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07/31/2012
Sentencing Reform

Federal Prisons Busting at the Seams: Sentencing Commission Should Prioritize Growing Prison Population

By Jesselyn McCurdy, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 2:54pm

The U.S. Sentencing Commission is in the process of determining the issues that it will prioritize 2013. The commission embarks on this process every year and invites the public to suggest what it thinks the commission should concentrate its efforts on for the upcoming year.

While there is nothing new about the commission prioritizing tasks such as drafting sentencing guidelines for newly enacted legislation, what is new this year is that both the ACLU and the Department of Justice (and likely other organizations) have identified the growing crisis of the federal prison population as a priority that the commission should focus attention on.

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07/25/2012
Youth PROMISE Act

Interrupting the Violence

By Dan Zeidman, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 12:00pm

Across the country, states are working to reform their juvenile justice systems in order to emphasize youth rehabilitation and violence prevention.  Just this past Thursday, the Special Council on Criminal Justice Reform for Georgians – which was created by Gov. Nathan Deal – held its first meeting and discussed its top priority of crafting a juvenile justice reform bill.  In order to draft the reform legislation, the panel is looking at states such as Texas and Ohio, which have been able to reform their juvenile justice systems and reduce the number of children they incarcerate by, in part, emphasizing alternatives to incarceration for youth and, when appropriate, reducing the amount of time children spend in prison.  These changes have played a significant role in reducing the states’ juvenile prison populations and saving scarce taxpayer dollars while maintaining public safety.  

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06/20/2012
Wal-Mart

On the First Anniversary of Wal-Mart v. Dukes: Stand Up or Be Trampled

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 10:27am
Image above: Betty Dukes with Senator Al Franken. The author, Deborah Vagins, to the immediate right, joined by coalition partners.

Over a decade ago, I had the great honor to be part of a team representing Betty Dukes, an employee at Wal-Mart who had received unfair treatment at her job and had decided to do something about it. Betty soon became the face of a large class of women who worked at Wal-Mart and faced similar types of discrimination in the workplace. These women banded together, from all across the country, to take on sex discrimination at one of the world’s largest employers—and through it all, Betty Dukes remained at the forefront fighting for justice. “In this life,” said Betty, “you have to stand up or be trampled.”  The ACLU co-authored a brief before the Supreme Court, joined by a large number of civil rights groups, highlighting the gender stereotypes that the women were banding together to challenge.

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