Alabama

Fear and Loathing Over HIV Must End in Alabama Prisons

By Amanda Goad, LGBT Project at 11:00am

You can’t catch HIV from a toilet seat.

You can’t catch HIV from kitchen utensils.

You can’t catch HIV from everyday contact with the people around you. 

Old news, right? In fact, all of those points were made in Understanding AIDS, the health information pamphlet mailed to every American household by Surgeon General C. Everett Koop in 1988. But apparently the message was lost on folks at the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC). 

ACLU Lens: Federal Court Ruled Alabama Can’t Check Students' Immigration Status

By Vesna Jaksic, ACLU at 11:18am

Alabama’s outrageous attempt to deny some immigrant children their right to education is among the provisions that was rejected Monday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. The Atlanta-based court also blocked other harmful parts of Alabama and Georgia’s anti-immigrant laws, including those that attempted to criminalize everyday actions with undocumented immigrants.

But the court left room for narrow implementation of certain ‘show me your papers’ provisions, which the ACLU and a civil rights coalition will continue to fight against.

ACLU Client Scott Douglas on The Colbert Report

By Elizabeth Beresford, ACLU at 5:21pm

Last night on The Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert interviewed Scott Douglas III, executive director of the Greater Birmingham Ministries. Douglas is a plaintiff in the ACLU and a coalition of civil rights groups’ lawsuit challenging H.B. 56, Alabama’s draconian anti-immigrant law.

In this video, Douglas talks about why he’s a plaintiff in our case:

'Bama Hits Below the Belt: Another Effort to Restrict Women's Health

By Becca Cadoff, Reproductive Freedom Project at 12:11pm

In the latest affront to women's health, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed into law a bill that could force health centers in the state to close their doors if they provide abortion care. We may not all see eye-to-eye about abortion, but most people agree that we all need access to health care without politicians getting in the way.

Isn't it time we are allowed to make our own decisions about our health care?

This bill is just another example of political attacks on women's health, following on the heels of North Dakota, Arkansas, and other state efforts to block access to abortion care. The trend of attacking women is snowballing out of control, and we need to stop it.

Hello, Alabama? Can You Hear Us Now?

By Elissa Berger, Advocacy and Policy Counsel, ACLU at 1:58pm

On the front lines of the war on women, the people of Alabama have a battle cry: Enough is Enough.

Victory! Appeals Court Blocks Additional Provisions of H.B. 56, Alabama's Anti-Immigrant Law

By Cecillia Wang, ACLU Immigrants' Rights Project at 12:47pm

These provisions were intended "to attack every aspect" of Alabamians' lives and to expel them from the state.

Turning the Tide Against Unlawful Sex Segregation in Public Schools

By Mie Lewis, Women's Rights Project at 12:32pm

In recent years, the number of public schools segregating their students by sex has ballooned, despite mounting evidence that single-sex programs don’t improve academic performance and instead perpetuate sex stereotypes. But things are changing. This week, yet another school district — this time in Tallapoosa County, Alabama — agreed to stop segregating its 350 middle school students by sex. The development in Alabama follows a string of similar turnarounds by school districts in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Louisiana.

Alabama's Immigration Law Separates Long-Time Friends

By Vesna Jaksic, ACLU at 3:01pm

Small business owner James Pilgrim says of families impacted by H.B. 56: "[M]y heart is broken to think that I might never see these people again."

For a Pioneering Jurist, Alabama Anti-Immigrant Law Is Spark for a New Civil Rights Struggle

By Vesna Jaksic, ACLU at 5:35pm

Retired federal judge U. W. Clemon has seen great advancement of civil rights in Alabama, but is very concerned about their present state.

Statistics image