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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.
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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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Legal Documents
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CO Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative: Title Board Answer Brief in Title Challenge (08/03/2007)
The petition considered in this case is one of a series of anti-affirmative action initiatives being forwarded in 5 states for the fall of 2008, each of which is deceptively described as a ban on "discrimination" and "preferential treatment." In this answer brief, the Title Board defends its certification of the misleading title submitted by the initiative's sponsors.
CO Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative: ACLU Amicus in Title Challenge (07/27/2007)
The petition considered in this case is one of a series of anti-affirmative action initiatives being forwarded in 5 states for the fall of 2008, deceptively billed by its sponsors as a ban on "discrimination." In this amicus brief, the ACLU of Colorado argues that the measure's use of the phrase "preferential treatment" is unconstitutionally vague.
CO Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative: Amicus Brief in Title Challenge Arguing Against the Prejudicial Use of the Phrase "Preferential Treatment" (07/27/2007)
The petition considered in this case is one of a series of anti-affirmative action initiatives being forwarded in 5 states for the fall of 2008, and was challenged for its misleading and prejudicial description. In this amicus brief, a seasoned public opinion research and strategy advisor contends that "preferential treatment" is an impermissable catchphrase that will unfairly sway voters considering the measure.
Missouri Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative: MoCRI v. Carnahan Title Challenge (07/26/2007)
A challenge by the so-called Missouri Civil Rights Initiative to the Secretary of State's revision of their misleading ballot title. The petition in question is one of a series of anti-affirmative action initiatives being forwarded in 5 states for the fall of 2008, but was deceptively billed as a ban on "discrimination" and "preferences." The Secretary of State revised the title to notify voters of the petition's likely impact on affirmative action.
Defendants' Objection to Plaintiffs' Motion for Order to Enforce Judgment and Obtain a Court-Ordered Remedy (07/17/2007)
CO Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative: ACRI Opening Brief in Title Challenge (07/16/2007)
The petition considered in this case is one of a series of 5 anti-affirmative action initiatives being forwarded for the fall of 2008 by the so-called American Civil Rights Institute. Each initiative is deceptively billed as a ban on "discrimination" and "preferences," and in this brief, the ACRI initiative proponents defend their measure against charges that it is misleading, uses impermissable catch phrases designed to prejudice voters, and is too broad to be considered in a single initiative.
CO Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative: Title Board Opening Brief in Title Challenge (07/16/2007)
The petition considered in this case is one of a series of anti-affirmative action initiatives being forwarded in 5 states for the fall of 2008, each of which is deceptively described as a ban on "discrimination" and "preferential treatment." In this opening brief, the Title Board defends its certification of the misleading title submitted by the initiative's sponsors.
CO Anti-Affirmative Action Initiative: Objectors' Opening Brief in Title Challenge (07/16/2007)
The petition considered in this case is one of a series of anti-affirmative action initiatives being forwarded in 5 states for the fall of 2008, each of which is deceptively billed by its sponsors as a ban on "discrimination" and "preferential treatment." In this brief, citizens of Colorado file protest to the initiative's misleading and prejudicial title and allege that the initiative is unconstitutionally broad.
Supreme Court Decision in Seattle-Louisville School Integration Cases (06/28/2007)
The plurality decision in Parents Involved v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education, striking down the constitutionality of two school integration programs.
Yourdkhani v. Chertoff - Declaration of Masomeh Alibegi (03/06/2007)
Yourdkhani v. Chertoff - Declaration of Kevin Yourdkhani (03/06/2007)
Verdieu v. Chertoff - Declaration of Sherona Verdieu (03/06/2007)
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