For years, the Bush administration illegally intercepted the emails and phone calls of millions of Americans. Rather than rein in this abuse of power, lawmakers on Capitol Hill caved in to the administration and gave the National Security Agency (NSA) even more expansive powers to spy on Americans than it had under the illegal warrantless wiretapping program President Bush secretly authorized in 2001. In our first segment this week on Radio Civil Liberties, we heard a conversation with the ACLU's Jameel Jaffer, The Nation's Chris Hedges and Human Rights Watch's Dinah PoKempner regarding the phony congressional compromise and the joint action to bring suit to restore the rule of law. (click above to watch the video version)

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Following up on our landmark legal victory that recognized lesbian and gay couples’ valid out-of-state marriages, the New York Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit in the Erie County Supreme Court against an insurance company for denying spousal health care benefits to a validly married lesbian couple. In our second segment this week, we recap the case as well as an audio segment with NYCLU Staff Attorney Matt Faiella detailing the specifics of the Martinez decision and its impact on families across New York State.

For more from the NYCLU's Western Regional Office | Click Here|

Listen Here to NYCLU Staff Attorney Matt Faiella discuss the "Martinez " decision and its implications at the recent WNY forum (22mb .mp3)

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