News & Commentary

I’ve spent the last year representing people in civil asset forfeiture cases across New Jersey. It looks nothing like justice. In theory, civil asset forfeiture empowers law enforcement authorities to deprive individuals of the ill-gotten gains associated with criminal acti

According to recent reports, congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle are planning to sneak a bill criminalizing politically motivated boycotts of Israel into the end-of-the-year omnibus spending bill. The bill’s original sponsor, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), is pushing Democratic leadership to include this bill, which has not moved

Physicians hold a special position in U.S. society. They are given a place of honor in return for the expectation that they will use their knowledge and skills in the public interest and adhere to a clear set of ethical standards. Under pressure from the government to misuse their expertise, though, some doctors have been willing to rationalize cooperation

Donald Trump’s nomination of William Barr to succeed Jeff Sessions as attorney general ought to raise alarm bells across the country. Barr is as bad as Sessions was on the full range of civil rights issues that fall with the Justice Department’s purview. And he’s a longstanding advocate of expansive executive power.  It’s almost certainly the latter view that attracted President Trump, whose own power is likely to be called into question should the Muel

This piece was originally published by The Washington Post. I believe there are two paths in

The New York Police Department announced this week that it will deploy 14 new drones as part of its policing activities across New York City. The use of this highly invasive technology represents a new frontier for both public safety and abuses of power. The department did reach out to the NYCLU to ask us for input on a draft of the policy governing the use of its drones. But while the departme

The 2018 election ushered in a wave of voting rights victories. Voters in Florida, Michigan, Maryland, and Nevada all made it easier to register and vote, showing that voters reject voter suppression efforts and bogus “voter fraud” myths. But politicians in several states are now trying to undercut these hard-fought wins. Last month, Michigan voters

For decades, the ACLU has fought back against the militarization of domestic law enforcement agencies and the use of the military in our communities. Nowhere is this militarization more pronounced than on the border between the U.S. and Mexico — and President Trump is only making it worse. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security after 9/11 accelerated the government’s operations on the U.S.-Mexico border. U.S. Customs an

In Colorado, long-term solitary confinement used to be a tool that was regularly used in corrections. The problem is that it was not corrective at all. It was indiscriminate punishment that too often amounted to torture and did not make anyone safer. The practice was pervasive because it was considered reasonable and effective. It was neither. In practice, long-term isolation punished people