Stories from the ACLU of Washington

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.

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.

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.

California voters narrowly rejected Proposition 34, a ballot measure to replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole. Although a majority of voters chose to retain the death penalty, the fact that close to half the voters supported repeal represents a dramatic shift away from capital punishment.

A recent report prepared by the Marijuana Arrest Research Project sheds light on the tremendous amount of resources Washington State has devoted to marijuana law enforcement over the last 25 years. There have been over 240,000 arrests for adult marijuana possession, consuming over $300 million in taxpayer money, since 1986. And people of color are the more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession in Washington state. Disturbingly, racially disproportionate enforcement is getting worse. Using data from the Marijuana Arrest Research Project report, the ACLU of Washington has produced an infographic that visualizes this increasing disparity,