News Releases

The Washington Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled that the City of Seattle’s program of requiring urine tests of successful applicants for employment violates the state constitution.

U.S. District Court Judge John Coughenour has issued a permanent injunction barring enforcement of a City of Medina law which required people to apply for a license from town officials and submit to a police background check in order to exercise their free speech rights.

The ACLU is working to reform the excesses of the PATRIOT Act and is seeking passage of the Security and Freedom Enhancement Act (SAFE Act) to provide needed checks and balances.

Senator Patty Murray and Representatives Jay Inslee and Jim McDermott were among the brave members of Congress who opposed the renewal of the PATRIOT Act. Show your support for their decision!

The federal Equal Access Act requires schools to give all noncurriculum-related student clubs – such as Gay-Straight Alliances - equal access to school facilities, regardless of the content of the speech in their meetings.

Shirley Scheier was frisked, handcuffed, and detained for taking photographs of power lines as part of an art project. The ACLU-WA has reached a settlement of her lawsuit against the City of Snohomish.

On June 23, 1998 ACLU-WA Board member Doug Klunder testified before the Commercial Electronic Task Force on Spam.

Okanogan County has paid a settlement of $35,000 to a young woman for subjecting her to an illegal strip search at the county's juvenile detention facility in 1999. The young woman was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union. The County changed its strip search policy for juveniles shortly after the ACLU initially contacted officials about the matter.

Students in Bellingham can continue distributing at school the alternative newspaper they produce thanks to help from the ACLU.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington hails enactment of a law that removes unnecessary barriers to help for needy families. Governor Christine Gregoire today is signing SB 5213 that will provide fair access to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and its related Work First programs to people who have been barred from receiving help because of prior convictions for drug offenses.