News & Commentary
Our Vision to Achieve True Public Safety
For decades, local, state and federal public officials from both political parties and powerful interest groups engineered the system of mass incarceration. They did this in part by constructing a narrative of fear fueled by racism through which they passed laws, spent billions of dollars, and separated millions of families. It was a disaster of epic proportions that unfolded in slow motion and for which we are still paying the price today as a nation.
T
By aclutn
May 17, 2018
The United States' New ‘Religious Freedom’ Appointee Is a Religious Bigot
The newest addition to the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Tony Perkins, does not believe in religious freedom.
Perkins, who was
By aclutn
May 17, 2018
Congress Wants More Protections for Cops While Ignoring Police Reform
An “empty gesture” — that is the term that Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Democrat from New York, used to describe H.R. 5698, the Protect and Serve Act of 2018, which creates a new federal crime for targeting law enforcement officers.
“There is no profession more widely protected under federal and state law than working in law enforce
By aclutn
May 17, 2018
Brown v. Board Made It to 64. But How Much Longer Will It Survive?
It’s been 64 years this week since Brown v. Board Of Education began charting a new course for public schools and race in America. In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court struck down the dishonest doctrine of “separate but equal” and exposed the white supremacy that lay beneath it.
Yet, the celebration this year is muted by a fresh sense of uncertainty. The sanctity of the landmark d
By aclutn
May 16, 2018
ACLU Client Makes History As First Air Force JAG Corps Officer to Wear Hijab
When Lt. Maysaa Ouza began her first assignment as an officer in the Air Force’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps earlier this month, it was a historic moment. Lt. Ouza, a recent law school graduate, became the first Air Force JAG Corps officer authorized to wear hijab. Before she enlisted, the Air Force granted her a religious accommodation allowing her to wear hijab during basic and officer training and in her role as chief of legal advice at Scott Air Force Base. The groundbreaking development was a long time in the making.
Lt. Ouza always knew that she wan
By aclutn
May 16, 2018
AT&T Mobility Fired Me for Being Pregnant
When I found out I was pregnant in the fall of 2014, I was so grateful to have a job with AT&T Mobility. My husband and I both worked as sales representatives at the company’s store in Elkhart, Ind. Our jobs provided us a stable, comfortable life that we looked forward to sharing with our son. We made $14 an hour, plus commission, and AT&T Mobility provided generous benefits that included paid maternity leave. We both loved our jobs and looked forward to fulfilling sales careers with the company.
But that hope evaporated as my pregnancy progressed. I had severe
By aclutn
May 16, 2018
We’re Victims’ Rights Advocates, and We Opposed Marsy’s Law
The “Marsy’s Law” campaign arrived in Iowa this year like it has in many other states. This national effort seeks a specific list of constitutional rights for crime victims more expansive than the statutory rights afforded victims in every state. Iowa’s version sought to enshrine existing legal rights to notification, participation, and restitution into our constitution and add rights to safety, privacy, and the right to refuse discovery requests. For now, state legislators resisted the popular appeal of the campaign’s central theme — that crime victims deserve “equal rights” to the accused in criminal proceedings.
The Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence and the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual As
By aclutn
May 15, 2018
For Students of Color with Disabilities, Equity Delayed Is Equity Denied
A core promise of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is that a child with disabilities will receive a free, appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment possible. This requirement is a matter of civil rights and equity: It ensures that children do not receive a substandard education because they have a disability.
In 2004, Congress included another promise of equity when it reauthorized the IDEA by
By aclutn
May 15, 2018
New Orleans’ District Attorney Has a Warped Vision of Justice
We appeared in court last week for the first hearing in our lawsuit, with partner Civil Rights Corps, against the Orleans Parish District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s Office. We are challenging the office’s illegal use of fake subpoenas and its practice of arresting crime victims and witnesses on the basis of false information.The case is, at its core, about the prosecutor’s office abusing its power and coercing the victims and witnesses of crimes in violation of the Constitution. Yet, after the hearing, instead of taking responsibility for his office's unethical and illegal actions, Cannizzaro issued a public statement grossly mischaracterizing the case and, in doing so, further misled the public.
Cannizzaro’s response to the hearing is befitting of a prosecutor’s office so laser-focused on end results that
By aclutn
May 15, 2018
Iowa’s New Abortion Law Is Just One of Many Intended to Render Roe Meaningless
On May 4, Iowa earned the dubious honor of signing into law the most extreme abortion restriction in the nation. The measure prohibits most abortions after six weeks into pregnancy — long before many women even know they’re pregnant.
The good news is it will likely be blocked before it ever goes into effect because the ACLU of Iow
By aclutn
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