Latest From ACLU of Washington

The latest content and updates from the ACLU of Washington website.

Schools: Don’t Show the Door to Pregnant Students, Make Them Feel Welcome

Published: 
Thursday, May 29, 2014
May has been National Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month—a month-long opportunity for parents, schools, policy-makers, and organizations to promote and support effective teen pregnancy prevention initiatives. As becoming pregnant as a teen is a significant stumbling block to a financially secure future, measures devoted to preventing teen pregnancy certainly are important.
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Liberty Link: Jailed Immigrants as a Pool of Cheap Labor

Published: 
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
A terrific article in the New York Times calls out government officials for using detained immigrants as extremely cheap labor at federal detention centers. For performing such essential tasks as preparing meals, scrubbing bathrooms, and buffing hallways, the jailed workers are paid all of 13 cents an hour (i.e., a dollar a day) – far less than the federal minimum wage of $7.25/hour that would be paid to contractors.
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Psychiatric Patients Entitled to Treatment, Not Warehousing, Advocates Tell State Supreme Court

News Release, Published: 
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Advocates for psychiatric patients have filed a friend of the court brief with the Washington Supreme Court urging it to uphold a trial court ruling invalidating a practice called “boarding” – holding civil commitment patients in hospital emergency rooms unable to provide adequate treatment.  The brief was filed by statewide mental health, disability rights, and civil liberties organizations.
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Inslee Stands Up for Net Neutrality

Published: 
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Yesterday, Governor Jay Inslee sent a letter to FCC Chairman Wheeler urging him to delay a vote on proposed rules that would allow Internet service providers to discriminate among lawful content providers changing the free and open nature of the Internet.
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You Might be Getting Married on June 30th

Published: 
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Did you know that all same-sex state registered domestic partnerships (SRDPs) in Washington will automatically be converted to marriages on June 30th?  Last week at Seattle City Hall, a panel of experts gathered to answer questions from the public about what should be expected and more importantly, what can be done to prevent their SRDPs from converting into a marriage.
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Otis Walter Leaves a Legacy for Civil Liberties

Published: 
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Otis Walter passed away last June at the age of 92. He left his entire estate to the ACLU of Washington and the ACLU of Pennsylvania because he so strongly believed in the broad range of issues on which the ACLU works. He first became a card-carrying member as a teenager in Pennsylvania.  Dr. Walter said he did not want any sort of recognition for his planned gift during his lifetime. We wish to honor Dr. Walter as a kind and loving advocate for civil liberties.
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Failed Experiments: Stop All Lethal Injections Now

Published: 
Monday, May 12, 2014
Assurances about lethal injection rest on the premise that inmates are sedated and unconscious before other excruciating drugs are administered. The horrifying experiences of recent executions make clear these assurances are false. The drugs used in recent executions produced not a sleep into death but many wakeful minutes of struggle and pain. Such executions are clear violations of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment and require investigation and action.
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CLS and ACLU Protect Detainees’ Free Speech Rights at the Northwest Detention Center

News Release, Published: 
Monday, May 12, 2014
Today, the ACLU of Washington (ACLU) and Columbia Legal Services (CLS) voluntarily dismissed their lawsuit after successfully getting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release hunger striking detainees from solitary confinement at the Northwest Detention Center (NWDC) in Tacoma, Washington.  The ACLU and CLS had filed this lawsuit on April 2, 2014 to prohibit ICE from retaliating against detainees at the NWDC who engage in First Amendment protected activities by placing them in solitary confinement.
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Hopes for Police Reform: Signs of Change, Need for Vigilance

Published: 
Monday, May 12, 2014
Transforming an institution’s practices and culture takes endurance, dedication, and tenacity.  Doubly so when attempting to transform a police department - an institution modeled on the military - into one that understands its roles as “servants of the Constitution” and “guardians of the community,” as Sue Rahr describes it.
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How Civil Liberties Fared in the Legislature

Published: 
Friday, May 9, 2014
The Washington Legislature of 2015, which began in January, finally adjourned in July – after going into triple overtime due to a budget impasse. The session did produce some valuable victories for civil liberties. These included measures establishing the nation’s strongest regulations on the use of cell phone simulators (known as Stingrays) for surveillance, restrictions on the practices of isolating and restraining students, and required training in crisis intervention for law enforcement officers.
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Protecting Rights at the NW Detention Center

Published: 
Friday, May 9, 2014
The ACLU-WA has been protecting rights of immigrant detainees against unlawful actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.
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