News Releases

The Pierce County Jail is adopting new policies to protect the religious freedom of inmates, according to a settlement agreement announced today by the ACLU of Washington and the Public Interest Law Group, PLLC (PILG).  The settlement is a result of a lawsuit that challenged jail officials’ failure to accommodate the religious needs of Muslim inmates and their operation of a program that granted extra benefits and services to Christian inmates. The ACLU-WA and PILG filed the suit (Tarrer v. Pierce County) in U.S. District Court in Tacoma in September 2010 on behalf of inmates at the jail.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard oral arguments in a lawsuit seeking to uphold the Seattle Middle East Awareness Campaign’s free speech rights on Metro buses. It is when we are faced with speech which is upsetting to some people that support of the First Amendment is most important.

The Seattle’s park permitting law gives officials too much arbitrary discretion in granting or denying applications. It needs to be changed to meet constitutional standards.   

A federal judge issued an order denying the government’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit targeting unlawful U.S. Border Patrol actions in the Olympic Peninsula. The lawsuit seeks to end the Border Patrol’s practice of stopping vehicles and interrogating occupants without legal justification.

Vicci Martinez, Washington native and finalist on “The Voice,” was a featured speaker and singer at an ACLU-WA forum on voting rights held in Granger.  The forum came after the ACLU-WA filed a lawsuit seeking to change Yakima’s system for electing candidates to the City Council.  The suit charges that the current system unlawfully dilutes the Latino vote and effectively prevents Latinos from meaningful participation in City Council elections. 

En una demanda presentada bajo el Acta del Derecho al Voto, dos ciudadanos de Yakima alegaron que el sistema de elecciones de la ciudad debilita ilegalmente el voto latino y que efectivamente impide que los latinos participen significativamente en las elecciones municipales. 

The ACLU-WA is appealing its lawsuit seeking to have Sound Transit run a paid ad by Working Washington touting the importance of good jobs at SeaTac. “ When a public agency operates an advertising program open to a wide variety of messages, individual government officials should not be left to decide subjectively what is ‘controversial.’

The ACLU of Washington has decided not to appeal the April 10, 2012 ruling by the U.S. District Court in Spokane against library patrons’ challenge of the Internet filtering policy of a regional library system. While the ACLU supports the American Library Association’s position that public libraries should not filter Internet content for patrons, the current facts in the case do not support an effective appeal.

The ACLU of Washington has decided not to appeal the April 10, 2012 ruling by the U.S. District Court in Spokane against library patrons’ challenge of the Internet filtering policy of a regional library system. While the ACLU supports the American Library Association’s position that public libraries should not filter Internet content for patrons, the current facts in the case do not support an effective appeal.

To ensure that reforms to the Seattle Police Department are fully implemented and long-lasting, the City needs speedily to agree to a consent decree with the Department of Justice that includes a monitor and court oversight. It's clear that the problems within the police department have been so ingrained that our city can't fix them without outside help.