E-News for ACLU-AL Friends

October 2011

FIGHTING FOR CIVIL LIBERTIES IN ALABAMA SINCE 1965

Crisis in Alabama: Immigration Law Causes Chaos

Alabama has been in a state of chaos following a federal judge’s Sept. 28 ruling upholding some of the worst provisions of H.B. 56, the state’s draconian anti-immigrant law. Families have been denied access to water and parents have pulled their children out of schools as a climate of fear and panic has set in across Alabama. Many families have fled the state. The ACLU and ACLU of Alabama, along with a coalition of civil rights groups, are working to protect the rights of all Alabamians by ensuring that the community has accurate information about the law.

On the legal front, on October 7, the ACLU and other advocacy groups filed an emergency request with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit to block the law. The Department of Justice also filed a similar request the same day. On October 14, the federal appeals court responded by blocking two key provisions of the law while the constitutionality of H.B. 56 remains under determination on appeal. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit blocked:

* the provision that chills children’s access to schools by requiring school officials to verify the immigration status of children and their parents; and

* the provision that criminalizes failure to register with the federal government and carry one’s “papers” at all times.

Personal accounts of H.B. 56’s impact on Alabamians:

- VIDEO: Fear and H.B. 56 in Alabama: An Immigrant's Story.

- VIDEO: "One of Alabama's Worst Times Since Jim Crow."

- VIDEO: Broken Lives, Empty Fields: One Alabama Farmer's Story

- PHOTO ESSAY: Ferrying Panicked Families and Fighting Racial Profiling in Schools

ACLU Seeks Information on Sex-Segregated Education in Alabama

The American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project and the ACLU of Alabama have requested records from Birmingham City Schools and the Alabama Department of Education on sex-segregated programs throughout the state. The ACLU is seeking the records in response to information suggesting that the programs serve no legitimate academic purpose, violate federal law and rely on harmful gender stereotypes.

Initial investigations by the ACLU reveal that many programs in the state are based on disputed theories suggesting that boys and girls learn so differently that they need to be educated separately. For example, schools in Bay Minette have separated boys and girls into classes called “Pirates” and “Princesses,” and a program in Foley makes girls learn science through examples related to housework while boys learn through examples related to hunting.

These theories were refuted in a recent article in the journal Science that showed that sex-segregation did not contribute to increased academic performance, and in fact harmed students by making these stereotypes more acceptable.

“Supporters of sex-segregation make vague claims that these programs get results, but don’t have the proof to back it up,” said Mie Lewis, staff attorney with the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. “Instead of implementing these gimmicky programs, schools should focus on strategies that work for all students, like increased attention to curriculum, greater parental involvement and smaller class size.”

“There’s no question that our schools deserve greater attention and investment, but resources shouldn’t be wasted programs that simply do not work,” said Olivia Turner, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. “Quick fixes that violate the law and do a disservice to our kids help nobody.”

The ACLU is challenging other sex-segregated programs based on unfounded stereotypes across the country, and has recently won a significant victory in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. Previous records requests to schools in Alabama have resulted in Lawrence, Mobile, St. Clair, and Chilton County and Dothan City School Systems discontinuing sex-segregation.