Tucson, AZ – On Aug. 10, Tucson Police (TPD) pulled over Norlan Flores Prado, a day laborer from Nicaragua, for allegedly making an improper right turn. Tucson Police then did exactly what they claim not to: they contacted the Border Patrol. Immediately, nearly 50 activists mobilized into action and flooded the scene. Two women threw themselves under the unmarked government SUV in which Flores was detained. Amid chants of “La Migra, policia, la misma porqueria!” the police and Border Patrol were forced to extract the two activists from underneath the vehicle in order to proceed with the bogus arrest.

Detroit, MI – The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan and the Detroit music duo Insane Clown Posse (ICP), filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 8 on behalf of Juggalos, or fans of ICP, saying their constitutional rights to expression and association were violated when the U.S. government wrongly and arbitrarily classified the entire fan base as a “hybrid” criminal gang. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of four Juggalos and the two members of ICP.

Pittsburgh, PA – The city of Pittsburgh agreed Feb. 14 to pay $400,000 to settle the claims of 13 people who were swept up in a mass arrest of demonstrators, observers and passersby in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, hours after the 2009 G-20 Summit ended. The city previously paid $88,000 to settle the claims of 11 of the 25 original plaintiffs, bringing the total paid to settle the case to $488,000.

On July 30, Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño signed a highly controversial and sweeping new penal code into law that includes sharp restrictions on a broad range of civil liberties and rights. It’s slated to go into effect on September 1. A week after Fortuño signed it, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit to stop the new law, calling it unconstitutional. “The statute is evidently intended to suppress speech, to stop people from protesting against government policies,” William Ramirez, local ACLU director, said in the Washington Post.

St. Paul, MN – The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a lawsuit against Hennepin County, Nov. 22 on behalf of Occupy Minneapolis. The lawsuit argues that the county’s new restrictions on the OccupyMPLS unconstitutionally restrict the demonstrators’ free speech rights. OccupyMPLS has been continuously occupying the Hennepin County Government Center Plaza, since renamed People’s Plaza, since Oct. 7 to express their frustration with the growing economic and political inequities in this country.

Los Angeles, CA – The Council on American-Islamic Relations of the Greater Los Angeles Area (CAIR) and the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the FBI on Feb. 22. The lawsuit points out that the FBI sent an undercover agent, Craig Monteilh, to infiltrate local mosques in Southern California, to promote acts of violence and spy on thousands on worshippers.