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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 Says Stealth Racial Profiling Report Shows Need for Federal Legislation (08/30/2005)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union and several other prominent civil rights groups today called upon Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to investigate the apparent attempt by the Justice Department to bury an unfavorable government report on racial profiling.
Rhode Island Clears Path to Restoring Felon Voting Rights (06/29/2005)
PROVIDENCE, RI -- In response to a strong lobbying effort by a coalition of civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the Rhode Island legislature today approved legislation paving the way for a Constitutional amendment to restore voting rights to probationers and parolees.
South Dakota Schools Discriminating Against Native American Students, Charge ACLU and Tribe (06/23/2005)
WASHINGTON -- In a complaint filed today with the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of 14 Native American families, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Attorney General of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe charge that the public school district in Winner, South Dakota discriminates against Native American children in its disciplinary practices and denies these students their right to equal educational opportunities.
ACLU and United Airlines Announce Settlement of Case on Behalf of Plaintiffs Assem Bayaa and American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (06/17/2005)
LOS ANGELES -- The American Civil Liberties Union and United Airlines announced today that they have reached a settlement in a lawsuit brought on behalf of Assem Bayaa and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), charging that the airline discriminated against Bayaa by removing him from a flight. While United disputes Bayaa's and ADC's allegations, the parties agree that settlement of this claim is in the best interest of all.
Civil Rights Groups File Freedom of Information Act Request in Wake of Reports of FBI Harassment of Muslims in Lodi, CA (06/16/2005)
SACRAMENTO -- Prompted by reports from the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Sacramento Valley and the Muslim community, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and local civil rights groups today filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking FBI records of the procedures and policies used during the questioning and detention of dozens of Muslims in the Central Valley town of Lodi.
Federal Appeals Court Revives Michigan "Bicycling-While-Black" Lawsuit (06/08/2005)
DETROIT -- A federal appeals court today reinstated a so-called ""bicycling-while-black"" lawsuit after finding that there is enough evidence of racial discrimination and illegal searches by a suburban Detroit police department to take the case to a jury. The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan argued the appeal of the racial profiling lawsuit, which was brought by 21 young African American men in 2001.
In Wake of ACLU Civil Rights Lawsuit Settlement, African Americans Affected by Texas Drug Task Force Scandal Call for Reconciliation at Town Meeting (06/02/2005)
HEARNE, TX -- At a community meeting tonight, African American residents in this rural community of 5,000, where the American Civil Liberties Union recently settled a major civil rights lawsuit against agents of a federally funded regional narcotics task force, will meet with local and state officials to discuss ways to work together to reform drug law enforcement in Robertson County, where Hearne is located.
Iranian American "Know Your Rights" Campaign Launched By National Organizations (06/02/2005)
LOS ANGELES -- At a breakfast briefing this morning the American Civil Liberties Union and leaders of the Iranian American community launched a ""Know Your Rights"" Campaign designed to address community-specific concerns.
ACLU of Tennessee's "Campaign Against Racial Profiling" Achieves Another Success With Passage of Traffic Stops Bill (05/12/2005)
NASHVILLE, TN -- The recent resounding passage of a bill to study racial profiling bill is the latest achievement in the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee's ""Campaign Against Racial Profiling,"" the group announced today.
Civil Rights Lawsuit Settled by Robertson County, Texas and ACLU (05/11/2005)
HEARNE, TX -- Robertson County, the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr today announced the resolution and an end to a civil rights lawsuit which arose from the arrest of 27 African American residents in this Texas town. The charges against the plaintiffs in this case were ultimately dismissed. The details of the settlement are confidential. However, both Robertson County and the ACLU are satisfied with the resolution of this case.
ACLU Sues New Mexico Sheriff's Deputies for Beating Two Young Men (05/04/2005)
SANTA FE, NM -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico announced today that it has filed a lawsuit against Chaves County Sheriff's deputies for brutalizing two young men at a private home in Roswell two years ago.
Rhode Island Police Not Following Racial Profiling Law, ACLU Report Finds (05/03/2005)
PROVIDENCE, RI -- In a 42-page report released today, the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island charged that many police departments are failing to comply with provisions of the strict law against racial profiling passed last year by the General Assembly.
ACLU of New Mexico Files for Motion Against Local Police in Ongoing Discrimination Case (04/20/2005)
SANTA FE, NM -- The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico today asked federal court judge Martha Vasquez to declare Hobbs city officials in ""substantial non-compliance"" with a court-endorsed agreement requiring the police department to stop discriminating and to uphold the constitutional rights of African Americans. The motion also asks the court to initiate contempt proceedings for the city's failure to address a previous finding of non-compliance by Judge Vasquez under the terms of a 2001 settlement agreement.
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