Latest From ACLU of Washington

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

There’s Good Reason Behind the Controversy over E-Verify

Published: 
Monday, December 5, 2011
Gov. Chris Gregoire and a group of farm-group representatives recently made headlines when they returned from Washington D.C., where they had sought to persuade Congress to oppose a bill requiring employers to use a system called E-Verify.  In stern words, Gov. Gregoire criticized the measure and its likely detrimental effect on our state’s agriculture industry. 
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New Joint Federal Guidance Will Lead to Increased Diversity in Schools, Improve Education

Published: 
Friday, December 2, 2011
With many public schools becoming re-segregated, two federal agencies provide a roadmap for designing voluntary programs that will benefit all students by promoting diversity and preventing racial isolation.
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New Joint Federal Guidance Will Lead to Increased Diversity in Schools, Improve Education

Published: 
Friday, December 2, 2011
With many public schools becoming re-segregated, two federal agencies provide a roadmap for designing voluntary programs that will benefit all students by promoting diversity and preventing racial isolation.
Read more

The 911 Good Samaritan Law Is Working

Published: 
Friday, November 18, 2011
In 2010, the ACLU of Washington was instrumental in the passage of the nation’s second “911 Good Samaritan” law. New research from the University of Washington’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute shows that the 911 Good Samaritan law works.
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ACLU-WA Honors Advocates for Justice

News Release, Published: 
Monday, November 7, 2011
The ACLU-WA presented its annual Bill of Rights awards to Seattle social justice attorney Peter Greenfield, Yakima Valley community advocates Paula Zambrano and Patricia Flores, and youth activist Gaby Rodriguez of Toppenish. Awardees accepted the honors at the Bill of Rights Celebration Dinner.
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Lawsuit to Uphold Free Speech Rights on Metro Buses Moves to Appeals Court

News Release, Published: 
Thursday, November 3, 2011
The ACLU-WA is appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in its lawsuit for the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign challenging King County’s cancellation of the group’s paid bus ad. The suit reminds us that it is when we are faced with controversial speech, speech that is upsetting to some people, that support of the First Amendment is most important.
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In Pursuit of Liberty: Peter Greenfield Receives William O. Douglas Award

Published: 
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
On May 10, 1970, a Washington state college student joined a chorus of anti-war voices by waving his version of the American flag. It featured a peace symbol – and it got him arrested under Washington’s flag-desecration statute. The student was convicted. The Washington Supreme Court did not grant his appeal. But in a landmark case (Spence v. Washington) won by Seattle attorney Peter Greenfield, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed the decision as a violation of the First Amendment.
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Post-Racial Seattle? Not Yet

Published: 
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Racial discrimination in housing has been illegal in the United States for over 40 years. The Fair Housing Act of 1968 makes it a crime to discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin in all housing-related transactions.  But a recent study conducted by the Seattle Office of Civil Rights demonstrates that housing discrimination is far from dead.
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Mission Creep: The Patriot Act and the War on Drugs

Published: 
Friday, October 28, 2011
One disturbing consequence of the Patriot Act, which just marked its ten-year anniversary, is how it has been used for law enforcement actions not related to combating terrorism -- the rationale for the Act's passage. A glaring example can be seen in the use of "sneak and peak” searches for drug crimes.
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