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Learn your rights, know your rights, use your rights.

It's time to say no to surveillance technologies. March 22 is the new deadline for submitting public comment on three surveillance technologies the City of Seattle is considering buying and installing in our neighborhoods.

Today, we honor Billy Frank Jr., a prominent fishing rights activist, environmental leader, and member of the Nisqually Tribe, who played an integral role in re-affirming treaty fishing rights in Washington State.  

Women have not only been essential in the fight for justice and equity, they have led the way. While there is still much work to be done, we celebrate progress made as a direct result of the advocacy and leadership of women – and have hope for a more equitable world for everyone, regardless of gender. The ACLU has been fighting for gender equality since our founding and we won’t stop now.  

Did you know health entity consolidations are common in Washington, but receive minimal oversight, drive up health care costs for patients without improving the quality of care?

The negative effects of consolidations hit already marginalized groups and rural areas especially hard. Washingtonians deserve better. That’s why we’re advocating for the Keep Our Care Act, which would make sure consolidations improve rather than limit access to care. And we need your help to get it across the finish line.

TAKE ACTION: use the link in our bio to send a letter to lawmakers to pass the Keep Our Care Act (ESB 5241).

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs help people gain access to the academic and professional opportunities we all need to succeed. Anti-DEI efforts actively harm our communities and our work toward racial justice.

We need your help again to assure that health entity consolidations do not restrict your access to accessible, affordable care. Send a message to lawmakers to pass the Keep Our Care Act (ESB 5241).

In a new blog, guest author Izzy shares her unique experience being system-involved at a young age, unpacking how the criminal legal system and our approach to criminalization is not as simple as “good guys” versus “bad guys.”

The City of Seattle is taking steps to buy and install three dangerous surveillance technologies across our neighborhoods.   Tell Seattle to reject mass surveillance: submit public comments to the city by Thursday, February 29. Follow the link for instructions and comment templates you can personalize.  

🔔 Action Alert! Help hold health systems accountable and protect access to care. Right now, health entity consolidations in Washington state receive minimal accountability, and lead to increased costs for patients, decreased quality of care, and restricted access to critical services, including reproductive and end-of-life care. This exacerbates systemic inequities and racial disparities and negatively impacts rural communities in particular. Oversight is needed to hold health systems accountable to our communities.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees us all a fair trial in front of a jury of our peers. But what does it mean to have a jury of your peers — people like yourself, from your community — deciding your fate at trial? 

We’re hopeful a recent court decision clarified and reaffirmed that right for Black and brown defendants in Washington state. Head to this link for the full story.  

We sent a letter to Yakima City Council detailing our concerns about a proposal that could dilute Latinx political influence, as it would be almost impossible for the community to elect a candidate of their choice to the newly created office.

We’re prepared to protect the rights of Latinx voters in Yakima – again.

Judge André Peñalver and former Judge Theresa Doyle share why they support House Bill 2065 as a path to fairer sentencing and racial justice in Washington’s legal system.

While the fight for safe and just Black Futures continues, it is also important to reflect on moments of celebration and joy. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court is certainly one of those milestones.

We invite you to take a look back at Jackson’s nomination in 2022, when ACLU-WA’s Executive Director Michele Storms considered what the first Black woman on the Supreme Court would mean for her and for all Black Futures in the United States.

🔔 ACTION ALERT: Tell the Senate it's time to promote fairness in sentencing. Support HB 2065!
🔗 Sign in PRO on HB 2065 by 9:30 am on Monday, February 19.

Click on the link below and choose the "PRO" option. 

🔔 ACTION ALERT: Tell the House to support the Keep our Care Act (SB 5241) and safeguard community access to quality affordable care. Sign in PRO by 7am on Wednesday, February 14. Consolidations between hospitals, provider organizations and other health care entities are prolific in Washington state and receive minimal oversight, allowing large health systems to dictate and negatively impact patients’ access to health care. These consolidations drive up costs for patients, worsen quality of care, and often restrict access to critical services, including reproductive and end-of-life care.

⚠ We need your help again. As a matter of fairness and racial justice, tell the House to correct past sentencing harms and vote YES on HB 2065! We have until 4pm Tuesday, 2/13 to get this bill voted out of the House. Your voice makes a difference and is needed to move this important legislation forward. Use the link to send a letter to your lawmakers and urge them to support this bill.

Never miss a beat. Sign up for our action alert email list to find out how you can support civil rights and civil liberties across Washington this legislative session. 

The fight for racial justice is as much about correcting past harm as it is about building brighter economic futures for Black communities. Read up on baby bond programs in states like California and how Washington can follow in their footsteps next legislative session.

Send an email to Democratic leadership in the House Rules Committee and urge them to pull HB 2065 to the floor for a vote. Let them know you want this bill to advance.

🔔 Please take action by 5pm, Tuesday, February 13.

ACLU-WA Policing & Immigration Policy Program Director Enoka Herat recently joined "The Impact" on @tvwnews to talk about our legislative priorities and how bills like Traffic Safety for All (HB 1513/SB 5572) and AG Investigation and Reform (HB 1445) can help make Washington safer for everyone.

Urgent: Sign in Pro before the 8am deadline on 2/3. Tell Oly it's time to correct past harms in our criminal legal system.

The ACLU of Washington fully supports the activism and organizing we have witnessed over the past days from the queer and trans community.

The disparate enforcement of lewd conduct laws on marginalized communities, particularly the LGBTQIA2S+ community which has a history of targeting under such laws, must not be tolerated. This includes the recent “raids” in Seattle’s historically queer Capitol Hill neighborhood.

We need your voice to tell lawmakers to keep moving this bill forward. Take action before 4pm TODAY (Friday, February 2)! ➡ Send an email to Democratic leadership in Appropriations and urge them to pass HB 2065 out of committee. 🔔 Please take action by 4pm TODAY (Friday, 2/2).

As we celebrate the start of Black Futures Month, ACLU-WA Deputy Director Tonie Davis is reflecting on the power of community and the work being done in service of brighter Black futures.  

Read the full letter below and learn how the ACLU of Washington is showing with community to build a just and equitable Washington. 

We're teaming up with @peacejusticeaction for a night of community, education, and action! Join us on February 7 for an action hour to learn about the Washington State legislative session and two bills (HB 1513 and HB 1445) that aim to reduce police violence and strengthen accountability. We'll conclude the night with contacting our state legislators together. 🔔 Wednesday, February 7, ⏰ 6 - 7 PM on Zoom. Hope to see you there!

Join the Keep Our Care Act (KOCA) coalition in discussing hospital mergers hurt access to health care and how the Keep Our Care Act can help safeguard it in Washington. 

Your voice in local politics matters. A lot. That’s what our organizing team wants you and all Washingtonians to know.  

Read an interview with our organizing team and learn why and how you can join the fight for a more just, equitable and safe Washington this legislative session. 

Sign in PRO on HB 2065 by 12:30 p.m. on Monday, January 22, and tell Washington lawmakers it is time to correct past harms.

It is fundamentally unfair to require people to serve vastly different sentences for the same offense.

That’s why we’re advocating for HB 2065, which corrects past harms by making sure sentencing reforms apply to everyone hurt by past unjust practices.

Our annual Advocacy Day is back! Join us in Olympia on Wednesday, January 24th for a day of community and activism as we work together to transform the criminal legal system.

⬇Register at the link below.

Everyone has a role to play in the ongoing struggle for civil rights and equality for all. Together, we can share our resources of time, money, rest, and care to defend and expand equity and justice for all. 

Read ACLU-WA Executive Director Michele Storms’ letter for this MLK Day and find out how you can join us in the fight. 

NEW BLOG POST: Sentencing reform is directly connected to community health and safety. Chelsea Moore, our Smart Justice Policy Program Director, explains how and why they’re intertwined and the reforms we’re fighting for this legislative session.

📣 Tell lawmakers it's time to bring Washington state sentencing practices in line with the best evidence regarding brain-development and offer hope to a large population of incarcerated individuals.

Sign in PRO on HB 1325 before 12:30pm on Monday, January 15th.

We’re headed to Olympia to show up and fight for the rights of all Washingtonians. Read about our priorities for this legislative session and how you can take action with us. 

It will take all of us to build a more equitable, safe, and just Washington.

BLOG POST: There is a growing national understanding that young adults need to be treated differently in the criminal legal system because their brains are still developing, especially in regard to long sentences. This legislative session, the ACLU-WA, in collaboration with partner organizations and currently and formerly incarcerated allies, is back in Olympia advocating for the passage of the Emerging Adults Bill, HB 1325/SB 5451, to address this issue.

As we gear up for the year ahead, we invite you to take a look back at our 2023 Annual Report and all that we accomplished together.

BLOG POST: To make meaningful strides in youth safety and reforms, we need to rely on what works: family and community support. As we move through the rest of this holiday season, remember: the greatest gift we can give our youth is keeping them at home. 

On Thursday, a jury acquitted the three Tacoma Police officers accused of killing Manuel Ellis in a 2020 encounter.  

Today’s verdict is devastating and does not result in the accountability the community has demanded and deserves. While no verdict would provide true justice for Manny — as that would mean never being killed in the first place — officers cannot be allowed to act with impunity and kill community members without consequence. Our thoughts are with Manny’s family who have had to be fierce advocates in the face of a system that was not investing time on investigating itself.

Take action! Tell lawmakers that it is time to stop police civil rights abuses by supporting HB 1445.

Too many police departments show a pattern of mistreatment and misconduct, but right now, there are very few ways to investigate or change these ingrained problems.

HB 1445 is designed to break these patterns and prevent future harm by expanding the Attorney General's ability to investigate and bring a lawsuit where there are systemic failures at a department. 

BLOG POST: What can be done when it seems a police department — not just an individual officer — is harming people?

Enoka Herat, ACLU-WA's Policing and Immigration Policy Program Director, explains why we need House Bill 1445 to help change bad police department cultures.

HB 1445 strengthens and clarifies the Washington Attorney General’s civil authority to investigate and sue where there are systemic failures at a department, resulting in violations of the Washington constitution or state laws.

In our latest newsletter, get a glimpse of how, together, we continue to show up for the civil rights and civil liberties of all Washingtonians, and where there’s space for us to dwell in possibility.  

BLOG POST: The gap between rich and poor continues to widen in the U.S. — and it should be treated as a national emergency. Learn about how baby bonds can break the cycle of poverty and make prosperity achievable for the next generation.