News Releases

On September 12, 2008, in Tukwila, Washington, over 250 people took the oath to become naturalized U.S. citizens—in time to vote in the November elections. The ceremony is the result of a class action lawsuit brought by The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, and the law firms of Stoel Rives and Ropes and Gray.

The American Civil Liberties Union today filed suit over inhumane conditions for prisoners at the Jefferson County Jail in Port Hadlock.

As Seattle neared "N30," the one-year anniversary of the World Trade Organization (WTO) protests on November 30th, free speech advocates held our collective breath in hopes that the City would "get it right" this time by dealing properly with protest activities. Responding to saber-rattling comments by some officials, the ACLU urged the City to respect free speech rights, and we readied our Web site report form to receive complaints of police misconduct.

Responding to citizen demands for action to safeguard sensitive personal information, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington has drafted House and Senate bills to protect the privacy of people’s medical information. The bills would prohibit non-health care providers with legitimate access to medical records from disclosing these medical records to anyone else for further use. The bills would bar insurance companies from marketing medical records to third parties.

Sunnyside High School students and their parents have negotiated an agreement with Sunnyside School District to clear illegally imposed suspensions from the students’ school records. The suspensions were imposed when the students left school last November to protest the passage of Initiative 200, a measure restricting affirmative action programs.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington is offering free legal advice to booksellers in the state who receive subpoenas or search warrants seeking disclosure of customer purchase records. The ACLU is making the offer in letters sent to booksellers statewide.

A bill was introduced in the Senate today to bar government forfeiture and sale of a person's property unless the person has been convicted of a crime.

Settling a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and Columbia Legal Services, Grant County officials have agreed to overhaul the county’s system for providing legal defense to people charged with felonies who cannot afford an attorney. Under the settlement, the county will reduce excessive caseloads, guarantee that public defense lawyers are qualified to handle serious felony cases, and provide adequate funding for investigators and expert witnesses.

The city of Seattle and the ACLU have reached a partial settlement of a lawsuit over police disruption of a 2003 march by opponents of police brutality.

The Washington Supreme Court has ruled that people do not give up their right to privacy when they check into a hotel. The Court reviewed a case dealing with police sweeps of motel guest registries in Lakewood.