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Racial Justice
Locking Up Our Children: ACLU Report on Unjust Detention of Youth in Massachusetts (5/12/2008)
A widespread practice in Massachusetts of locking up youth
accused of minor offenses and who pose little or no danger to their communities
is unfair, threatens public safety and wastes public money, according to a
report released in May 2008 by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of
Massachusetts. The report documents the
use of detention by state judges as a rehabilitative tool to frighten youth
never convicted of wrongdoing. The report also addresses the woeful lack of
placement availability in the state's child welfare and mental health systems
that leave detention as the only viable option for youth who cannot safely be
returned to their homes. Locking Up Our Children is a follow-up report to a 2003 report by the ACLU, which documented the disproportionate representation of youth of color in Massachusett's juvenile justice system.
Report: Turning a Blind Eye to Racial Discrimination in America
The government report failed to level with the international community about the U.S.'s human rights record when it comes to racial injustice. The ACLU's report details police brutality and racial profiling, voter disfranchisement and skyrocketing rates of incarceration, and wide, corrosive effects of racial discrimination.
> Report: Race & Ethnicity in America
> 12/10/2007: New ACLU Report Details Pervasive Racial Discrimination in America
> 6/13/2007: ACLU Calls State Department Report a "Complete Whitewash"
Report: Persistent Racial Disparities in Federal Death Penalty (6/25/2007)
Coauthored by the ACLU's Capital Punishment Project and Racial Justice Program, this report details the persistent racial disparities in federal death penalty sentencing. Mounting evidence suggests that race continues to play a role in who lives or dies in the federal judicial system.
> Read the Report
Broken Promises: Two Years After Katrina (8/10/2006)
Two years ago, Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast, devastating the homes and lives of millions of people. The ACLU has been inundated with reports of racial injustice and human rights violations in Louisiana and Mississippi, both during and since Katrina. Broken Promises, a comprehensive report from the ACLU, documents the terrible conditions and dangerous lack of planning at the Orleans Parish Prison, and details other increases in police abuse, racial profiling, housing discrimination, along with other civil liberties violations and the ACLU's continuing response.
Read the report and learn more>>
NYCLU and ACLU Report Calls for End to Over-Policing in New York City Schools (3/18/2007)
Criminalizing the Classroom: The Over-Policing of New York City Schools examines the origins and the consequences of the city's aggressive policing operation in schools. It provides analyses of the results of a broad student survey and profiles of individual students whose experiences illuminate the problems with policing in schools.
> Press Release
> Report
ACLU Fights to End Racial Inequity and Harshness in Cocaine Sentencing (10/26/2006)
The Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 established mandatory minimum sentencing policies that subject people who are low-level cocaine users to the same or harsher sentences as major dealers. The Act also established a 1-to-100 sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, making the minimum sentence for 500 grams of powder cocaine - a more expensive drug primarily used by affluent whites - the same as that for just 5 grams of crack - a drug whose primary users are low-income people, many of whom are African American.
This discrepancy remains although there is no medical basis for the difference, and despite repeated recommendations by the U.S. Sentencing Commission to Congress to reconsider the penalties. The ACLU is working to educate the public about these discrepancies and to change these racist and draconian drug policies. Read more at the website of the Drug Law Reform Project >>
A Blueprint for Meeting the Needs of Texas Girls in Custody
Drawing on intensive on-site research, this report describes the conditions of confinement experienced by girls in the custody of the Texas Youth Commission (TYC). In TYC's massive juvenile prisons, a harsh regime of control and punishment not only fails to rehabilitate girls, but exacerbates past trauma and inflicts additional damage on confined children.
Learn More >>
A Bond Forged in Struggle: The ACLU's Historic Alliance with African-Americans in the Quest for Racial Justice
The report recounts the ACLU's ongoing efforts seeking racial equality in America. The ACLU’s decades-long racial justice docket has included victories in many important areas, from discrimination in housing, education and access to public services, to racial profiling and prisoners’ rights. Significant progress has been made, to be sure. But after Katrina’srains subsided, no one could deny that there was still much left to be done.
> Report: A Bond Forged in Struggle: The ACLU's Historic Alliance with African-Americans in the Quest for Racial Justice |
Disproportionate Minority Confinement in Massachusetts (6/2/2003)
As of 2003, although approximately seven out of 10 children confined to Massachusetts' state facilities were youth of color, the state had never collected the data necessary to determine why this was the case. Of the $35 million the state received in from 1998-2003 for youth-related programs, less than .01% was allocated to programs specifically designed to minimize racial disparities. The ACLU documented these shortcomings and disparities in a report entitled Disproportionate Minority Confinement in Massachusetts: Failures in Assessing and Addressing Overrepresentation of Minorities in the Massachusetts' Juvenile Justice System. Since the release of this report, the ACLU has engaged in numerous forums and dialogues with government officials, law enforcement officials, community members, academics and others to address the problem of disproportionate minority contact and its impact on Massachusetts' communities of color.
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Racial Justice
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Press Releases
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ACLU Announces Racial Justice Fellowship Program Named for Ira Glasser, Longtime Executive Director (04/08/2003)
NEW YORK- Responding to the social and economic inequalities that persist around the nation in communities of color, the American Civil Liberties Union today announced the launch of the Ira Glasser Racial Justice Fellows Program to further develop, strengthen and increase programmatic work on racial justice issues.
ACLU, Civil Rights Groups and Maryland Officials Reach Landmark Racial Profiling Settlement (04/02/2003)
ANNAPOLIS, MD--After months of delays and false starts, the Maryland Board of Public Works today approved a historic settlement ending the practice of racial profiling on the state's highways, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland announced.
ACLU Urges Supreme Court to Uphold Affirmative Action Policies in College Admissions (03/31/2003)
NEW YORK-In a landmark case being argued tomorrow before the Supreme Court, the American Civil Liberties Union will urge the Justices to uphold the admissions policies of the University of Michigan, which seeks to promote a diverse student body by employing affirmative action programs.
ACLU of IL Asks Court to Maintain Desegregation Agreement for Chicago Public Schools (03/21/2003)
CHICAGO--Saying that it is crucial to keep in place a voluntary agreement designed to combat historic racial segregation in Chicago's public schools, the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and a coalition of civil rights groups today filed a friend-of-the-court brief in federal court asking that the agreement remain in place.
ACLU Says FBI Questioning of Iraqi Nationals in U.S. Will Hamper, Not Help, War on Terror (03/19/2003)
NEW YORK - The government's latest plan to question thousands of Iraqi nationals is yet another example of ethnic and religious profiling that may hamper rather than help efforts to apprehend terrorists, the American Civil Liberties Union said today.
ACLU of Northern CA Hails Landmark Racial Profiling Settlement (02/27/2003)
SAN FRANCISCO-The California Highway Patrol (CHP) has agreed to adopt sweeping reforms intended to end the practice of racial profiling on California's highways, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California announced today. The reforms include a ban on consent searches and restrictions on drug-related pretext stops and are likely to have a broad impact on law enforcement agencies throughout the state.
ACLU and CA Civil Rights Groups Call for Major Police Reforms in Sacramento (02/14/2003)
SAN FRANCISCO-Citing data from a report on racial profiling released today by the Sacramento Police Department, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and a number of civil rights groups called for major policy changes in the way minority motorists are treated by police.
ACLU of MD and Civil Rights Groups Decry Further Stalling on Landmark Racial Profiling Settlement (02/05/2003)
ANNAPOLIS, MD - After state officials here once again put off consideration of a negotiated settlement in a landmark racial profiling lawsuit, the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland and the NAACP said today that they are disappointed and are considering "next steps." The class-action lawsuit brought national attention to the issue of "driving while black or brown."
ACLU Calls FBI Mosque-Counting Scheme Blatant Ethnic and Religious Profiling (01/27/2003)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today called a controversial scheme being implemented by the FBI to base investigation and wiretap goals on demographic information, including the number of mosques in a given area, a case of ethnic and religious profiling that will fail to make Americans any safer.
ACLU Says Expected White House Brief Opposing Minority Equality in College Admissions Shows Lack of Commitment to Racial Justice (01/15/2003)
WASHINGTON - Responding to reports that the White House is expected to submit a brief to the Supreme Court opposing affirmative action in college admissions, the American Civil Liberties Union today said the decision is indicative of President Bush's less than robust commitment to equal rights and opportunity.
ACLU of San Diego and Coalition of Civil Rights Groups Denounce Police Department's Efforts to 'Whitewash' Racial Profiling Data (01/13/2003)
SAN DIEGO - A study on racial profiling conducted by the San Diego Police Department and released today contains troubling data on racial disparity in vehicle stops, yet the findings are being misrepresented by the department's chief official, the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties and a coalition of civil rights groups said today.
ACLU of NJ Wins $775,000 for Victims of Racial Profiling by State Troopers (01/13/2003)
NEWARK -- The State of New Jersey has agreed to pay more than $775,000 to motorists who were victims of racial profiling to settle lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, the group announced at a news conference today.
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