New Yorkers enjoyed a clear victory today, as plaintiffs in the Little v. LATFOR case dropped their challenge of the state law ending prison-based gerrymandering.

New York Supreme Court Justice Eugene Devine today upheld New York’s law ending prison-based gerrymandering in the Little v. LATFOR lawsuit. His decision squarely rejects the plaintiffs’ claim that the New York law violated various provisions of the New York State Constitution. The New York Civil Liberties Union was among seven civil rights organizations representing 15 voters from around New York State who joined the suit as intervenor-defendants.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board has proposed campaign spending rules that would require organizations and individuals that spend money on campaign ads to disclose their financial supporters and expenses even where the ads are not coordinated with a candidate’s campaign. But, according to testimony to be delivered today by the New York Civil Liberties Union, the proposed rules inappropriately burden advocacy and non-profit organizations’ non-partisan speech about public policy issues.

A New York Supreme Court judge has cleared the way for civil rights organizations representing 15 voters from across New York State to join the Attorney General in defending New York’s law ending “prison-based gerrymandering,” a practice that had distorted representation across New York State.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today joined other top civil rights organizations to file a motion in New York Supreme Court asking to intervene to help defend New York’s new law allocating people in prison to their home communities for redistricting and reapportionment.

Nine Republican state senators are among plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed this week challenging New York State’s recently enacted ban on prison-based gerrymandering – a practice that inflated the population of electoral districts with prisons by counting inmates as residents of those districts, rather than residents of the communities in which they lived prior to incarceration. The following is attributable to Donna Lieberman, executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union:

On Election Day, the Western Regional Office of the New York Civil Liberties Union will operate a voting rights hotline until one hour after the polls close to assist area residents who encounter problems while trying to vote. NYCLU staff and attorneys will be available all day to answer questions and field complaints on any number of issues, including trouble using the new ballots, requests that voters present ID when it is not legally required, errors on the voter registry, or lack of accommodation for people with disabilities at polling places.

The New York Civil Liberties Union is urging the Dutchess County Board of Elections to take specific precautions to protect the voting rights of Bard and Vassar College students at polling places on Election Day. Following the 2009 general election, the NYCLU received numerous complaints from students, poll watchers and other county residents concerning attempts to challenge the residency of college students when they show up at the polls to vote.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today praised the State Legislature for including in the budget a provision that ends the practice of prison-based gerrymandering – inflating the population of electoral districts with prisons in them by counting incarcerated people where they are confined, not where they are from.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today filed papers in federal court supporting Senator Hiram Monserrate’s lawsuit challenging his recent expulsion from the New York State Senate.