Washington Markup

Groundbreaking Senate Hearing Shines a Light on the School-to-Prison Pipeline

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office & Kimberly Humphrey, Washington Legislative Office at 10:23am

Tomorrow, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights will hold a landmark hearing entitled, Ending the School-to-Prison Pipeline. It is the first time a congressional panel will look at this disturbing national trend where children are pushed out of public schools and into the juvenile and criminal justice systems because of an overreliance on punitive school discipline policies.

ACLU Lens: New York Times Highlights Data Showing Harsh Discipline for Minority Students and Students with Disabilities

By Sandhya Bathija, Washington Legislative Office at 12:21pm

Today, the Department of Education will release crucial civil rights data exposing discipline practices in our country's public schools and certain juvenile justice facilities.

In a story published this morning, The New York Times provided a glimpse into this data, which shows that African-American students face harsher discipline measures than other groups. Overall, African-American students were 3 1/2 times as likely to be suspended or expelled than their white peers, the Times revealed. And research suggests African-American students are often punished more severely for the same infractions.

Members of Congress Urge Investigation of FBI Muslim Surveillance

By Devon Chaffee, Legislative Policy Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:37am

Yesterday 22 Members of Congress sent a letter to the Inspector General of the Department of Justice urging him to launch an investigation into the Federal Bureau of Investigation's improper recording and dissemination of information about the First Amendment-protected activities of American Muslims. Several of the members who joined the letter-including Representatives Pete Stark (D-CA-13), Anna Eshoo (D-CA-14), Sam Farr (D- CA-17), Mike Honda (D- CA-15), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16), and Barbara Lee (D-CA-09) -represent districts in Northern California in which FBI memoranda document the use of community outreach for intelligence purposes.

Living in Parallel Worlds

By Dennis Parker, Director, ACLU Racial Justice Program at 4:01pm

It is difficult to convey how painful it is to live in a world in which nothing you do is as important as the color of your skin.

When a Dream House Becomes a Nightmare

By Tyler Ray, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 11:30am

For years, Rita Winters envisioned spending her golden years of retirement at her dream house in Southern Maryland.  However, as a result of events outside of Rita’s control, her dream home placed her in a nightmare situation. Federal action is needed to stop the nightmare that Rita and millions others faced while attempting to achieve their dream of home ownership.

Rita Winters’ Story

House Holds Forum on Racial Profiling and Hate Crimes in Wake of Trayvon Martin's Killing

By Dennis Parker, Director, ACLU Racial Justice Program at 1:25pm

Today's forum on racial profiling and hate crimes will address how we as a nation want to ensure that young men like Trayvon are not the victims of vigilante justice and racial profiling.

Counting On Us: Release of New Civil Rights Data Is the First Step in Helping Our Kids

By Deborah J. Vagins, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:21pm

Every day, students in public schools across the country are facing harsh disciplinary measures that may have dire consequences for the rest of their lives.

That was confirmed this week when the Department of Education released Part Two of its 2009-2010 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC), which showed minority students face much harsher punishments and penalties in our nation’s public schools than others.

African-American students are 3 1/2 times more likely than their white peers to be suspended. Though African-American students made up only 18 percent of enrolled students, they accounted for 39 percent of those expelled, and were subject to zero tolerance policies at disproportionate rates. A shocking 70 percent of students arrested or referred to law enforcement were Latino or African-American.

Petitions, Sign-on Letter Sent to Administration Calling for End to Controversial Immigration Program

By Abdi Soltani, ACLU of Northern California & Joanne Lin, Washington Legislative Office at 12:03pm

Communities across the country are saying no to 287(g)...

ACLU Joins in Briefing Members of Congress on the Implications of Arizona v. U.S.

By Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office at 5:19pm

Today we let federal lawmakers know that Arizona’s racial profiling law, S.B. 1070, is about much more than just the state of Arizona and its immigrants. It’s about how we see ourselves as a nation.

ACLU Lens: ACLU Executive Director Anthony D. Romero, ACLU Clients Urge Congress to End Racial Profiling

By Sandhya Bathija, Washington Legislative Office at 1:02pm

Racial profiling is based on crass stereotypes and assumptions, instead of facts, evidence and good solid police work.