Latest From ACLU of Washington

The ACLU-WA is busy protecting your civil liberties and civil rights in the courts, the legislature, and city and county halls – and we’re in the community. We have over 25,000 members across the state, including nine county chapters and eight student clubs. Our volunteer-powered chapters and clubs provide a local ACLU-WA presence in counties outside of the Seattle metropolitan area and in schools across the state. Chapters and clubs serve as “the eyes and ears” of the ACLU throughout Washington. ACLU-WA chapters and clubs play a key role in promoting liberties through activism and public education. For example, our Pierce County Chapter was a pivotal player in establishing the City of Tacoma’s Citizen Review Panel (CRP), a policy-oriented board created to ensure transparency and accountability in the Tacoma Police Department. On June 2, the chapter will host a public forum with panel members of the CRP where the community can learn about CRP’s mission and role in the community. Our Whatcom County Chapter is working on a campaign to replace the death penalty with lifetime incarceration. And our ACLU-WA Gonzaga Law Club hosts lively debates on important civil liberties issues, like equality for LGBT families. Want to be an ACLU activist? Find out if there is a chapter in your county or club at your school. And check the Events section of our website for information about any activities in your community.

Arizona's new law creates a mini-police state where people can be asked to show their papers to law enforcement simply because they look or sound "foreign." We must reject any efforts to enact such measures in Washington and make sure that what happens in Arizona stops in Arizona.

This session the Washington Legislature passed a landmark civil rights law (HB 3026). The measure explicitly prohibits discrimination based on race, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, religion, disability, national origin, veteran or military status, and disability in public schools – sex discrimination was previously banned. And it gives the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) the tools to enforce compliance with these prohibitions against discrimination. This is an important step forward. But it's not time to breathe a sigh of relief yet. There is more work to ensure this law does what it is supposed to do. OSPI is hosting town halls across the state to get community members’ input to inform the creation of the Washington State Code (WAC) that will implement the new law.

While everyone seems to agree that parental involvement in schools is critical, the ACLU just filed an amicus brief in a case illustrating some of the obstacles that can arise when parents try to get involved. Yesterday, Division One of the Washington state Court of Appeals accepted the ACLU of Washington’s amicus brief in the case of State v. Green. This was a case where the mother of an elementary school student was indefinitely banned from school grounds, or “trespassed,” from her son’s elementary school in the Kent School District after she repeatedly asked pointed questions about curriculum, district policies, textbooks, and lesson plans at a “Curriculum Night” event held for parents. The District denied her request for a hearing to challenge the trespass order, and she ended up being cited and criminally prosecuted for going back to the school twice – once to try to attend a parent-teacher conference and a book fair, and once to pick up her son from a Science Fair. No one questions schools’ authority to regulate access to school grounds in order to ensure a safe and productive educational environment. The ACLU’s brief in this case explains why a school cannot simply banish a parent from her child’s school indefinitely without any opportunity for a hearing to challenge the allegation that was causing a disruption. For good reason, our state legislature passed a law this year directing that the Center for Improvement of Student Learning identify and highlight successful models and practices of parent involvement so that successful schools can be recognized. The Washington State Office of the Education Ombudsman also provides resources for families and school districts who want to work on developing successful partnerships and resolving conflicts. And students and families that want to advocate for improvements in their own District’s policies and practices regarding family involvement can find helpful tips in the ACLU of Washington’s Parents’ Guide to School Board Advocacy, also available in Spanish. The brief was written by ACLU of Washington’s cooperating attorney, Jamal Whitehead, formerly at Garvey, Schubert & Barer with ACLU Staff Attorneys Nancy Talner and Rose Spidell.