News Releases

Community organizations and legal advocates are calling on the Seattle City Council and Mayor Ed Murray to pass an ordinance introduced by Councilmember Mike O’Brien aimed at making the City more responsive to both neighborhood concerns and the needs of people experiencing homelessness. The groups urged the City Council to vote today to move the proposal forward in the legislative process.

In response to an ACLU-WA lawsuit, the Pasco City Council has agreed that its at-large system for city council elections violates the Voting Rights Act, and it will submit a consent decree in federal court. (Pictured above: plaintiff Bertha Glatt at center, with ACLU-WA attorneys La Rond Baker and Breanne Schuster.)

A federal appeals court issued rulings that will enable thousands of immigrants to request bond hearings. This will provide the opportunity to be reunited with their families while they face deportation hearings, instead of being held in immigration detention centers.

In a lawsuit filed by the ACLU-WA, a resident is challenging the City of Pasco’s at-large election system for violating the Voting Rights Act by unlawfully diluting the vote of Latinos in City Council elections.

Though Washington state has required hospitals to post on their websites the services they offer, many have failed to provide clear information. So, the ACLU-WA and allies have launched the ClearHealth Washington site to fill the information gap.

A federal judge has found the State of Washington in contempt of her repeated orders requiring the Dept. of Social and Health Services to provide timely mental health competency services.

Federal Court Grants Class-Action Status in Challenge to Obama Administration

In a case brought by the ACLU, a Superior Court judge has ruled public hospitals in Washington that provide maternity services must also provide abortions.

The lawsuit has ended the County’s practice of jailing, threatening to jail, or forcing manual labor on poor people unable to afford the court fees imposed by the County.

A new ACLU report includes a first-hand account by a Washington woman denied medically necessary care at a Catholic hospital. The report finds more than 40 percent of hospital beds in the state are in Catholic facilities that prohibit some essential medical care.