Blog

Protect the privacy of your DNA

Shankar Narayan, ACLU-WA Legislative Director

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 3:13 pm

DNA contains a person's most private information. Proposed legislation would require mandatory collection of your DNA upon arrest, even if you are never charged or convicted. In America, our Constitution guarantees your right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty. Collecting DNA from the innocent will do nothing to make us safer. Tell your legislators that you oppose this unwarranted expansion of government power. Read More »

Washington State Marijuana Arrests Add Up

Mark Cooke, ACLU-WA Drug Policy Advocate

Monday, January 30th, 2012 at 9:55 am

Over a ten year-period, more than 100,000 arrests were made in Washington state for adult marijuana crimes. The vast majority of these arrests were for low-level possession. Read More »

Helping Youth Move Forward: Bill Would Keep Juvenile Records Confidential

Vanessa Hernandez, ACLU-WA Staff Attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow

Friday, January 27th, 2012 at 8:46 am

Since the turn of the century, juvenile courts have been separate from adult courts. The goal of juvenile courts, as the Supreme Court recognized over 50 years ago, is to determine how to rehabilitate juveniles and “save [them] from a downward career.” To further these goals, juvenile court records have historically been shielded from public view. This system allows juveniles to enter adulthood without being publicly labeled as criminals. Read More »

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Ending the Death Penalty: Washington Residents Speak Out in Olympia

Summer Robinson, ACLU-WA Communications and Events Coordinator

Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 4:56 pm

Yesterday in front of a packed hearing room in the state capital, the Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony from witnesses in support of SB 6283. This bill would eliminate the death penalty in favor of a new “ultimate penalty” in Washington state – life incarceration without the possibility of parole. Read More »

GPS Tracking: The Supreme Court Takes a Step for Privacy

Doug Klunder, ACLU-WA Privacy Counsel

Wednesday, January 25th, 2012 at 9:30 am

The United States Supreme Court on Monday unanimously decided that law enforcement needs a warrant to place a GPS tracking device on a vehicle. We applaud the Supreme Court for ruling correctly that warrantless installation of a GPS device violates the Fourth Amendment. Read More »

End the death penalty in Washington

Sarah Davies, ACLU-WA Internet Operations Manager

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 at 10:49 am

As the 2012 legislative session gets underway, momentum to end the death penalty continues to grow. The ACLU is supporting the Safe and Just Alternatives Campaign to replace the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. Help us by telling your legislators to replace the death penalty. Read More »

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Standing Up Against Injustice: We Honor the Courage of Gordon Hirabayashi

Summer Robinson, ACLU-WA Communications and Events Coordinator

Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 1:08 pm

Gordon Hirabayashi was a senior at University of Washington when bombs fell at Pearl Harbor. Like 112,000 of his fellow Japanese Americans, he would be placed under curfew, ordered into internment, and finally jailed for defying those orders. Forty years later, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated his conviction. On Monday, Hirabayashi died at the age of 93. We here at the ACLU of Washington honor his memory. Read More »

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Governor’s Endorsement Boosts Drive for Marriage Bill

Kathleen Taylor, Executive Director

Thursday, January 5th, 2012 at 9:33 am

At a press conference in Olympia, Governor Chris Gregoire issued a heart-felt endorsement of civil marriage for same-sex couples. The Governor talked of the need for state law to recognize the "love, commitment, partnership, and responsibility" of lesbian and gay couples. Read More »

Mortgaged Futures: 30% of Juveniles Arrested

Vanessa Hernandez, ACLU-WA Staff Attorney and Equal Justice Works Fellow

Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 at 9:10 am

By the time they’re 23 years old, between 30 and 41 percent of Americans have been arrested, according to a study recently released by the journal Pediatrics. This number has sharply increased in recent decades; in the mid-1960s, only 22 percent of Americans reported having been arrested by the time they turned 23. Read More »

Kudos to the DOJ! Now On to the Hard Work of Reform

Kathleen Taylor, Executive Director

Friday, December 16th, 2011 at 3:36 pm

I returned, very happily, from the Department of Justice press conference this morning. The DOJ’s in-depth report confirms what the ACLU has been saying and what many people of color and others have experienced – that the Seattle Police Department has engaged in a pattern and practice of excessive use of force. Read More »