Stories from the ACLU of Washington

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ACLU Honors NW Immigrant Rights Project, Pasco Activists, Student Poet

Published: 
Thursday, November 5, 2015
The ACLU-WA is honoring those who have made outstanding contributions to civil liberties: the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project for its long history of defending civil liberties; Consejo Latino and Tri-Cities Community Solutions, which have mobilized community response to the police killing of a Mexican man in Pasco; and student activist Acacia Salisbury, who has used poetry to speak out against injustice. (Above: Comedian Larry Wilmore at the ACLU Bill of Rights Dinner, where the awards were presented.)
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Cash Bail Reserves Freedom for Those Who Can Pay for It

Published: 
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. But those who can’t afford cash bail must forfeit their freedom while awaiting trial. ACLU-WA asserts this unequal treatment—freedom for those with money, jail for those without— is neither fair nor effective.
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Lobbying for Affordable and Safe Abortion Care for All Women

Published: 
Friday, October 23, 2015
This week ACLU was part of a five-person Washington state delegation from pro-choice organizations that lobbied to get rid of bans that deny abortion coverage.
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Seattle’s New Crime Analytics Program Threatens to Perpetuate Racism in Policing

Published: 
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has announced a new “Real Time Crime Center” that would use historical crime data in decisions about deploying police officers. Although this may sound like a smart move to incorporate analytics technology in law enforcement, in practice it would perpetuate existing institutional racism in policing.
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ACLU Sues Psychologists Who Designed and Ran CIA Torture Program

Published: 
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
The ACLU is representing three men who were tortured by the CIA and who are now suing the architects of the agency’s torture program. 
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Organizations Supporting Tor: Help Us Help You!

Published: 
Wednesday, October 7, 2015
The ACLU of Washington would love to hear from organizations that have or are planning to roll out either Tor relays or the Tor Browser. Supporting Tor is part of our work advocating for privacy, access to information, and free speech.
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Funding the Criminal Justice System on the Backs of the Poor: ACLU Sues Benton County for Operating Debtors’ Prison

Published: 
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
After struggling with addiction and mental illness, Jayne Fuentes served her time, found a job and got her life back on track. She’s been sober and crime-free for three years, but one thing still dogs her: fear of being jailed or forced to do physical labor because she can’t afford to pay the government.
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ACLU Calls for Changing State Law on Prosecuting Police for Killings

Published: 
Thursday, September 10, 2015
The prosecutor has decided not to file charges against Pasco police officers who killed a man throwing rocks. The decision shows a clear need to amend our state law on use of deadly force by law enforcement, so that police can better be held accountable.
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Courts Should Review Harsh Sentences from Ill-Conceived Drug Laws

Published: 
Friday, September 4, 2015
The War on Drugs has left thousands of people locked up under sentencing laws now widely viewed as discriminatory and not based in fact. An ACLU-WA brief is taking aim at the effects of an egregious Drug War policy: the lengthy sentences being served because of the government’s wrongheaded distinction between crack and powder cocaine, resulting in a 100:1 crack-powder disparity in sentences.
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Fighting Censorship of The Children’s Hour Set the Stage for the ACLU

Published: 
Friday, September 4, 2015
The ACLU is proud to cosponsor The Intiman Theatre’s production of The Children’s Hour, an historic play that helped establish the ACLU’s reputation for defending art and literature from censorship and marked the ACLU’s first involvement in LGBT issues.
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Martha Reyes: Promoting Equal Rights for All

Published: 
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Martha is the ACLU-WA’s new Programs and Events Manager. She joins our staff with years of experience working with various nonprofits, including the Seattle Human Services Coalition, NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, and Social Justice Fund Northwest, where she managed communications, membership development, and policy outreach.
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State Supreme Court: Work messages on a public employee’s cell phone are public record

Published: 
Friday, August 28, 2015
Work-related text messages on a public employee’s personal cell phone are public records subject to disclosure, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled Aug. 27.
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