A Way Toward Balancing Government Budgets While Promoting Justice: Break Our Addiction to Incarcerat

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Tuesday August 09, 2011 · 9:52 AM PDT

2011/08/09 · 09:52

By Inimai Chettiar, Policy Counsel, and Vanita Gupta, Deputy Legal Director, ACLU

There isn’t an American who hasn’t felt the devastating effects of the Great Recession. And just when most of us thought it couldn’t get any worse, the S&P downgrade of the federal government’s Treasury debt last Friday sent shocks through the country and the world, increasing talk about a double-dip recession and creating sharp declines on Wall Street yesterday reminiscent of the 2008 market crash. A downgrade of state and municipality debts could also follow.

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Wednesday July 20, 2011 · 7:26 AM PDT

2011/07/20 · 07:26

by Evelyn Atkinson and Sandra S. Park, ACLU Women's Rights Project

Are restraining orders just pieces of paper, or must the police take action when they are violated? This is the question raised by Valdez v. City of New York, a case challenging the failure of New York City police to enforce a domestic violence order of protection.

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Tuesday July 19, 2011 · 11:12 AM PDT

2011/07/19 · 11:12

By Denny LeBoeuf, Director of the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project

This summer, travelers should be on the lookout for some new American drug addicts, slouching around the foreign capitals where Americans abroad seek to score. They are a little older than most of the druggies, and they aren't looking to get high. They're looking to kill. Uncle Sam himself — or some of his states, like Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, California and Nebraska — are desperate for dope. They've run out of sodium thiopental, the drug that's used to lethally inject prisoners during executions, and they're jonesing.

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Friday July 01, 2011 · 2:34 PM PDT

2011/07/01 · 14:34

By Scott Michelman, Staff Attorney, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project

On Wednesday, the Obama Justice Department issued a new memo to all U.S. Attorneys clarifying the DOJ's position on federal prosecutions of state-sanctioned medical marijuana use. It's not good news.

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Thursday June 23, 2011 · 11:05 AM PDT

2011/06/23 · 11:05

By Dena Sher, Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office

Seventy years ago this week, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered all federal agencies to "include in all defense contracts hereafter negotiated by them a provision obligating the contractor not to discriminate against any worker because of race, creed, color, or national origin." This was the first action taken by the government to promote equal opportunity in the workplace for all Americans, and such fair employment protections were later expanded to include all government contracts and have been strengthened by nearly every president since.

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Tuesday June 21, 2011 · 1:19 PM PDT

2011/06/21 · 13:19

By Daniel Bullard-Bates, ACLU Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief

The Douglas County School District in Colorado plans to implement a new voucher program in the coming school year. Up to 500 district students will be "counted" as public school students for the purpose of obtaining state funding, but the funding will actually go to the private schools that participating students will attend. Any student is qualified to participate, as long as he or she can gain admission to an approved "Private School Partner." That shouldn't be a problem — unless the student is gay, HIV-positive, non-Christian, or just doesn't go to church every Sunday.

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Friday June 17, 2011 · 1:53 PM PDT

2011/06/17 · 13:53

By Aziz Ahmad & Julian Letton, ACLU Racial Justice Program

Yesterday the Supreme Court rejected North Carolina’s effort to deprive a 13-year-old student his Miranda rights. In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in J.D.B. v. North Carolina that police and courts must consider a child’s age when determining whether that child should be read Miranda rights. The ACLU filed an amicus brief in the case.

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Friday June 17, 2011 · 1:50 PM PDT

2011/06/17 · 13:50

By Aziz Ahmad & Julian Letton, ACLU Racial Justice Program

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Thursday June 16, 2011 · 3:12 PM PDT

2011/06/16 · 15:12

By Kate Desormeau, Staff Attorney, ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project

States across the country are pushing back against the Obama administration, challenging the Department of Homeland Securities' (DHS) so-called "Secure Communities" program. The governors of three states — Illinois, New York, and Massachusetts — have now formally sought to end their participation in the controversial program. California may soon join them by adopting a law that would limit its entanglement in Secure Communities.

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Wednesday June 15, 2011 · 8:32 AM PDT

2011/06/15 · 08:32

By Will Matthews, ACLU

June 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war that has cost roughly a trillion dollars, has produced little to no effect on the supply of or demand for drugs in the United States, and has contributed to making America the world's largest incarcerator. Throughout the month, the ACLU will be blogging about the drug war, its victims and what needs to be done to restore fairness and create effective policy.

To spend a few short moments on the phone with Hamedah Hasan is to understand why she is exactly the sort of person we should not be locking up in America. Even over the phone, it is impossible to be unaffected by the gentle courage, quiet strength and steadfast faith that embody this mother and grandmother serving the 18th year of an unjust 27-year sentence inside a stark federal prison camp in California’s high desert.

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Tuesday June 07, 2011 · 11:19 AM PDT

2011/06/07 · 11:19

By Scott Michelman, Staff Attorney, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project

Having battled sinus cancer and an inoperable brain tumor for more than a decade, cancer patient Joseph Casias is used to fighting for his life. But now the War on Drugs has forced him to fight for his livelihood, too.

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Wednesday June 01, 2011 · 1:28 PM PDT

2011/06/01 · 13:28

By Vanita Gupta, Director, ACLU Center for Justice

June 2011 has the unfortunate distinction of marking the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war which has cost $1 trillion but produced little to no effect on the supply of or demand for drugs.

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A Way Toward Balancing Government Budgets While Promoting Justice: Break Our Addiction to Incarcerat

Ending Domestic Violence Requires Holding Police Accountable

Uncle Sam's Drug-Seeking Behavior

Obama DOJ Leaves Medical Marijuana Patients Sick and Suffering

President Obama: Restore Civil Rights Protections!

Your Money's Good Here, It's You That's the Problem

Supreme Court Says Cops and Courts Must Consider Child’s Age in Miranda Warnings

Supreme Court Says Cops and Courts Must Consider Child’s Age in Miranda Warnings

Immigration Dragnet Sweeps Up Domestic Violence Victims

Profile from the War on Drugs: Hamedah Hasan

Profile from the War on Drugs: Joseph Casias

The 40-Year War on Drugs: It's Not Fair, and It's Not Working.