In response to the overnight eviction of Occupy Syracuse demonstrators from Perseverance Park, the New York Civil Liberties Union today issued the following statement attributable to Central New York Chapter Director Barrie Gewanter:

The New York Civil Liberties Union today called on Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner to halt plans to evict Occupy Syracuse protesters from Perseverance Park tomorrow morning.

The New York Civil Liberties Union today urged the Cortland Common Council to take action to amend a city zoning ordinance that places unconstitutional restrictions on residents' ability to place political signs on their property. “It’s time for the Common Council to stop talking about this ordinance, and act to fix it,” said Barrie Gewanter, director of the NYCLU”s Central New York Chapter. “Council members cannot address the constitutional violations at issue through silence and inaction. Some simple changes would protect people’s free speech rights.”

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 U.S. Border Patrol is using aggressive policing tactics far from the border in upstate New York to increase arrest rates with little regard to New Yorkers’ constitutional rights and freedoms, according to a report released today by the NYU Immigrant Rights Clinic, the New York Civil Liberties Union and Families for Freedom.

Police officers throughout New York State are consistently misusing and overusing Tasers, according to a report released today by the New York Civil Liberties Union. The report, Taking Tasers Seriously: The Need for Better Regulation of Stun Guns in New York, analyzes 851 Taser incident reports from eight police departments across the state as well as 10 departments’ policies and guidelines for using the weapons, which deliver up to 50,000 volts of electricity and have caused the deaths of more than a dozen New Yorkers in recent years.

As the Occupy Wall Street movement spreads, the New York Civil Liberties Union is working in towns and cities throughout New York State to protect the right to protest. “The right to peaceful protest is a core constitutional principle,” said NYCLU Executive Director Donna Lieberman. “As the demonstrations spread across the state, the NYCLU is standing alongside the protestors to defend their right to speak their minds.”

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 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today announced that all new insurance plans under the health reform law provide women contraception without co-pays, deductibles or other out-of-pocket expenses. The new measure will ensure that millions of women in New York State and nationwide have greater access to a broad range contraception and preventative health services. A panel of experts at the Institute of Medicine had recommended the policy.

In an important step forward for women’s health, the Institute of Medicine has recommended to the federal government that new insurance plans under the health reform law provide contraception without co-pays, deductibles or other out-of-pocket expenses.