News Releases

The ACLU-WA is co-sponsoring a new competition for mobile application developers to address privacy concerns surrounding mobile phones and other portable devices. The Develop for Privacy Challenge aims to show that privacy should be a fundamental building block in new technologies, not just an afterthought.

The ACLU-WA announced it will proceed with a lawsuit on behalf of the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, seeking to have King County honor its contract to carry the Campaign’s approved ad on Metro buses. The action came after a federal judge denied a request for a preliminary injunction to have the ad run.  Pictured: Ed Mast of SeaMAC speaking at press conference, with the ACLU-WA’s Kathleen Taylor

The ACLU of Washington deplores King County’s decision to back away from its previous transit advertising policy.  Initially King County officials affirmed that advertising by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign would run on Metro buses, saying the signs are protected by the First Amendment.

After 17 years, the unjust “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy banning gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military has finally been relegated to the scrap heap of history.   The repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell means that thousands of active duty military personnel will soon be able to enjoy the freedoms and fair treatment that they are defending. Pictured: Major Witt serving in Oman.

A student who endured severe harassment by other students throughout junior high and high school is suing the Aberdeen School District for failing to take steps reasonably calculated to end the harassment. The district's failure to act created a hostile educational environment for the student, says the ACLU-WA, which is representing him.

The ACLU of Washington and 34 other civil rights and community-based organizations are requesting that the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice investigate whether the Seattle Police Department has engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of civil rights. The action comes in response to a series of incidents in which Seattle police officers inflicted unnecessary and excessive physical violence on residents.

Maj. Margaret Witt, a decorated flight nurse dismissed under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” spoke about her eagerness to rejoin the U.S. Air Force. When reinstated, she will become the first openly gay person to serve in the military due to a court order under DADT. Major Witt spoke at a press conference at the ACLU-WA, which has represented her in a four-year-long lawsuit seeking her reinstatement.  

After 15 years of court-supervised monitoring, the ACLU-WA and Pierce County have agreed to a final settlement in a lawsuit over inhumane conditions at the county jail. The settlement came after county officials adopted policies that, when fully implemented, will ensure that medical care for inmates meets minimum constitutional standards.

Major Margaret Witt, a decorated flight nurse who had been dismissed under the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, will be able to resume her service with the U.S. Air Force, the ACLU of Washington announced today.  Major Witt will become the first openly gay person to serve in the military due to a court order under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The ACLU-WA has represented Major Witt in a four-year-long lawsuit seeking her reinstatement. Pictured: Major Witt (far right) deployed in Oman. 

The recently released footage of an incident during which a Seattle police officer is seen repeatedly kicking an African-American youth is yet another disturbing example in a string of recent incidents in which the Seattle Police Department has engaged in unnecessarily violent confrontations with citizens, all of whom have been people of color.  These repeated incidents over the last 18 months, which have continued unchecked and without forceful intervention by the Seattle Police Department, the mayor, or Seattle’s other elected officials, leads the ACLU to call on the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate whether there is a pattern and practice of civil rights violations by the Seattle Police Department in violation of the constitution and federal law.  The ACLU is preparing a formal request to the Department of Justice for such an investigation, according to Kathleen Taylor, Executive Director.