Stories from the ACLU of Washington

Kids can’t learn if they aren’t in school.  That’s why our state has a mandatory attendance rule that requires students to go school or give a good reason why they have missed a day of class time.  But our current discipline laws allow schools to expel or suspend kids as a punishment for breaking rules sometimes for even minor infractions.

Earlier this March, Washington’s House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on HB 1504, legislation that would replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On February 12th, nearly 60 concerned people from 26 legislative districts came together to voice their opposition to Washington state’s death penalty. From Bellingham and Vancouver to Spokane and Walla Walla, constituents trekked to Olympia to meet with their elected officials.

Seattle can become a national leader in establishing tight regulations for police drones. City leaders should seize the opportunity without delay.

Ever since 9/11, civil libertarians have been known for issuing dire warnings about erosions of fundamental rights: Guantanamo, indefinite detention powers, warrantless wiretapping, America’s addiction to incarceration, attacks on women’s reproductive freedom, use of RFID chips on public school students (yep, a girl in Texas is actually suing her school district over that one). These are serious and ongoing concerns.

Recently, a group of community organizations released Facing Race, a report that assesses that the voting records of Washington state legislators in promoting racial equity. Notably, the report recognizes ending the death penalty is one change that our state representatives should make to advance the goal of racial justice in Washington.

Love and equality won nearly 54% of the vote in Washington on November 6th.  In approving Referendum 74, the voters recognized that all committed, loving couples, gay and straight alike, should be able to marry under state law.  And on December 9th same-sex couples were able to take matrimonial vows in homes and courthouses across our state for the first time!

With the approval of R-74, same-sex couples across the state are getting ready to line up to obtain marriage licenses starting Dec.6 and are moving forward with long-cherished dreams for  marriage ceremonies.  Our state’s media have been filled with their truly heart-warming stories.

Our state’s Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) recently suffered a data breach. It appears that the private prescription information of at least 34 patients was accessed by an unauthorized person for unknown reasons. Perhaps identity theft is involved, but there could be other motives, including identifying potential people to steal drugs from, simple snooping, or even blackmail. At a minimum, the privacy of these patients has been invaded.

Russell delivered these remarks when he accepted the ACLU-WA’s Youth Activist Award for 2012 at the Bill of Rights Celebration Dinner on Nov. 10.