne
What's an "auld lang syne" anyway?

ACLU Carolers
Hey, it's the ACLU Holiday Carolers!

12.13.11

Phoebe Prince
Should the settlement with the family of Phoebe Prince--the 15 year old South Hadley Massachusetts student who took her own life, a suicide linked to bullying at her high school, be made public?

Government Privacy
After the Supreme Court rules, will the Privacy Act still actually protect our privacy?

12.2.11

The Oregon Governor
What’s the take-home lesson from Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber renouncing the death penalty?

Tom Wicker
Why was it A Time To Die? In Memoriam: Tom Wicker

11.22.11

Transgender Civil Rights
Congratulations, Massachusetts. You passed the Transgender Equal Rights Bill - finally.

Sarah Shourd
The take-home lesson from Sarah Shourd , who spent 15 months in solitary conferment in Tehran, may surprise you.

Ricky Wyatt
You may not know Ricky Wyatt, who died in early November 2011 at the age of 57. Here's why you should.

Visiting Fee
What are we to make of a new state law that requires a wife or husband to pay $25 in order to visit his or her spouse in prison?

11.14.11

Lucky
Could a person who is sent death row because he prosecutor withheld evidence of his innocence be considered lucky?

Every Moment
Who in the United States would actually dare suggest that the government has the right to monitor the movement of everyone in the United States every minute of day? The answer is...

11.3.11

The Next Presidential Election
Let's name one way that the next presidential election will determine the future of freedom in America.

Fixing Tickets
When the the headline read, Officers Jeer As Colleague Arraigned in Ticket- Fixing case, who were the officers jeering?

10.31.11

The Gay-Straight Alliance
Can a high school principal prohibit students from forming a Gay-Straight Alliance student club?
It happened in Texas (not surprisingly).This is a case where legal representation was provided by he ACLU of TX affiliate.

10.25.11

Occupy Protests
Can the police arrest you for demonstrating in a public park? Inquiring minds occupying Wall Street (and Main Street) want to know.

The One Percent
What does the constitutional guarantee of equal protection say about the wealth of the top 1% of Americans and the bottom 90% being equal?

10.19.11

Franklin Kameny
Franklin Kameny, called the Rosa Parks of the gay rights movement, passed on October 11, National Coming Out Day.

The "Underwear Bomber"
Is there a lesson to be learned from the prosecution of the Christmas Day underwear attempted plane bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab?

9.28.11

Troy Davis
What does the execution of Troy Davis teach us about the death penalty in America?

Barion Perry
Will the Supreme Court act to prevent criminal convictions based on obviously unreliable eye-witness identification?