Latest From ACLU of Washington

The latest content and updates from the ACLU of Washington website.

Martha Reyes: Promoting Equal Rights for All

Published: 
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Martha is the ACLU-WA’s new Programs and Events Manager. She joins our staff with years of experience working with various nonprofits, including the Seattle Human Services Coalition, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, and Social Justice Fund Northwest, where she managed communications, membership development, and policy outreach.
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State Supreme Court: Work messages on a public employee’s cell phone are public record

Published: 
Friday, August 28, 2015
Work-related text messages on a public employee’s personal cell phone are public records subject to disclosure, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Aug. 27.
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Amy Roe: Writing for a Change

Published: 
Friday, August 28, 2015
A self-described “word nerd and news junkie,” Amy recently joined the ACLU-WA staff as Senior Writer. Amy has had a strong presence in the Seattle journalism world. In addition to editing Real Change, Amy has worked as a reporter for the King County Journal, the Seattle Times, and the Marguerite Casey Foundation, and as a web producer for KOMO News. “My journalism background makes me a natural ally of free speech rights,” Amy noted.
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ACLU Urges Seattle to Delay Enforcement Action Against Hookah Lounges

Published: 
Thursday, August 27, 2015
The ACLU of Washington is concerned about the City’s announced plan to shut down hookah lounges across the city. We believe that city enforcement decisions that will deprive business owners of their livelihood should not be made in haste. Read the full letter to Seattle Mayor Edward Murray below.
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Letter to SPD regarding request for public records considering Black Lives Matter protests

Document, Published: 
Friday, August 21, 2015
On February 23, 2015, we sent your office a public records request for records related to the Ferguson/Black Lives Matter protests that occurred on November 28, 2014. We received no production from your office until May 20, 2015. This response was only a partial response, and you indicated that we would be receiving the second installment of records on or about July 1, 2015. This date has now been moved out to August 12, 2015. The responses we have received from your office thus far have raised some concerns, which our office finds very troubling.
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Seattle Police Admit Mishandling ACLU's Black Lives Matter Request

Published: 
Friday, August 21, 2015
The Seattle Police Department has repeatedly failed to meet its own deadlines for producing records we requested seven months ago related to the SPD’s handling of Black Lives Matters/Ferguson protests held in November 2014.
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Clarence Moriwaki: Pushing for Alternatives to Capital Punishment

Published: 
Friday, August 21, 2015
Clarence Moriwaki has joined the ACLU of Washington staff as our Campaign Manager for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. He is heading up our work to end capital punishment in Washington, developing strategies to replace it with life imprisonment without the possibility of release.
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Groups Warn Local Officials on Laws Criminalizing Sleeping and Camping by the Homeless

News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
The ACLU-WA and allies are pointing local officials statewide to an important Dept. of Justice brief. It explains that when there is insufficient shelter space, cities that prosecute homeless people for sleeping or camping in public places violate the Constitution’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.
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Making History: Latino Voter Participation Increases under Yakima’s New District System

Published: 
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Yakima held its first election under the City Council district system created by an ACLU-WA lawsuit. Many people in new majority-Latino districts who didn’t vote in the last primary cast ballots this year – showing citizens will participate in elections when they have a meaningful opportunity to do so.
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