aclu

ACLU Sues Baton Rouge Police Over Response to Alton Sterling Protests

Hudson Hongo · 07/13/16 07:56PM

On Wednesday, the ACLU of Louisiana and four other groups filed a lawsuit against the City of Baton Rouge, its police department and several other area law enforcement agencies, accusing authorities of violating the constitutional rights of protesters demonstrating against the shooting of Alton Sterling. About 200 marchers have been arrested in Baton Rouge since Sterling was killed by police last week, NOLA.com reports.

Police Department Does Reasonable Thing

Andy Cush · 08/07/15 08:30AM

When police departments face criticism, they tend to dig in their heels, deny any wrongdoing, and accuse those who dare to point out their flaws of being crime-humping gang-lovers. That’s all very charming, but it’s nice to see Chicago police experimenting with a different approach.

Italian Spy Company "Joked" About Killing ACLU Employee

Sam Biddle · 07/10/15 11:05AM

Hacking Team, the recently hacked Milan-based outfit that peddled surveillance software to violent, oppressive governments around the world like Bahrain and the United States, naturally has a lot of critics. Their newly exposed emails reveal some very creepy conversations about one critic in particular.

This Motel 6 Snitches to the Police About Every Single Guest

Sam Biddle · 04/29/15 10:50AM

You shouldn’t expect much when you’re checking into a room at the local Motel 6, but at a bare minimum, you should expect to not be treated like a criminal. Guests at the motel chain’s Rhode Island location won’t get that luxury: their information is automatically delivered to the police.

The Solitary Confinement Epidemic Continues

Hamilton Nolan · 02/05/15 03:15PM

Texas has one of the harshest and most punitive criminal justice systems in America. A new report shows just how inhuman the state of Texas is when it comes to doling out the punishment of solitary confinement.

Mississippi Jails People For Months With No Charges

Hamilton Nolan · 09/25/14 10:40AM

Even in 2014, it is still possible to come across facts about the American justice system that stagger even the most cynical of minds. For example: do you know how long people are sitting in jail in Mississippi without being charged with a crime?

Private Prisons Are Getting Rich By Abusing Illegal Immigrants

Hamilton Nolan · 06/10/14 08:34AM

What sort of criminal is the target of most federal prosecutions? Mobsters? Bank robbers? No: illegal immigrants. And where do they go? To private prisons, for whom America's immigration system is a giant profit center.

Hamilton Nolan · 11/20/13 03:07PM

A new ACLU report estimates that more than 17,000 juveniles in America have been held in solitary confinement, and concludes, unequivocally, "Solitary confinement and isolation are not safe for children."

A Former Death Row Inmate Describes Solitary Confinement

Hamilton Nolan · 08/01/13 11:03AM

In 2008, Montez Spradley was convicted in Alabama of killing a 58-year-old woman during a robbery. He was sentenced to death. In 2011, his conviction was reversed due to serious errors in the case. In this letter, he describes life on death row.

Weed Arrests: Racist, Costly, Destructive

Hamilton Nolan · 06/04/13 10:13AM

A comprehensive new report from the ACLU about marijuana arrests in America confirms three key points: A) Weed arrests are overwhelmingly racially biased; B) Weed arrests consume an insanely large amount of money and resources; and C) Weed needs to be legalized, ASAP.

The Story of One Prison Rape, In an Inmate's Own Words

Hamilton Nolan · 05/30/13 12:40PM

Today, the ACLU announced that it is filing a federal lawsuit on behalf of prisoners at the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, a private prison in Meridian, Mississippi. The suit alleges that EMCF is "hyper-violent, grotesquely filthy and dangerous." One example of the jail's dangers: this handwritten letter from an inmate describing his own rape.