News & Commentary

Public schools are educational institutions, not temples of religious indoctrination. For over half a century, the Supreme Court has thus recognized that the Constitution prohibits public schools from imposing prayer on children and that religious education is the province of parents and religious communities, not government bureaucrats.   On Wednesday, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, however, strongly suggested that he

I’m a veteran of the U.S. Army. So it may come as a surprise that the day I read about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem, I could not have been prouder. I was proud because after serving my country for seven years, it felt like someone was finally looking out for me.  As someone who served as a sergeant in Afghanistan, only to take a civilian job helping veterans upon return

On Wednesday, Vice President Mike Pence swore in Jon Kyl as the new senator from Arizona, replacing the late John McCain. Kyl previously served in the Senate from 1995 and 2013, where he bui

To America’s shame, there is nothing novel about police harassment and abuse of young Black men. Consequently, few should be surprised that during an early January morning in 2017, Johnny Strickland was harassed, humiliated, and abused by a group of white Detroit police officers. At least, there should be no surprise until it is learned that Strickland himself is an 11-year veteran of the Detroit Police Department. Officer Strickland’s nightmare began when he attempted to complete an errand for his mother. The off-duty officer in

As summer ends, the country’s political eyes are focusing even more intently on midterm elections. Although a new Congress is not far away, there remain major budgetary issues to resolve. The most immediate deadline for people concerned about President Trump’s immigration policies is September 30, when fiscal year 2018 ends. For the Department of Homeland Security, reports suggest that both parties prefer to postpone debating a new budget until after the midterms, although President Trump has on occasion threatened a government shutdown if he doesn’t get billions of dollars for immigration enforcement including more of his border wall.  The ACLU’s position is clear: Congress must not reward DHS’ grossly abusive immigration enforcement with more resources to tear more families apart and to keep building a harmful, wasteful monument to Trump’s xenophobia. After a year filled with DHS-inflicted

At a time when journalists face unprecedented attacks, Congress is now considering legislation that may make it even harder for them to do their jobs.Earlier this year, Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) introduced legislation that would grant the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice enormous power to intercept, surveil, seize, and even destroy privately owned drones in a wide array of circumstances without ever once requiring approval from a judge. That alone is reason enough to oppose the bill. However, the bill may also impinge on the First Amendment by allowing the government to prohibit drones from being flown in a wide range of areas, including those where individuals may have a legitimate First Amendment interest. Since 2015, when drones were first commissioned for press use by the federal government, media organizations have found new and innovative ways o

On Wednesday, the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee will consider the EMPOWER Care Act, bipartisan legislation to re-authorize the Money Follows the Person program, which helps people with disabilities move from institutions into the community. MFP is little known outside of the disability community, but it has been an extremely successful Medicaid program tha

In the aftermath of Dakota Access Pipeline protests at Standing Rock, leaked documents revealed that law enforcement agencies had collaborated with private security contractors to employ counterterrorism tactics against “pipeline insurgencies” and to manufacture a conspiracy lawsuit against indigenous and environmental protesters. Now, with the State Department

In a brazen attempt to restrict the First Amendment rights of those concerned with the effects of their food choices, the Missouri Legislature passed a law on Tuesday that prohibits “misrepresenting” any product as “meat” if it does not come from a slaughtered animal. The new law now makes it a crime for plant-based and clean-meat producers to accurately inform c