american civil liberties union
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Deborah Archer Becomes First Black Person to Serve as President of the ACLU in Its 101-Year History
After 101 years, the American Civil Liberties Union has elected the first Black person to ever serve as the organization’s president. According to the Associated Press, Deborah Archer was elected over the weekend in a virtual meeting between the organization’s 69-member board of directors. Archer becomes only the eighth person to serve as president of…
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Maryland ACLU Releases ‘Chasing Justice’ Report Detailing Baltimore Police Misconduct Allegations
In 2017, The Root reported that the U.S. Department of Justice and the city of Baltimore reached an agreement on a consent decree to ensure that the city and Baltimore Police Department “protect individuals’ statutory and constitutional rights, treat individuals with dignity and respect, and promote public safety in a manner that is fiscally responsible…
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Nebraska ACLU Files Lawsuit Alleging Omaha Police Used Excessive Force During Protests
A recently filed lawsuit accuses the Omaha, Neb. police force of using excessive force during the prolonged protests against police brutality and systemic racism this summer. ABC News reports that the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed a federal lawsuit questioning the tactics Omaha police used in response to the protests in May, June,…
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Top Kenosha Police, Prosecutor Under Increased Scrutiny in Wake of Jacob Blake, Protest Shootings: ‘Some People…Aren’t Worth Saving’
In the aftermath of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, all eyes are on top law enforcement in Kenosha, Wis., as organizers and civil liberties groups around the country question the culture of policing that permeates the city. Among the officials under renewed scrutiny is Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, whose comments about a group…
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ACLU Sues Baltimore Police Department Over Aerial Surveillance Program
On the first day of April, Baltimore officials approved a deal between the Baltimore Police Department and Ohio-based company Persistent Surveillance Systems to use drones equipped with high-resolution cameras in order to spy on the city’s residents through around-the-clock surveillance despite formal objections filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Legal Defense Fund.…
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West Virginia Is Charging Its Inmates $0.03 Cents a Minute to Read Free E-Books. Here's Why That Matters
On its face, it’s a welcome proposition: people incarcerated in West Virginia prisons will be given access to electronic tablets, allowing them to read books and articles, listen to music, write emails, and send photos and video chat with their friends and family. But it will cost them: $0.03-$0.05 a minute if they want to…
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Sacramento Elementary School Teacher Throws Away Students’ Black Lives Matter Project
Black lives matter to some, but not all. An elementary school in Sacramento is under fire after one of its teachers allegedly threw away students’ Black Lives Matter movement art project, reportedly saying it was too political and inappropriate. This follows a volunteer teacher’s assignment to create art about causes people cared about. Perhaps the…
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Fight’s On: ACLU, Planned Parenthood Sue to Stop Alabama’s Virtual Abortion Ban
Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday filed a federal lawsuit seeking to overturn Alabama’s law that bans abortions except in cases of “serious” health risk to the mother, saying the law is patently unconstitutional. The legal counterattack, which was promised after Alabama’s senators gave a final OK to the bill almost…
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Activists Call on NC Gov. Roy Cooper to Transfer Kanautica Zayre-Brown to a Women’s Detention Facility
Kanautica Zayre-Brown is a 37-year-old woman who was sentenced to 9 years and 11 months in a North Carolina prison for insurance fraud and “obtaining property by false pretenses.” Zayre-Brown is a post-operative trans woman—believed to be the only post-operative trans inmate in the North Carolina prison system—yet all of her requests to be transferred…