Blog of Rights
Rachel
Bloom
Rachel Bloom is an Advocacy and Policy Strategist for the American Civil Liberties Union. Her work focuses on state based criminal justice reform, with particular attention paid to drug testing of public benefit recipients, collateral consequences, private prisons and policing. Focusing on these issues, she works with ACLU affiliates throughout the country, as well as with national partners, to advance progressive reform and defeat regressive legislation. Ms. Bloom is a proud alumnae of Barnard College and received her Masters degree in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics.
  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page
06/28/2011
Drug-Testing Welfare Recipients

Being Poor Is Not a Crime

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 1:25pm

June 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of President Richard Nixon's declaration of a "war on drugs" — a war that has cost roughly a trillion dollars, has produced little to no effect on the supply of or demand for drugs in the United States, and has contributed to making America the world's largest incarcerator. Throughout the month, check back daily for posts about the drug war, its victims and what needs to be done to restore fairness and create effective policy.

Read More»
05/19/2011
Drug-Testing Welfare Recipients

Florida Law Punishes Poor People for Being Poor

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 2:05pm

During this legislative session, more than two dozen states have introduced legislation to drug test individuals receiving or applying for various forms of public assistance. And by public assistance I mean individuals applying for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), welfare, unemployment and Medicare. (Incidentally, you know who isn't being asked to submit to drug testing before receiving public assistance? Bankers, traders and anyone who received money from the bailout.)

Read More»
09/03/2010

A Very Big Thank You!

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 12:31pm

Yesterday, Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland commuted the death sentence of Kevin Keith, a possibly innocent man, to life without parole. We have written about Kevin Keith’s case multiple times. We told you about how groups including the Ohio Innocence Project, the National Innocence Network, and a group of leading eyewitness and memory experts (PDF) were petitioning the Ohio Parole Board and Gov. Ted Strickland to grant clemency to Kevin Keith. We were nervous: the Parole Board rejected his claim and recommended the governor deny his clemency request, and earlier this week, the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals denied one of Keiths' final appeals. His September 15 execution date was fast approaching.

Read More»
03/26/2010

Prison as Punishment, Not for Punishment

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 3:43pm

No one wants to go to prison, but there's one particular prison in Idaho that's especially feared. Why? According to the Associated Press, over the past two years, more prisoner-on-prisoner assaults have occurred at this specific prison — the Idaho Correctional Center (ICC) — than at the other eight Idaho prisons combined.

During the past two months, ACLU lawyers interviewed over 30 prisoners who were viciously assaulted at ICC. The findings were so damning that a lawsuit was filed in federal court in Boise on March 11. The complaint, which exceeds 80 pages, chronicles more than 20 violent assaults that resulted in broken bones and bloodshed. The complaint does not include a number of victims who are so afraid of being assaulted again that they declined to have their stories included in the lawsuit. Since the lawsuit was filed, the ACLU has been contacted by more than 40 other persons who were assaulted while confined at ICC.

Read More»
11/13/2009

Fighting for Voting Rights for All Americans

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 12:39pm

Today marks the second day of a two-day United Nations forum on "minorities and effective political participation." Chaired by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the forum has attracted legislators, academics and members of the nongovernmental organization community from around the world to Geneva to address the continuing problems faced by minority communities engaging in the political process.

Read More»
07/28/2009

Eligible to Vote in Washington

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 5:08pm

(Cross-posted to Washblog and Daily Kos)

On Saturday, "John" could not register to vote in Washington State. On Sunday, he could. John did not turn 18 on Sunday, nor did he become a citizen. Rather, a new law went into effect in Washington lifting the ban that prevented John, as well as thousands of other Washington citizens, from voting.

Read More»
05/08/2009

In Honor of Jack Kemp, Voting Rights Advocate

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 10:06pm

Jack Kemp, the former football star turned congressman who served as secretary of housing and urban development under the first President Bush and was the 1996 Republican vice-presidential nominee, passed away May 2. Much has been made of his work to include more people of color in the Republican Party, but less attention has been paid his work that had little to do with party politics: his support for voting rights for the formerly incarcerated.

Read More»
12/08/2008

I Have the Right to Vote…Right?

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 2:36pm

My favorite section of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is Article 21, which states that “everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.” Why is this section so important? After all, if you’re a citizen of the United States and 18 or older, you have the right to right to vote…right?

Read More»
10/24/2008

"I Can't Vote, I Was Locked Up."

By Rachel Bloom, ACLU at 11:31am

(Originally posted on Daily Kos.)

If you have ever registered individuals to vote, you've likely had people tell you that they'd like to register but can't because they were incarcerated. As I travel the country educating Americans about felony disfranchisement, I can't tell you the amount of times folks have said this to me. I listen, ask them where they live, and, in many instances, I get to give them the good news that they are eligible to vote.

Read More»
  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page
Statistics image