By Jennifer Carnig, New York Civil Liberties Union at 5:49pm
Inspired by the Arab Spring, a group of a few hundred protesters have occupied a park right off of Wall Street for more than a week, seeking attention for what they call a greedy and unjust financial system. The staff of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) has been on the scene talking to protesters, learning about their experiences with police, and passing out Know Your Rights guides on protesting in New York City and on surviving police encounters.
By Jennifer Carnig, New York Civil Liberties Union at 5:20pm
The NYPD has a pot problem. For more than a decade, its officers have made a massive habit of unlawfully arresting New Yorkers for carrying small amounts of marijuana in their pockets or bags. It’s proving to be a tough habit to break, despite NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly’s recent acknowledgment of the problem.
By Jennifer Carnig, New York Civil Liberties Union at 5:39pm
The New York Civil Liberties Union is making cable TV a little smarter. The latest episode of Project Liberty — the NYCLU’s very own television show — is airing in New York City. This episode focuses on the NYCLU’s 60th anniversary and its relentless fight for fair marriage laws in New York State and nationwide.
Executive Director Donna Lieberman discusses our role in last summer’s historic victory giving gay and lesbian New Yorkers the freedom to marry. She gives an update on our landmark federal lawsuit challenging the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act.
By Jennifer Carnig, New York Civil Liberties Union at 6:49pm
For the past 10 days, scores of demonstrators have occupied Zuccotti Park near Wall Street to protest what they believe are entrenched inequities in the nation’s financial system.
In response to the peaceful demonstration, the NYPD has flooded the Financial District with police officers and has erected labyrinths of steel barricades along sidewalks in front of the Stock Exchange and around the famous bull statue on Broadway.
By Jennifer Carnig, New York Civil Liberties Union at 4:44pm
New Yorkers know that it puts all families at risk when the government gets in the business of saying that some families matter and deserve protection and some families don’t.
Marriage is a basic civil rights issue. Family is a basic civil rights issue. The right to take care of our children is a basic civil rights issue. That’s why the New York State Assembly – Democrats and Republicans alike – voted to overwhelmingly pass the marriage bill. And that’s why the governor has pledged to sign that bill.
By Jennifer Carnig, New York Civil Liberties Union at 2:36pm
We are so close. This week — with a little pressure — New York may finally rid itself of its draconian and hurtful Rockefeller drug laws.
These “mandatory-minimum” drug sentencing laws require judges to lock up for years people caught with small amounts of drugs. Nearly 200,000 nonviolent New Yorkers have been locked away because of these laws. More than 90 percent of them are black and Latino, and they overwhelmingly come from a just handful of low-income NYC neighborhoods. Instead of getting treatment or job training or an education, they are sent to prisons, hours from their families and any support system. Many of them languish in prison for decades.
By Jennifer Carnig, New York Civil Liberties Union at 3:11pm
Having to carry an ID and show it to any government employee who demands it is a notion that was once restricted to the ravings of the tinfoil hat crowd. And if you ask most Americans today if they think such government intrusion is possible, they’d laugh you out of the room. But the fact is, the Bush administration is on the verge of instituting such a draconian, invasive national ID system.
The Real ID Act would allow the government and businesses to capture information on Americans' purchases, sex lives, political affiliations, and daily activities.
By Jennifer Carnig, New York Civil Liberties Union at 5:31pm
When presidential elections can be determined by only a few votes, we need to make sure that every vote counts. But an untold number of Americans are convinced their stay in prison will keep them from the voting booth for the rest of their lives.
That simply isn't the case.
In New York and many other states, formally incarcerated citizens have the right to vote. But too many people with criminal records and far too many election workers don't know it.
