Latest From ACLU of Washington

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

Kristin Kelly: Safeguarding Voting Rights

Published: 
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Kristin Kelly worked last summer with the Racial Disparity Project, whose mission is to reduce racial disparity in the criminal justice system; it works through community organizing, policy advocacy, individual representation, public education, research, and litigation. While there, she met several ACLU staff members and became interested in our work.
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Liberty Link: What Sparked the NW Detention Center Hunger Strike?

Published: 
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
The ongoing hunger strike at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma has been a remarkable protest, with 750 detainees refusing to eat on its first day and immigrant rights activists rallying community support outside the facility. Veteran reporter Nina Shapiro provides an excellent overview of the issues that sparked it in the Seattle Weekly.
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Businesses Should Not Be Allowed to Use Religion to Discriminate

Published: 
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Today the U.S. Supreme Court heard Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga v. Sebelius. These high-profile cases are about discrimination.
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Estella Jung: New Perspectives for Her Passion for Civil Liberties

Published: 
Monday, March 24, 2014
The ACLU of Washington has many wonderful interns who assist with our work. We would like you to meet some of them. University of Washington student Estella Jung had read about the ACLU in Political Science classes. Then a friend at UW Law School mentioned how much she had enjoyed her experience interning with the ACLU of Washington and recommended that Estella apply for an internship.  She did and now is an intern with our Policy Advocacy Group.
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Sensible Policy, Not Smaller Handcuffs

Published: 
Monday, March 24, 2014
Last week we told you about the new federal data that highlights the problem of students of color and those with disabilities being systematically denied access to education by being suspended and expelled at rates 3 to 2 times higher respectively than there peers.
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New data from the feds shows need for school discipline reform.

Published: 
Friday, March 21, 2014
The US Department of Education has just released new data on school discipline and arrests.  
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Angela Langer: Protecting Privacy

Published: 
Thursday, March 20, 2014
After 9-11, Angela Langer became increasingly worried about assaults on civil liberties and the Constitution, and noticed the ACLU fighting back. Now, as a busy Seattle University law student she has joined this ongoing battle with us as a Policy Advocacy Group intern.
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Court Filings for Adult Marijuana Possession Plummet

News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
As intended, the passage of I-502 is having a dramatic effect on low-level marijuana prosecutions. ACLU-WA analysis of Washington court data reveals that filings for misdemeanor marijuana offenses have decreased precipitously – freeing up criminal justice system resources to deal with serious crime.
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Conscience Creep: How “Religious Freedom” Spiraled Out of Control

Published: 
Friday, March 14, 2014
Secular Americans and many liberal people of faith have been horrified by the Right’s most recent ploy: “religious freedom” claims that would give conservative business owners license to discriminate. Until Arizona made the national spotlight, the need for lunch counter sit-ins had seemed like a thing of the past. But in reality, advocates for religious privilege have been circling toward this point for some time.
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Legislature passes bill to regulate government drone use

News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
EHB 2789, legislation that puts reasonable regulations in place for government use of drones in Washington state, has passed the Senate with a 46-1 vote, and the House has concurred with a bipartisan 77-21 vote.  The bill has gone to the Governor to be signed into law.
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