The Trump Department of Justice spent its final days putting thousands of people at greater risk of catching COVID-19 during the height of the pandemic. On Jan. 15, the DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel issued a memo arguing the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) will be …
The riot on the Capitol building in the last days of Trump’s presidency was a powerful inflection point in an era of racial reckoning. In its wake, many pundits and politicians declared that “this is not America.” Our guest on At Liberty this week, ACLU …
The Federal Aviation Administration recently took a major step toward expanding the prevalence of aerial drones in American life by creating a system for identifying and tracking them. The new system is part of a steady march by the FAA to build a legal …
President Biden’s 100-day deportation moratorium, announced late last month, was a monumental achievement for immigrant justice activists and immigrant communities. Less visible but potentially groundbreaking: The Department of Homeland Security’s promise …
Over the past four years, we grew accustomed to a regular barrage of blatant, segregationist-style racism from the White House. Donald Trump tweeted that “the Squad,” four Democratic Congresswomen who are Black, Latinx, and South Asian, should “go back” to …
Recently I joined as an expert in a lawsuit filed by the ACLU to challenge two laws that block the rights of women on Guam to abortion access. As a Chamoru, community activist and independent scholar who specializes in Guam history and the teaching of the …
When a person is sent to jail, prison, or detention, their departure triggers a ripple effect. One person’s incarceration touches family members, friends, lovers — their absence can have community-wide repercussions. What happens in the space they leave …
For incarcerated people, it can be impossible to prevent contracting COVID-19. Crowded quarters, limited access to hygiene, and inadequate medical care have made jails and prisons the sites of some of the worst outbreaks in the country. To date, more than …
“Take to the streets.” These words have always held a special significance when it comes to exercising our right to protest. Throughout our history, generation after generation of activists, people, and communities have taken to our nation’s public streets …
The murder of George Floyd last year was another wake-up call for many Americans about racism in policing. It was also a reminder that past efforts to address racist police practices have failed repeatedly. At the time of Floyd’s death, the police …
In just six months, the federal government conducted an unprecedented, unjust, and unlawful execution spree, taking the lives of 13 people. The record of injustice in those cases — the compelling claims for mercy and legal relief by those executed and the …
Nearly three weeks ago, former President Donald Trump was banned from nearly every social media platform because of his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Just before Congress was set to certify Joe Biden as the next president of the United States, …
Last week, we marked Roe Day, the 48th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion throughout the United States. We celebrate this milestone while at the same time recognizing that legality alone has never been enough to secure real …
Yesterday, I joined the ACLU in filing a lawsuit to restore abortion access to Guam. More than two years ago, the last known abortion provider in Guam retired, and thanks to outdated and medically unnecessary restrictions, island residents cannot use …
Just over four years ago, Donald Trump’s Federal Communications Commission eliminated net neutrality rules that ensured a free and open internet. Without these critical protections, internet service providers, or ISPs, were no longer required to provide …
My driver’s license is just like yours. It has my photo, date of birth, and other standard descriptors. Under gender, however, you’ll find not M or F, but X. In 2017, I became the first person in the country to obtain an official nonbinary, gender- …
This week, Joe Biden was inaugurated as President of the United States. As part of his day one agenda, he rescinded one of the Trump administration’s most noxious orders. The Muslim ban, enacted within Trump’s first days in office, blocked virtually all …
Yesterday, as part of a slate of executive orders signed by President Biden on his first day in office, he issued an “Executive Order on Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.” It is now the policy of …
Living in New York City, there are some things you just know. You know that if you see a gigantic rat in the subway station you look the other way and pretend it doesn’t exist. And you know that if you see a gigantic inflatable rat in front of a business …
Picture it: The United States is riven by social unrest and political polarization. Millions of Americans feel unwelcome in the only home they’ve ever known. Thousands of immigrants are being rounded up, denied due process, and even deported. A rise in …
