Stories from the ACLU of Washington

The wide range of issues the ACLU works on is a big part of its appeal for Hannah McCreary, volunteer Communications Coordinator for ACLU’s Communications department.

Martin Mendiola is interning with the ACLU-WA Communications Department to apply what he’s learning in school.

Since November, Marty Jacobs has been volunteering as a researcher on the ACLU-WA’s campaign to end the death penalty.

Most of us use cell phones and email every day. As our communications make their way from sender to recipient, they expose information about their contents and our interactions with others. The technologies we rely on thus come with inherent risks to our privacy and security. Thanks to disclosures made by whistleblower Edward Snowden about the National Security Agency (NSA) and other intelligence and law enforcement agencies, we have a better sense of the extent to which surveillance pervades American life.

When a juvenile is caught using or sharing an illegal drug, what is the appropriate community response? Should he or she be arrested and charged with a crime, or should he or she receive public health services?