News Releases

The ACLU of Washington writes to express its concern over a practice of the Yelm City Council governing public comment periods during council meetings. According to recent press reports, the Council will routinely block discussion of topics -- or even particular words, such as "moratorium" -- that the Council does not wish to hear about. This practice frustrates the entire purpose of a public comment period, which is to allow citizens the opportunity to tell their representatives what they care about. The ability of citizens to state their views about matters of public concern is one of the cornerstones of a free and accountable government. Yelm's practice of silencing public comment violates that principle.

In the latest ACLU case backing student rights in cyberspace, Thurston County Superior Court Judge Thomas McPhee today ruled that public school officials cannot punish a student for free speech outside of school.

After more than two years of negotiations by the ACLU, two Somali merchants finally are receiving compensation for losses they suffered in a raid by government agents.

In 2003 and 2004, House Bill 2054 was advanced jointly by the League of Women Voters of Washington, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington.

Kittitas County Superior Court has ruled that Grant County's public defense system has serious deficiencies and warrants a trial to create a new system with better legal representation for poor defendants.

A group of parents is challenging the suspicionless testing of Wahkiakum School District students who participate in extracurricular athletic activities.

The Legislature has passed a bill to prohibit state implementation of the REAL ID Act, unless the federal government fully funds it and provides stronger protections for the privacy of Washington drivers.

The ACLU, NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and the NW Women's Law Center denounced a wrong-headed Bush administration proposal that would classify many forms of birth control as abortion.

Judge Ronald Leighton of U.S. District Court in Tacoma has approved a settlement agreement between the American Civil Liberties Union and Jefferson County officials to improve conditions for inmates at the Jefferson County Jail in Port Hadlock on the Olympic Peninsula.

In October 2003 the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the City of Seattle can bar political candidates from mentioning their opponents in the City's voter pamphlet. The decision reversed a trial court ruling that found the ban was an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.