In 2018, the ACLU brought a successful lawsuit, Ms. L. v. ICE, against the Trump administration’s barbaric practice of forcibly separating migrant families. At the time, we had no idea of the scale and depravity of the injustice, but now know that …
With two swift actions last week, the Supreme Court proved it is alarmingly disinterested in protecting women’s lives. The first action by the court involved mifepristone, a drug used for medication abortion and miscarriage care. The Supreme Court …
As the Trump presidency draws to an end, we near the 4-year anniversary of the birth of one of its defining and most damning legacies: the Muslim ban. When Trump implemented his first Muslim ban, the public response was immediate. Crowds of protesters …
This past weekend, the national board of the ACLU convened an emergency meeting to respond to the events at the Capitol building on January 6. After hours of deliberation, the board voted unanimously to call for the impeachment of Donald Trump—for the …
The nation stands alert, anxious about armed actions planned for Jan. 17 and Jan. 20 to contest the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. The FBI has warned of the potential for armed demonstrators targeting legislatures, and extremist groups have made …
Last week’s physical and civic violence at the U.S. Capitol has raised a terrifying set of questions about American democracy, including the potential complicity of law enforcement in insurrection. The president-elect joined the entire freethinking world …
In its first decision on abortion since Justice Barrett’s confirmation, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration’s request to reinstate a harmful FDA requirement that forces patients to risk unnecessary COVID-19 exposure as a condition of …
As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on and worsens, people across the country face the devastation left in its wake. The public health and economic consequences of the pandemic have cost millions of people their jobs and the ability to pay rent — leaving …
The United States has made a commitment — by law and by treaty — to protect people who come to this country fleeing persecution. But the Trump administration relentlessly attacked people seeking protection and the very concept of asylum. It is now nearly …
This month, two newly-elected sheriffs canceled contracts with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The sheriffs in Gwinnett County, Georgia and Charleston County, South Carolina were elected in November in part due to their campaign pledges to stop …
Some dyed in the wool civil libertarians have criticized the ACLU for supporting Donald Trump’s impeachment. These critics maintain that our commitment to the First Amendment should solely trigger a defense of the president’s “free speech.” But freedom of …
We generate droves of personal data every time we use the apps on our phones, make a call, or make an online purchase. While we might hope that our data is kept private, hidden away from people or entities that may want to surveil our usage or capitalize …
The requirement that only men — but not women — register for the draft is one of the last examples of overt sex discrimination written into our federal law. Today, we joined two young men and the National Coalition For Men (NCFM) to urge the U.S. Supreme …
Secretly, and without consent, a company called Clearview AI has captured billions of faceprints from people’s online photos, amassing what it claims to be the world’s largest face recognition database. Much like our fingerprints and DNA profiles, our …
Pamela Winn was sent to federal prison when she was six weeks pregnant. In prison, she fell down attempting to step into a van while shackled. She was not given prenatal care and she miscarried a little over three months later, shackled to a prison bed. …
An earlier version of this blog appeared in The Hill. This year marks 50 years since President Richard Nixon declared drugs “public enemy number one,” launching a war on drugs that has pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into law enforcement, led to the …
This weekend the Trump administration released a 332-page report purporting to offer recommendations on police reform. The findings of this sham commission — composed primarily of police and prosecutors — show what most already knew to be true. The Trump …
When people took to the streets this year to protest racial injustice and police brutality against Black people, they faced a repressive, violent response from local police and federal agents. Some of these agents arrived with militarized uniforms, riot …
How to sum up 2020: Stressful? Uncertain? Hard? If you’re like some ACLU staffers, one note of help came quite literally from listening to music. For a special year-end holiday episode, we asked a few staffers to tell us which song provided the service of …
Governor Jared Polis of Colorado — otherwise a trailblazer when it comes to criminal legal reform — recently said, “There’s no way [the COVID-19 vaccine] is going to go to prisoners before it goes to the people who haven’t committed any crime.” Under fire …
