Stories from the ACLU of Washington

Search by topic

Valentine’s Day Comes Early: Celebrating an Historic Victory for Equality

Published: 
Monday, February 13, 2012
Valentine’s Day came a day early in Washington state. Today, Gov. Chris Gregoire signed a bill making Washington the seventh state to extend civil marriage to same-sex couples. Our state’s leaders have recognized that the relationships of all loving, committed couples need to be treated with the same respect under state law. Join us in celebrating this historic occasion by raising a toast tonight at 6:00 wherever you are.
Read more

Latino Civic Alliance Rejects Gang Injunction Legislation

Published: 
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
An important statewide Latino organization in Washington State has weighed in against gang injunction legislation in the state legislature. Here's what Latino Civic Alliance has to say.
Read more

Insist on real solutions to gang violence

Published: 
Monday, February 6, 2012
Gang violence is a serious problem, and we need smart solutions. But proposed legislation promotes use of court injunctions that could sweep up innocent individuals and send them to prison. And its bogus due process procedures may not even alert people until after the court order binding them has been issued. This approach has failed elsewhere. Tell your legislators to reject this misguided measure in Washington state.
Read more

Washington State Marijuana Arrests Add Up

Published: 
Monday, January 30, 2012
Over a ten year-period, more than 100,000 arrests were made in Washington state for adult marijuana crimes. The vast majority of these arrests were for low-level possession.
Read more

Helping Youth Move Forward: Bill Would Keep Juvenile Records Confidential

Published: 
Friday, January 27, 2012
Since the turn of the century, juvenile courts have been separate from adult courts. The goal of juvenile courts, as the Supreme Court recognized over 50 years ago, is to determine how to rehabilitate juveniles and “save [them] from a downward career.” To further these goals, juvenile court records have historically been shielded from public view. This system allows juveniles to enter adulthood without being publicly labeled as criminals.
Read more

GPS Tracking: The Supreme Court Takes a Step for Privacy

Published: 
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The United States Supreme Court on Monday unanimously decided that law enforcement needs a warrant to place a GPS tracking device on a vehicle. We applaud the Supreme Court for ruling correctly that warrantless installation of a GPS device violates the Fourth Amendment.
Read more

Governor’s Endorsement Boosts Drive for Marriage Bill

Published: 
Thursday, January 5, 2012
At a press conference in Olympia, Governor Chris Gregoire issued a heart-felt endorsement of civil marriage for same-sex couples. The Governor talked of the need for state law to recognize the "love, commitment, partnership, and responsibility" of lesbian and gay couples.
Read more

Standing Up Against Injustice: We Honor the Courage of Gordon Hirabayashi

Published: 
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Gordon Hirabayashi was a senior at University of Washington when bombs fell at Pearl Harbor. Like 112,000 of his fellow Japanese Americans, he would be placed under curfew, ordered into internment, and finally jailed for defying those orders. Forty years later, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated his conviction. On Monday, Hirabayashi died at the age of 93. We here at the ACLU of Washington honor his memory.
Read more

Mortgaged Futures: 30% of Juveniles Arrested

Published: 
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
By the time they’re 23 years old, between 30 and 41 percent of Americans have been arrested, according to a study recently released by the journal Pediatrics.  This number has sharply increased in recent decades; in the mid-1960s, only 22 percent of Americans reported having been arrested by the time they turned 23.
Read more

Kudos to the DOJ! Now On to the Hard Work of Reform

Published: 
Friday, December 16, 2011
I returned, very happily, from the Department of Justice press conference this morning. The DOJ’s in-depth report confirms what the ACLU has been saying and what many people of color and others have experienced – that the Seattle Police Department has engaged in a pattern and practice of excessive use of force.
Read more

Public Health Approaches Work: Teen Tobacco and Alcohol Use Falls

Published: 
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Teen marijuana usage rates have risen slightly in recent years, while tobacco and alcohol usage rates have declined. Alarmingly, 12th-graders across the nation and in Washington state are now more likely to have used marijuana in the past 30 days than to have smoked a cigarette.
Read more

520 Tolling Starts Soon, But Your Privacy Is Already Protected

Published: 
Thursday, December 8, 2011
The Washington Department of Transportation announced today that tolling will start on the SR 520 bridge on December 29. This will be Washington’s first all-electronic toll bridge—meaning there will be no toll booths—and by far the highest volume all-electronic toll facilities in the country. There are lots of advantages to eliminating toll booths (e.g., less congestion, greater safety), but there are also drawbacks, potentially including a loss of privacy. 
Read more

Pages