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Racial Justice

The authors of the Declaration of Independence outlined a bold vision for America: a nation in which all people would be free and equal. Yet the forced removal of indigenous peoples and the enslavement of those of African descent marked the beginnings of a system of racial injustice from which our country has yet to break free. Despite important gains made by civil rights activism, the school-to-prison pipeline, mass incarceration, and racial profiling and bias in policing are but a few of the racist injustices that mark the distance between America’s reality and the dream we seek to achieve: liberty and justice for everybody.

Resources

Published: 
Thursday, April 22, 2021
To date, this blog series has focused largely on upstream efforts to transform policing, reduce or prevent its harms, and create public safety for all. This blog post examines endeavors to make more robust the inquest process, a tool for holding police accountable and obtaining justice for bereaved families after police harm has already been done.
News Release, Published: 
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Statements from ACLU of Washington, ACLU of Minnesota and ACLU National regarding the guilty verdict in Derek Chauvin's trial.
Published: 
Tuesday, April 20, 2021
Accountability is not justice. There is much work to be done.
News Release, Published: 
Monday, April 19, 2021
Youth will consult with a lawyer before waiving their constitutional rights in certain situations 
Published: 
Friday, March 12, 2021
Months after Juan Rene’s death, his family’s grief has been compounded by the lack of answers to their questions about what happened.
Published: 
Wednesday, January 20, 2021
The Washington Legislature is considering several very important bills, discussed in other parts of this blog series, that address the problem of police violence and hold officers accountable when they abuse their power.
Published: 
Tuesday, January 19, 2021
Here in Washington, officers continue to kill dozens of people each year despite voters passing Initiative 940 more than two years ago, which set new standards for use of deadly force and established requirements for law enforcement to receive de-escalation, mental health, and first-aid training.
News Release, Published: 
Monday, December 7, 2020

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