Inspired by the Arab Spring, the Occupy movement began as a group of a few hundred protesters occupying a park right off of Wall Street in New York City's financial district in September 2011 to protest what they call a greedy and unjust financial system. The national ACLU and ACLU affiliates nationwide have been monitoring Occupy protests across the country to ensure protestors' free speech rights are protected. Learn more about what the ACLU is doing in your state to support protestors' rights >>
By Rebecca McCray, ACLU Criminal Law Reform Project at 3:53pm
Today, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. With over 2.3 million men and women living behind bars, our imprisonment rate is the highest it’s ever been in U.S. history. And yet, our criminal justice system has failed on every count: public safety, fairness and cost-effectiveness. Across the country, the criminal justice reform conversation is heating up. Each week, we feature our some of the most exciting and relevant news in overincarceration discourse that we’ve spotted from the previous week. Check back weekly for our top picks.
By Linda Lye, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Northern California at 11:13am
The Oakland Police Department oversaw the use of excessive force against Occupy Oakland demonstrators, and now the department is refusing to hand over information about what really happened.
By Michael Risher, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Northern California at 7:48pm
The day after an enormous peaceful demonstration and the first general strike this country has seen since the 1940s, some of the focus has turned to bonfires and tear gas.
Yesterday the ACLU of Tennessee filed a federal lawsuit to protect the First Amendment rights of Occupy Nashville protesters. By late afternoon, a judge ordered the state to stop enforcing rules that violated the demonstrators’ freedom of speech and assembly.
The demonstrators have been gathered peacefully at the plaza in front of Nashville's statehouse to express their frustration since October 7. Historically, other groups have been permitted to gather at the plaza without a permit. But last week, the state adopted new rules significantly restricting use of the plaza, requiring a permit and liability insurance, and imposing a curfew by fiat in secret and without notice.
By Linda Lye, Staff Attorney, ACLU of Northern California at 3:35pm
Picture this. In response to a peaceful anti-war protest, the Oakland Police Department uses large wooden bullets, sting ball grenades and shot-filled bean bags, as a result of which at least 58 protesters are injured. That was 2003, and unfortunately sounds eerily similar to reports of OPD's response to an Occupy Oakland demonstration Tuesday evening, in which bean bags or other projectiles appear to have been fired directly into crowds and multiple rounds of tear gas were used.
