In case you missed it, here are a few highlights and headlines from the past few months regarding the ACLU and our work here in Alabama.

Photo: Executive Director Randall Marshall presented to a crowd of over 100 attendees at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma for our Voting Rights Restoration Training with Legal Services Alabama.

ACLU of Alabama announced Randall Marshall, Legal Director at the ACLU for 17 years (13 in Florida and 4 in Alabama) and Acting Executive Director since January, has been selected to permanently fill the Executive Director position. (via AL.com)

A federal judge ruled that an Alabama law that subjected minors to a trial-like procedure when seeking an abortion was unconstitutional. (via NPR) Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall has appealed the ruling. (via Mic)

Following his inflammatory tweets last month, Donald Trump opted to officially ban transgender individuals from serving in the military. (via The Hill) In response, ACLU has filed a lawsuit on behalf of six service members, claiming that the ban violates their equal protection rights. (via Time)

Charlottesville

On August 11, 2017, a rally of white supremacists protested against the removal of a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee in Emancipation Park. The rally was met with counter-protesters, and clashes between the two groups turned violent as fighting broke out, leading ultimately to the death of Heather Heyer when a white supremacist drove a car into the crowd. Multiple stories have been written about this tragedy, as well as numerous discussions surrounding racism and Confederate monuments in America.

The ACLU of Virginia was a part of that story, and we have included some information about their role in Charlottesville, and the ACLU’s response in the weeks since. 

  • A guide to the Charlottesville aftermath (via New York Times)
  • Incident in Charlottesville will make us stronger, Gov. McAuliffe says (via NPR)
  • ACLU of Virginia’s response to Governor’s allegations that ACLU is responsible for violence in Charlottesville (via ACLU of Virginia)
  • ACLU of Alabama statement on Charlottesville (via ACLU of Alabama)
  • Equality, Justice, and the First Amendment: An open letter on Charlottesville from Executive Director Anthony Romero (via ACLU)
  • ACLU will no longer defend hate groups that protest with firearms (via The Hill)
  • As white nationalist in Charlottesville fired, police ‘never moved’ (via New York Times)

ACLU Across the Country

As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” The ACLU of Alabama is a part of a nationwide organization that has 51 affiliates in every U.S. state and Puerto Rico, and each office focuses on state legislation and rights violations in order to defend the individual liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for all. Here is a look at some of their work.

California: A lawsuit claims California absentee ballots were wrongly rejected because of ‘penmanship’ problems (via LA Times)

Colorado: Aurora pays $110,000 for unlawful detention and tasing of Darsean Kelley (via Pagosa Daily Post)

DC: ACLU sues D.C. Metro after it rejects ad with text of 1st Amendment (via NPR)

Florida: Almost 25 percent of black Floridians aren’t allowed to vote; the ACLU has a plan to change that (via Blavity)

Georgia: Georgia election officials reverse decision to close polling places in black neighborhoods (via Huffington Post)

Louisiana: Driver had constitutional right to give police ‘the finger,’ ACLU says (via NOLA.com)

Maryland: ACLU sues Hogan over deleting Facebook posts (via Baltimore Sun)

Massachusetts: Girlfriend suicide texting case sets wrong precedent, legal experts say (via USA Today)

Michigan: Flint schoolchildren need expanded special education services, lawyers argue (via Detroit Free Press)

Missouri: Missouri governor grants death row prisoner last-minute stay of execution over DNA doubts (via Salon)

Nebraska: Nebraska sued for overcrowded lockups, guards who send suicidal prisoners to solitary confinement (via Newsweek)

New York: Undocumented teens say they’re falsely accused of being in a gang (via NPR)

Pennsylvania: Man without a country: Refugee jailed in Pa. for months with no end in sight (via Penn Live)

Tennessee: Tennessee county operated ‘eugenics scheme’ on prisoners (via Tennessean)

Texas: Anti-Trans “Bathroom Bills” just failed to pass in Texas (via BuzzFeed News)

West Virginia: Here are the sickest burns in the West Virginia ACLU’s amicus brief about Bob Murray’s dumb John Oliver lawsuit (via Slate)